05/21/2018 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – Twenty brown coffins adorned with white flowers slowly descended the ramp of a Libyan plane that had just arrived in Egypt. Waiting on the tarmac was a crowd of Coptic priests, including Pope Tawadros, standing alongside a robed choir. The sounds of bells and songs floated above the coffins, inside which were the remains of the 20 Egyptian Christians who were beheaded by ISIS three years ago.

The next day, May 15, the families gathered inside the Church of the Martyrs of Faith and Homeland to lay their loved ones to rest. The church was built in the village of Aour, where most of the martyrs are originally from, to commemorate their faith. When the church was built, the families had no expectation that the remains of their loved ones would ever be found. Even so, a special burial place was created.

The internment of their bodies inside the church was a surreal moment for the families. Bishri Ibrahim, the father of Kirolos, told Reuters, “Everyone stood beside the martyr that belongs to him and cried a little, but they were tears of longing, nothing more. We are happy and joyful that they have returned to the village. This is a blessing for the country and to all Copts all over the world.”

When the families originally learned of their relatives’ martyrdom, they were devastated. The 20 Egyptian Copts were kidnapped in two separate incidents. All had been working in Libya because of a lack of economic opportunity for Christians in Egypt. Christians regularly suffer from job discrimination and harassment due to being treated like second-class citizens.

The families, along with the rest of the world, learned of their loved ones’ execution through the media. Altogether, ISIS kidnapped 21 Coptic men: 20 Egyptians and 1 Ghanaian. ISIS published the execution through a propaganda video titled: A Message Signed with Blood to the Nation of the Cross. The video showed the captives, in orange jumpsuits, being forced to kneel in the sand before their execution. Pictures were also published in ISIS’s publication, Dabiq.

The families’ emotions consisted of sadness, relief, and happiness. Bashir, whose two brothers were killed, explained to International Christian Concern (ICC) shortly following their execution, “We were living hard times during the period of the captivity of my brothers before their martyrdom; we were very sad and worried about them… [But] I was consoled when I heard the cry of Jesus when they were on the beach of the sea and the knives were put on their necks… I am very proud of my two brothers and their strong faith.”