ICC Note: The incredible hardships facing Christians in Iraq are almost too much for us to understand. The challenge to put food on the table, a roof over your children’s heads, and the chance to go to school. This challenge is one that for many families is more than they can bear. The violence perpetrated by radically Islamic groups has convinced them that they have no future left in this country.

11/03/2015 Iraq (CBS News) – Mayada Abdul Rhani and her children fled their home after Islamic militants overran Mosul and the neighboring villages.

As a Christian she was forced to make a stark decision: convert to Islam, or face execution.

Now, she told CBS News she doesn’t trust any Muslims.

“They recruit and train kids like mine to behead people,” Rhani said. “How could I ever live with those people? It was difficult to live with them before ISIS, now it’s impossible.”

Like thousands of others, she fled to the village of Alqosh, where the entire population is Christian.

The site is also home to the Saint Hormizd monastery, carved out of the mountainside. Its origins date back to the 7th century.

It’s one of the oldest symbols of Christianity in the region — and as ISIS forces Christians out of Mosul and surrounding villages below, it’s becoming one of the last.

…