The evening of August 20, 2014, Abu Fadi received an urgent call from his mother.
“Abu, come for me,” she cried from the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Before he could respond, an Islamic State (ISIS) fighter grabbed the phone and asked Abu to confirm that he was her son.
“Yes, I am her son,” Abu replied. “What is the problem?”
“Today, come and take your mother and sister,” the fighter said. “If you will not come today, we will throw them in the street. Either they will be Muslim or we will leave them in the street. You just come and take them.”
The ISIS fighter took all the family’s money and belongings, closed up their house and painted the Arabic letter “N” on the home, indicating Nassarah, or “Christian”.
Knowing he couldn’t enter Mosul as a Christian, Abu asked a Muslim friend to bring his elderly mother and sister — both in wheelchairs — to his nearby city, which had recently come under ISIS control.
Once there, the two women joined Abu and his wife and they drove toward Bashiqa in the north. However, shortly after starting their journey, their car was stopped at an ISIS checkpoint by fighters holding guns and swords.
“We told them, ‘We are Christian and we are leaving,’” Abu recalled.
Expecting to Die
The ISIS guards who stopped Abu’s car didn’t like what they heard.
“We cannot release you,” one said. “You cannot go on your way. We have to call the authorities.”
After about 30 minutes, two well-dressed young men carrying automatic rifles arrived in new SUVs.
Abu told them he was driving to a Kurdish area in the north, where his family would be welcome as Christians. The two men had other plans for them.
“You have to convert to be Muslim,” Abu remembers being told. “If you will not convert to Islam, we will kill you — all of you.”
Abu used Quranic verses to plead for his family’s safety, saying he would happily pay a tax for himself and his Christian family members, but they couldn’t convert.
One of the men then grabbed Abu’s left hand and pulled him from his family, telling him, “We will kill you now. If you want to stay alive, you have to convert to Islam. You will not be released. Either you will be Muslim, or you will be killed.”
As the men continued to talk for more than an hour, another ISIS fighter slowly walked around Abu, looking him in the eyes and holding his sword. At the same time, Abu began to feel God’s presence.
“I was 100 percent sure I would receive this sword in my body at any moment,” Abu said. “I totally believe I was so weak, but the Holy Spirit was with me to strengthen me to confront them and to tell them that, ‘I will not be Muslim.’
“God gave me wisdom not to dishonor them or to speak anything bad about Islam or their prophet, but I was so strong and my voice was loud to say what I wanted to say.”
After about 90 minutes, the ISIS members realized Abu wouldn’t convert. Another SUV arrived just then. A young man with a gun whom Abu described as a cultural director came up to him. Surprisingly, he wanted to send Abu and his family away.
“Before you leave our land, I want to give you a message to deliver to the priests and pastors in your church,” the fighter said. “We will follow the (Christians) all over the world. We will reach the Vatican and the pope. We will convert the pope to Islam.”
The man then ordered Abu and his family to leave, and they were released.
Not Free Yet
Shaken, Abu returned to his car. He couldn’t believe he was free to go.
He drove off, grateful to be alive. However, further down the road, it all happened again. The family reached another ISIS checkpoint. Abu told the guards that ISIS leaders had released him and his family at the previous checkpoint. The guards wanted confirmation of this. One of them called a guard at the first checkpoint, who confirmed their release but suggested their car be checked for money or valuables.
As the guards checked the car, they discovered Abu’s wife was carrying some extra cash. Infuriated, the guards ordered the family out of the car, which was further searched. One fighter then told Abu if he would convert to Islam, everything his family lost would be restored and he would be protected.
“They were very harmful,” Abu said. “They threatened us. Because of this, we were afraid and we gave them all that we have.”
For more than an hour, Abu stated that he wanted to remain Christian. He could not convert, but he was willing to pay a tax for himself and his family to remain alive.
Suddenly, the ISIS checkpoint supervisor intervened and asked Abu if he was willing to pay the tax if he returned home. He asked Abu where he lived, and then sent the guard who had previously threatened Abu away to confirm Abu’s place of residence. Once the guard left, the supervisor told Abu and his family to go.
“He told me, ‘Go quickly by your car and leave,’” Abu recalled. “I arrived at my car and left directly. This was the last checkpoint for ISIS control.”
Abu and his family eventually reached a Kurdish checkpoint, where they were welcomed as Christians. Abu believes God in His sovereignty used the ISIS checkpoint supervisor to spare his life. The family found a church on a mountain where they lived for a month. They later moved to another country in the Middle East where they met a pastor, a VOM partner who serves Iraqi refugees. He found them a fully furnished house in which to live. God not only protected them but also restored their well-being.
“We do believe the Holy Spirit protected us and kept us alive until today,” Abu said. “The same Holy Spirit who fed the Hebrews on their way from Egypt to Israel is the Holy Spirit who fed us and protected us from all that you have heard from me.”
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