Kids of Courage

Rebekah and her family have joy in the Lord

Parents and Teachers: The November 2014 The Voice of the Martyrs magazine includes stories of Christians in Syria and Iraq. To subscribe to the free monthly magazine, visit our subscription signup page. As you read the magazines, you may want to share stories from this site about the featured Christians with your children. Then pray together for the people in the stories.

Rebekah and her three children were leaving their home in Iraq. Rebekah’s husband was not with them. Two years earlier he had died as a martyr for his Christian witness. Now Muslims from a radical group called “IS” (“Islamic State”) were threatening all Christians in their area.

Rebekah and her family are grateful to have a car that was provided by The Voice of the Martyrs after her husband died. Many fleeing Iraqi Christians have to walk 10 to 14 hours to reach a safe place.

Refugees
After they reached the city of Erbil, the family followed other Christians to a church. But the church was filled with refugees, and there was no room for another family. (Refugees are people who flee from an unsafe place to a safer place.)

They found another church, but it was also packed with people fleeing the danger. Finally Rebekah and her family were allowed to stay in the office of a Christian ministry.

Miriam, Rebekah’s oldest daughter, recently finished her second year of college. Because of the fighting in her country, she was not able to take her final exams. She won’t get credit for her school work.

The family does not know what the future holds for them. But they still have hope and joy in the Lord, who holds everyone’s future in His hands. (See the photo. Their faces are covered to protect their identity.)

Pray for Rebekah’s family and other Christians who have had to leave their homes in Iraq and Syria.

Jamil and his family

Jamil grew up in a Muslim family in Central Asia. But after Christians shared their faith with him, he gave his life to Jesus! He was happy that he had found the truth, and he began telling Muslims the good news about Jesus’ gift of salvation.

Many Muslims came to Christ. Others were angry that their fellow Muslims were leaving their religion to follow Jesus.

Angry Muslims began coming to the house where Jamil lived with his wife and 6-year-old son. Every time they came, they beat Jamil up. Jamil shared Bible verses with them, and he didn’t fight back.

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Sumayah sewed to help her family

Parents and Teachers: The September 2014 issue of The Voice of the Martyrs magazine features information about bold Christians who serve God in Central Asia. To subscribe to the free monthly magazine, visit our subscription signup page. As you read the magazines, you may want to share stories from this site about the featured Christians with your children. Then pray together for the people in the stories.

Sumayah lives in a country in Central Asia where most people are Muslims. She and her husband were also Muslims, and they were not getting along well. They divorced when Sumayah was pregnant with their second child.

Sumayah moved in with her parents. Then she heard the good news of Jesus and trusted in Him as her Savior! But her Muslim parents were angry. “[Let’s] send her away and see how her God feeds her,” they said.

God did take care of her. Sumayah supported herself and her two children by sewing for people.

The Good News Spreads
Sumayah shared her new faith with her ex-husband and he also came to Christ! They got back together and remarried. Their children are now 4 and 2.

But Sumayah’s parents told her, “It’s bad enough that you have become a Christian, but now you are trying to drag others into it!” Now her parents will not even speak to her.

Sumayah is encouraged by John 15:20 in which Jesus says to His followers, “If they persecute Me, they will persecute you.” Sumayah said, “I came to have joy from this because the persecution showed me that I belong to Christ. Now I know that I am His child!”

(Source: The September 2014 The Voice of the Martyrs magazine.)

To Talk About
How can Sumayah be joyful even though she has been persecuted by her family?