The quiet Christians of Mosul: ‘At home, she continued to say The Lord’s Prayer’

Monday, The New York Times correspondent Rikmini Callimachi posted a series of tweets that reminded the world of the resilience and hope of Christians who survived life in Mosul. Together, they offer a snapshot of one woman’s efforts to continue her faith:

In West Mosul, we were introduced to 1 of only [a few] Christians who stayed during ISIS’ rule.  She described how they announced on the mosque speaker that Christians needed to convert, leave, or else pay a jizya, or religious tax. A Shariah judge forced her to convert by reciting the shahada, which states “There is no God except God & Mohamed is his messenger”. She was given a signed & stamped form titled “Proof of Islam” saying that she had converted.  When she recited “There’s God but God & Mohamed is his messenger,” in her heart she apologized to the God she’d worshipped as a Christian. “I was about to cry,” she told me. “Deep inside my heart, I said forgive me God. If I don’t do this I will be killed.” At home she continued 2 recite Lord’s Prayer. When ISIS came 2check on her, her Muslim neighbor covered 4her. “She prays w/ us” they said. She remains so afraid of being discovered by ISIS, she asked me to withhold her name. All she would allow me to photograph were her shoes.

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There’s more on her Twitter page.

Pray for these Christians, struggling to remain faithful under the most horrific and frightening circumstances.