"We believe..."

A group of elderly women were spared by ISIS, and when found later by a group from Aid to the Church in Need, they recounted their story of encounter with the frightening militants. They had been spared for some reason, and that despite their testament of firm faith in the face of death. For four days, they locked themselves in their home, not daring to venture out. “Prayer sustained us,” said Victoria. But they needed food for the body as well as food for the soul and when supplies ran dangerously low they went in search of water and other basics. Inevitably they ran into IS forces. Explaining their situation, they asked for help and to their surprise IS gave them water even after they refused a request to abandon their faith. A few days later, IS found them in their homes and rounded them up at St Barbara’s shrine just on the edge of Caramles. There were about a dozen of them there, the last remaining Christian inhabitants of the village. “You must convert,” IS forces told them. “Our faith can promise you paradise,” they added. Victoria and Gazella responded: “We believe that if we show love and kindness,...