In a review from Christianity Today on the book They Say We Are Infidels: On the Run from ISIS with Persecuted Christians in the Middle East, an excerpt from Mindy Belz testifies to the horrors experienced by Christians from ISIS: “The kidnappings created a climate of fear and trauma, something the State Department’s crude focus on ‘body counts’ can’t capture. One man tells Belz he desperately sought medical help for his son, who, after being kidnapped, suffers memory lapses and PTSD. She meets an eight-year-old who can no longer talk. Another kidnapping victim, a church worker, remains in hiding. Others, like my friend Chaldean Catholic priest Douglas Bazi, turn up more dead than alive after experiencing torture.” - Nina Shea, “Genocide Up Close and Personal,” Christianity Today. Elijah would find himself in good company with the modern church. Though we experience relative comfort and security as American Christians, many brothers and sisters overseas are persecuted for their faith, especially in countries without religious freedom. We must remember that following Christ does not promise us creature comforts or safety, but eternal security.
