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When clashes between the Free Syrian Army, al-Nusra Front, Islamic Front and self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS) would erupt in their neighborhood, Abdu and his father would hunker down and try to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Still, they fully expected to keep the shop open until the fighting was over.

On June 1, 2014, however, their plans for the future were shattered when members of the Islamic Front, composed of foreigners from Iraq and Turkey, surrounded Abdu and a Muslim employee on the street in front of their shop.

Kidnapped by Muslim Extremists

The Islamists allowed the Muslim employee to leave, but they slid a black bag over Abdu’s head, held a gun to his temple and forced him into their vehicle. After a short drive, they dragged him into a cell, where they bound his hands and legs behind his back and sedated him until he passed out. “I woke up in pain and started screaming,” Abdu recalled.

When one of the group’s leaders asked Abdu what tribe he was from, another militia member answered for him. “He’s not from any tribe — he’s a Nasara [Christian],” the man said. Enraged, the leader began screaming that they should have killed him immediately.

The following days were the most terrifying of Abdu’s life. The Islamists hit his toes with a stick, cursing him and his parents. They made him face a wall while they kicked him repeatedly, calling him a “Nasara pig.” They shackled him with chains and kept him in a cell filled with mice and scorpions. They ran knives over his legs, hands and neck, threatening to slaughter him, and every time he drank the water they gave him, he fell unconscious. They also asked him about other Christian families and which of them had money.

On the sixth day of his captivity, Abdu’s kidnappers made him call his family while they beat him to make him scream. They demanded the equivalent of $270,000 from his family, who had no way of paying the ransom.

Though Abdu’s family was from a Christian background, they had never attended church. But since moving to the larger city, his sister had begun attending an evangelical church and had come to faith in Christ. When the Islamists called with their ransom demand, she recited part of Psalm 23 and encouraged Abdu to remain hopeful because she and the church were praying for him.

“I was not yet a genuine believer at that stage,” Abdu said. And yet, throughout his ordeal with the Islamic Front, he found himself repeating a prayer that he says he did not understand at the time: “Lord, take me out of here and I will become your servant,” he prayed.

On the evening of his 10th day in captivity, Abdu was approached by a guard who gave him the news he had most feared. “It is over,” the man told him. “They will execute you.”

One of the Islamists removed Abdu’s blindfold, and for the first time he saw the faces of his captors, with their heads and necks wrapped in scarves. They then loaded him onto a truck and drove to a creek, where they again blindfolded him and ordered him to kneel in the sand; he prayed they would execute him with bullets rather than knives.

Abdu began counting to 50, as they had demanded, expecting the sound of gunfire at any second. But when he got to 10, instead of gunshots, he heard the surprising sound of their truck driving away. In disbelief, he waited cautiously before lifting the blindfold. When he did, he saw that he was alone … and he was free!

Finding Jesus

Within a month, ISIS had taken control of the region from Raqqa, Syria, to Mosul, Iraq, pushing out other Islamist groups and systematically removing any traces of Christianity. Several Muslim acquaintances in town urged Abdu and his father to leave. “As soon as Ramadan is over, there will be killing,” the Muslims told them.

On July 25, 2014, Abdu and his father heeded their Muslim neighbors’ warning, abandoning the shop they had worked so hard to keep and the land that had been in their family for almost 100 years. They undertook a nerve-racking, eight-hour journey through the desert that required them to pass through an ISIS checkpoint, where the guard somehow failed to notice the obviously Christian names on their IDs. When they finally arrived at a Syrian government checkpoint, the soldiers were stunned to see two Christians emerging from ISIS territory.

Abdu and his father reunited with the rest of the family, and they eventually made their way to a neighboring country, where Abdu placed his faith in Christ on Oct. 5, 2015, at an evangelical church. He soon came to forgive and even love his kidnappers. “I started reading the Bible,” he said, “reading all about God’s love, and I thought, ‘Maybe God loves us all.’ I really felt I should love even my enemies who kidnapped me. God can judge them; I will love them.”

Abdu and his family cannot return to their home because ISIS, while still in control of the area, built a mosque on their property, symbolizing Islam’s triumph over Christianity. Though ISIS was later driven out of the town, local Muslims would never allow the mosque to be destroyed.

Their property and possessions are a total loss, but Abdu says he has gained something far more precious. “Yes, you can lose everything,” he said, “but life in the Lord cannot be lost whatever happens.” A group of Christian-hating extremists had driven Abdu toward saving faith in the One whose name he had claimed his whole life, and now nothing can separate him from the love of Jesus Christ.

Raman, an Assyrian Christian, and the rest of his village’s 130 households had known the attack was coming. For the first part of the war, the area was under Kurdish control. As the war progressed, ISIS moved in and established a camp just two miles from the village. Both sides sought the strategic location of the village, which was located at the top of a mountain.

For several weeks before, ISIS fighters had shopped in the village weekly for vegetables. The jihadists warned the villagers to leave as there would be a battle. The men sent their wives and children away for protection, and they prepared to defend the village.

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Then on a Friday morning, ISIS soldiers appeared at the historic Assyrian church that had been standing for centuries. They told the Christians, “We are an Islamic nation. Remove the cross from your church.”

The next day, they returned with two trucks full of men with weapons, and they threatened the priest: “If you refuse, we will cut your neck.”

“We obeyed,” Raman said. “We removed all the crosses from the cemetery, from the church and Christian images from homes. We didn’t want to give ISIS any reason to attack.”

The attack came two days later at 4 a.m., with blood curdling shouts of “Allahu Akbar!” [God is great!]. Though Raman and the others had stayed to fight, they were overwhelmed and frightened by the surprise attack. Raman could see fires burning and explosions everywhere, and he watched ISIS warriors set the church ablaze.

Raman fled carrying a wounded friend down the mountain. “I ran away so fast that my legs touched my back,” he said.

Raman later learned that the village was completely destroyed that night.

Millions of Syrians Fleeing

After losing their home and all their belongings, Raman, his wife, Simta, and their three daughters became refugees in Lebanon, joining the nearly 2 million refugees already straining the resources of the country of 4 million. The huge influx of people needing food, shelter, jobs and medical care is affecting every part of life in Lebanon. Food prices and rent have increased, and security is tight. In October, Lebanon closed its borders to Syrian refugees, unable to care for those already there.

However, the newcomers have provided believers in Lebanon with countless opportunities to minister and witness to many Syrian Muslims also fleeing the violence. Churches have feeding programs and host schools for the children. Christian workers travel regularly to deliver aid and provide encouragement to refugees. Every VOM partner working in Lebanon is now involved in ministering to Syrian refugees. These workers are reporting a new openness to Christ among the refugees.

A VOM worker said the hardships have also inspired unity among Christians. “Lebanese churches who previously wouldn’t even consider reaching out to Syrians are now hosting them in their churches; some churches have more than doubled in number as Syrians have joined the congregations.”

Ron and Nadia, two evangelists who have worked with VOM for years, were formerly focused on reaching Syria from Lebanon. They found Syria is on their doorstep, as refugees fill their neighborhood. While the evangelist couple was visiting refugee families and distributing relief goods, they met Raman and Simta, who had arrived in the country eight weeks earlier.

They immediately noticed that 12-year-old Marina was suffering from a bad burn. She’d accidentally spilled the hot water kettle on her legs in the cramped space of their apartment. With no jobs and no outside help, Raman and Simta couldn’t afford medical care for the burn. The evangelists immediately took the girl to the emergency room, planning to pay the bill themselves.

“We found a doctor who had a merciful heart,” Ron said. “When the doctor heard that she was a refugee and she burnt herself while she was helping her mom to make some coffee, the doctor decided to reduce his fee.”

“The doctor was open to a small discussion [about Christ],” as he treated Marina, Ron said.

During the next week, they checked on the family, which was touched by the couple’s love. Within weeks, Raman and Simta decided it wasn’t enough to be born into a Christian heritage. They wanted a relationship with Jesus.

Ron and Nadia visit the home frequently, discussing faith and studying the Bible. Though Raman’s family lost everything, they know they have gained much more through knowing Christ.

Despite these horrors and the possibility of repeat attacks, some Christians have chosen to return to their villages. They view it as a special opportunity to reach fellow Syrians for Christ and encourage believers who remain in their village.

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Destroyed Buildings, Unbroken Body

Our field workers received a firsthand account of a Syrian village that was overrun by al-Nusra in 2014. Militants entered the church buildings and destroyed everything in sight. They burned Bibles, hymnals and prayer books and vandalized a painting of John the Baptist in one church. They placed sandbags in the windows, tore down crosses on the steeples and used the churches as sniper positions. They pushed pews together to use as beds and destroyed large church bells that have been in the churches for hundreds of years. The Muslim militants believe the bells have spiritual power over areas where they can be heard and view them as competing with the mosque minarets that announce the Muslim call to prayer five times a day. A few months after this particular village was overrun, the Syrian army pushed out al-Nusra, allowing villagers to return.

Although their church buildings were severely damaged, many Syrian Christians remain hopeful. They know that the church is not a building but rather consists of all who belong to the body of Christ. As one Christian worker told a woman who was trying to restore a church building, “The important thing for you is not to just restore a church, but to restore yourself to a personal relationship with Christ.” Like this Christian worker, many others have chosen to stay and build up the true church.

Choosing to Stay

Pastor Saif, who is married and has three young children, faithfully travels to nearby areas each week and reaches out to Christians whose villages have been overrun by Islamists. The church leaders in these villages have fled, leaving believers without a pastor. Pastor Saif also leads a fellowship in one of Syria’s major cities. Although the roads linking the villages and cities are very dangerous and could come under ISIS control at any time, he feels led to help these believers who are in need of encouragement and discipleship. Saif’s wife, “Zada,” understands the dangers. “We are in danger,” she told a VOM worker. “Our family is in danger, but we serve a mighty God.”

Another believer who has chosen to stay in Syria, Sabeen, lives in a village that was overrun by Islamists and now has no electricity or water. Christians from different countries in the West have repeatedly invited Sabeen to come to their country so she can live peacefully and evangelize without the fear of Islamist reprisal. She lives alone and has no one to protect her, so it would be understandable if Sabeen decided to leave. But after insurgents drove two Christian leaders from her village’s churches, she chose to stay and minister to those left behind. The hills surrounding her village are full of Islamists, some possibly members of ISIS or al-Nusra, who could return to her village and attack at any time. Still, she says, “God hasn’t freed me to leave.”

Another Syrian believer, Sahib, was a highly ranked officer in the Syrian army before being forced into retirement for evangelizing. But Sahib doesn’t need an earthly title to advance the kingdom in his country. Because of his influence, he has had unique opportunities to share the gospel with Muslims.

“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.”

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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.”