He leaned against the wall of the cinder block shelter, exhausted by tragedy, as he sipped boiling hot tea through his thick mustache. He wore a red and white checkered head wrap and had deep wrinkles in his face from years in the hot Iraqi sun. There was an inconsolable look in his eyes, as if he had seen a thousand deaths … and he had.
Only six months earlier, ISIS troops invaded his home in Sinjar, the central location of his people—the Yazidi. Fueled by an obsession to make radical converts of Islam and a belief that Yazidis were “devil-worshipping infidels,” the ISIS militants had forced thousands of Yazidi women and girls into sexual slavery and killed more than 5,000 others.
The Yazidi man was now living in a makeshift refugee camp with 16 other grief-stricken families who had all lost loved ones in the hellish invasion by ISIS.
As our team of Americans unloaded crates of tomatoes in the camp, the man motioned for us to come into his unfinished living quarters to drink tea. His eyes pleaded as he began to speak.
“Fifteen of the girls from my tribe have been captured by ISIS and were forced to become ISIS wives. We’ve heard nothing from 14 of the girls, but we have heard from one. We know where she is, and … she is my daughter.”
The desperation in the room was thick and tangible. Our team could barely breathe, but the Yazidi man continued …
“The terrorists have allowed her to call me. They’ve taken her to Syria, but they say they will sell her back to me for $12,000 U.S. dollars.”
With these words, he looked into the eyes of our team one by one, pleading for us to do something. The cold room fell silent. Immediately, minds raced with thoughts of how to acquire money to buy this Yazidi daughter back, but the brainstorming came to an abrupt halt when a British man in the room chimed in. With a firm but respectful tone, he addressed the group saying, “American and British policy says that we cannot negotiate with these terrorists. If we pay the money for this one life, ISIS will use it to buy more weapons and kill many more lives!”
To hear the rest of this story and discover the one thing God required us to do in this dire situation, listen to Episode 4 of the AIMS.ORG Podcast on Charisma Podcast Network now.
AIMS.ORG is a ministry dedicated to getting the message of Jesus to ethnic groups who have no access through training and sending native missionaries who establish church planting movements among them. Discover how your life can impact nations by visiting aims.org. {eoa}
Bevin Bold serves alongside her husband at AIMS.ORG, a missions organization targeting unreached people groups with the gospel. She is known for her creativity and passion for God’s word. Since graduating Texas Bible Institute in 2000, Bevin has served in local church and overseas ministry. In 2008, she and her husband moved to northern Iraq as missionaries where they planted a house church, baptized former Muslims and opened a cafe. Bevin now spends her days using her gifts of writing and design to advocate for those who have no access to the message of Jesus. A loving wife and mom to Haven and Honor, she enjoys a good cappuccino, spending time with her family in nature and making jewelry. Connect with Bevin through Instagram or at aims.org.
