ISIS Takes Young Christian Boys and Forces Them to Become Jihadists

© Khalil Ashawi / Reuters

© Khalil Ashawi / Reuters

Father Patrick Desbois, a Paris-based Catholic priest who has been helping Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities in the Iraq and Syria said Islamic State jihadists separate families who live in terrorist occupied places by taking away their new born babies and virgin girls, killing their fathers and forcing young boys to plant bombs in the streets.

Father Desbois has dedicated years of his life to researching the Holocaust and fighting anti-Semitism but has recently turned to helping minorities in the Middle East being victimized by the Islamic State-led genocide in Iraq and Syria.

In a phone interview, Father Desbois told The Christian Post that the Islamic State uses “a very special” strategy to carry out its decimation of entire groups of people, including Christians, Shiite Muslims and Yazidis.

“They dislocate the families, they take the newborn babies, and they put them in Islamist families” added Father Desbois, and noted that young children are then trained as terrorists and “forced to put bombs” on the streets.

He told The Christian Post, “the young girls who are virgins are selected by doctors and sold” while the men are often shot in pits and buried in mass graves. He explained that ISIS militants “dislocate families according to age, sexuality” and that “every member of the family” is used “in a special way.”

Father Desbois said “there are nearly no more Christians under ISIS” except for those still held as prisoners in captured territory and all signs of Christianity are being actively being destroyed by the militants, “any Christian symbol is being erased” which is leading to a “total destruction” of Christian faith groups in the Middle East.

Father Desbois believes that Christians in the West “have a responsibility to help” refugees families in the Middle East, and one of the ways he suggests is by donating to organizations that are working hard to assist people suffering as a result of the Islamic State’s actions.

Christians faced greater oppression today than under Saddam Hussain. This is why Christians fled from Bagdad north to the Nineveh Plains and Kurdish areas. It is in these areas that our Diapers for Refugees and Christmas for Refugees program is operating.

Young Christian mothers stand in line to receive diapers in northern Iraq.

Young Christian mothers stand in line to receive diapers in northern Iraq.

The Diapers for Refugees program aims to send high quality disposable diapers to these Christian refugee families located in camps around Erbil. Families in these camps are dying from diaper rash because of the inability to wash cloth diapers with soap and clean water. Due to the lack of diapers, mothers are forced to use donated clothing as diapers for their children, which still can’t be cleaned properly.

With help from our donors, the Diapers for Refugees program gave nearly 300 families enough diapers to last for three months, totaling 160,000 diapers in the first shipment which took place in March 2016. In June of 2016, 160,000 more diapers were sent and distributed to families in the refugee camps located in Erbil. Our commitment for the remainder of 2016 is to provide these Christian refugee camps with diapers every three months, totaling 640,000 disposable diapers given to displaced Christian families.

The price of a single shipment of diapers ranges from $18,000 to $20,000 or 11 cents per diaper. These shipments are distributed by large truckloads to Christian refugee camps across Northern Iraq.

The Islamic State has declared war on Christianity too many times to count. Christianity is under attack and thousands of our Christian brothers and sisters are dying because of it. These Christian refugees need our continued prayers and support. Learn how you can help.

At this Christmas event north of Beirut one of the youngest girls began to cry when it was time to leave. At one point all chairs were stacked for the children to be able to play various organized games.

At this Christmas event north of Beirut one of the youngest girls began to cry when it was time to leave. At one point all chairs were stacked for the children to be able to play various organized games.

The Christmas for Refugees program helps displaced Christians from Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon that are being ignored by Islamic run charities. In 2013, 2014, Christmas events that included hot meals were served to Christian refugee children in Jordan and Lebanon. In 2015 the program was expanded to Christian IDP’s (Internally Displaced Persons) in Iraq who fled the Islamic State as the city of Mosul and Christians villages nearby were overrun. Much of the Nineveh Plain was also stolen from Christian families who fled to the Kurdish areas in the northeast. In 2016 the number of children served will be increased.

Christmas for Refugees is much more than one hot meal at Christmas. The many hours long program includes a warm place to stay for a day with Gospel themed plays and puppet shows along with games and traditional Christmas songs. Gospel themed coloring books and work books are supplied to the children and in some cases Arabic language picture Bibles. Each child takes home a gift box for themselves and their family. The gift box for each child’s family varies by area, even within the same nation. The family gift is a box of essential items including toothbrushes, toothpaste, hand soap, tissues, sponges, feminine hygiene items as well as dish and laundry soaps. Learn how you can help.

 All gifts to Christmas for Refugees received by December 1st will be doubled up to $110,800 – IF – $55,400 is raised. While some of the matching funds are in escrow, the majority of the money will not be given to Christmas for Refugees until the matching challenge is met.

To count as a part of the matching challenge your envelope must be postmarked before December 1st or your online donation received before December 1st.

 

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