I received a phone call from Pastor R this morning with some additional information concerning the men that have been taken in custody. Two of the House of Blessing leaders took it upon themselves to go to the Iraqi police to see if they could find out what happened and why. Because there had been no recent problems with the Iraqi police or military arresting HOB missionaries, they were surprised with what had happened. They asked if they could at least find out the reason they had been arrested and where they had been taken.
The Iraqi authorities checked their records and said they have no record of these arrests having been made. What they were told by the authorities however is that ISIS has been kidnapping Iraqis so that they could be used as human shields. This way they can get Iraqis to kill Iraqis. The Iraqi authorities have been having a lot of trouble with ISIS jihadists wearing Iraqi military or Peshmerga military uniforms so that they can embed themselves in order to do their dirty work. ISIS then, when they are being attacked, will tie the legs of their kidnapped victims and put them in front as human shields.
It is important that the record be corrected so that people praying for these missionaries know it was not the Iraqi military or Iraqi police that took them in custody. That is the good news. The bad news however is that ISIS has a demonic hatred of Christians and we know all about their brutal ways. Let’s pray for these missionaries. There are 115 from the large meeting in Mosul and 75 from the gathering in Fallujah.These missionaries and believers are in the hands of some of the worst. Our God however knows exactly where they are and is more than capable to bringing them through this. What the devil intends for evil can be turned to bring glory to God. And…if some do lose their lives, we know they will instantly be in the presence of the One who died for them. They will never ever suffer again for eternity. In the meantime, let’s boldly and earnestly pray for the miraculous to happen. Even some ISIS jihadists have been reached on occasion
Forever in His Service,
Jake Geier