Frustrated Islamic State commander searches monastery for weapons, finds Bibles
By Mark Ellis and Michael Ashcraft, Special to ASSIST News Service
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (ANS - October 21, 2015)
-- Sister Hayat, a 30-year-old Iraqi nun, lived a quiet life of
devotion in a Dominican monastery near Mosul, Iraq. She helped care for
children in an orphanage and also taught anthropology at a local
university. Then Islamic State jihadists overran the city.
“When
we realized that running was our only option, all the nuns packed a
bag,” she said. “We met in the church and prayed, before kissing the
floor one last time and closing the door of the monastery behind us.”
She
is now helping refugees in the city of Erbil, where she spent the last
five months caring for elderly nuns, according to a report by World
Watch Monitor.
A
few days after fleeing, an Islamic State commander called the abbess,
Sister Maria, to taunt her. “Just to let you know, I’m sitting in your
chair now and am running things here,” he said.
Then
he demanded to know where the sisters kept their weapons; he couldn’t
conceive that such an important building in the community would be
without an armory, Hayat told World Watch Monitor.
Sister Maria guided him to the library.
But his careful search didn’t turn up what he was looking for and he called her back, noticeably upset.
“There are no weapons here, just books,” the man shouted through the phone.
Photo captions: 1) Refugees flee Mosul. 2) A refugee camp in Erbil.
About the writer: Mark Ellis is senior correspondent for the ASSIST News service and also the founder of www.Godreports.com
, a website that shares stories, testimonies and videos from the church
aorund the world to build interest and involvement in world missions.
** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net)
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