Reading about the atrocities being committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) is one thing, but witnessing them is many times more shocking and horrifying.
A group of Christian missionaries recently saw with their own eyes one such atrocity when a three-year-old girl was fatally hit by an ISIS landmine.
The horrific scene was witnessed by Free Burma Rangers (FBR) leader David Eubank and his group of Christian missionaries in western Mosul, an area in northwestern Iraq, Faith Wire reported.
Eubank said Iraqi forces were fighting off ISIS militants in the city that day when they encountered an Iraqi family on the road.
"It became quiet, and as we came over a ridge we saw a small farm down below. We went down to the farm and an ISIS fighter who had fled there blew himself up in a shed on the farm. As we carefully approached, a family emerged fearfully and the father greeted us in English," he said.
Eubank told the family they had nothing to fear from them, and they only wanted to help. When he asked if he could pray to God for and with them, the father agreed. So Eubank prayed in Jesus' name, asking that good things come to the family, and that God bless them with a new life.
"The children, who were afraid at first, began to smile shyly. We talked with them and made friends and gave them some food," he shared. "It was a bright spot in our day and we all were happy. To me this felt like God's will being done on earth as it is in heaven and that we were blessed to be a part of it."
But after parting ways, the missionaries heard a loud blast after the tractor the family of six were riding on hit an ISIS improvised explosive device planted on the road. They were all thrown off the tractor by the explosion.
The missionaries ran over to help, but could not save the little girl who suffered a fatal wound. The other family members were also wounded but they survived the explosion.
Meanwhile, FBR missionaries Noelle and Sky Barkley told WBTV that so many people have been oppressed by ISIS' "evil regime," that it's not an option anymore for other people to sit back and not offer help.
Even though they are putting their lives at risk being in Mosul, the Barkleys believe their cause is worth dying for. "If that's what it means to be obedient to God and to glorify him, then I will lay down my life for that," Sky said.
