Jesus Christ is in Mosul, and the Islamic State (ISIS) is powerless to stop Him.
This impression was made when a team of humanitarian aid workers found something extraordinary inside an Orthodox church destroyed by ISIS militants in a liberated area in downtown Mosul, Iraq.
In an inspiring video posted on his group's website, Matt Willingham of Preemptive Love can be seen walking through the ruins of a church bombed by ISIS.
"I'm in a destroyed orthodox Church in downtown Mosul," Willingham begins his video annotation. "I wanted just to take a minute to show you the destruction. You can see the chandeliers are just blown to bits, you can see the ISIS flag up here. I mean, it's terrible."
A huge crater possibly caused by a mortar blast can be seen where the altar used to be.
But amid the gloom, Waleed, a Muslim member of Willingham's team, spotted something extraordinary. "As my friend and I were walking, he called me over and he said, "Hey, come look at this. And he pointed up, and we looked up and got to see this."
The camera then focuses on the ceiling where a beautiful image of Jesus can be seen, miraculously undamaged.
On his blog, Willingham says he stood silently and wept when he saw the image.
"It was just one of those moments where despite all that's around us, all the negativity and destruction. That little moment just caught my breath. Just this beautiful little glimpse of Christ, of hope.. it just keeps you going," Willingham says.
"That beautiful, bright image had hit my heart like mortar. It had been such a difficult day, and then... a little hope," he says.
Hope continues to burn brighter in Mosul as Iraqi forces continue to push their way into the heart of the ISIS-occupied city.
However, amid the ongoing offensive, more refugees from the western part of the city have fled and reached safer grounds. The Iraqi government has announced that as of Friday, the number of refugees has reached more than 31.000 as battles intensify between ISIS militants and Iraqi troops, Iraqi News reported.
The United Nations earlier warned that at least 250.000 could be displaced due to battles in western Mosul, which could lead to severe medical and food supply shortages in areas still under ISIS occupation.
