In Iraq, a baby boy is saved from certain death

A BABY saved from death in Iraq; a story of the triumph of good over evil. And it happened on Iraqi soil, where for three years the evil of ISIS ran unchecked through the land, destroying countless lives.

A teenage girl was imprisoned and raped  by ISIS militants, like so many other women belonging to ethnic and religious minorities. Without doubt, these women, forced into sexual slavery, were among the greatest victims of the murderous rage of the extremist Muslims.

We received information that this girl was left pregnant as a result, and that, on hearing of this, the elders of her tribe made the decision to kill the child as soon as it was born. To their way of thinking, it was impossible to leave alive a child whose father is an ISIS militant—since to their mind it was practically the devil who would be the father.

Fortunately, this young woman did not want to kill the child she was carrying within her womb. Somebody put her in touch with the local Church community and as a result, she was able to give birth to a baby boy and leave him in the care of women religious, who welcomed him into their orphanage. For a month the child was cared for with great love, while the mother herself was also kept in safety to protect her any violence provoked by her decision to keep the baby alive.

An anonymous witness, who held the baby in his arms, told us: “I want you to hear some good news about what happened here—something that could only have happened thanks to the presence of the Church. It is a story of life and about why our presence is so important here.”

The story has ended with the baby being welcomed and adopted, a month after its birth, by a Christian family. The family promised to bring up their new child in a spirit of love and forgiveness. That is an attitude and commitment that Christians stand for, day after day, in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. Evil never has the last word.
—Raquel Martin