Download or read book Kidnapped in Iraq A Christian Humanitarian Tells His Story written by Alexandre Goodarzy and published by Crisis. This book was released on 2022-05-24 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blindfolded, tied, prodded by guns, Alexandre faced intense interrogations, fearing all the while that torture and death were imminent. In Kidnapped in Iraq, Alexandre Goodarzy describes in gripping detail his abduction by Islamic terrorists in January 2020, how prayer and his Catholic Faith sustained him, and why he now views the entire ordeal as a blessing from God. After learning of the fate of untold Christians in the Middle East, Alexandre was among a cadre of young men who agreed to assist Christians in danger. As the war in Syria quickly turned into a religious war, Alexandre provided aid to Christians there who were caught between a hardening regime and increasingly bloodthirsty Islamist groups. The brutalization of Syrian Christians was only recently exposed, since the real story was often distorted by the media. In recent years, Syrian Christians faced the grim choice of fleeing from ISIS and abandoning their homeland or enduring barbaric martyrdom. Their cities were leveled and their churches destroyed. Goodarzy describes how these Christians, loyal to their country, were sporadically kidnapped by Kurds and held for ransom or forced into military service. In Syria, priests provide both spiritual and temporal care, assisting with basic necessities in the community and working to preserve their culture while mediating with secular authorities. In what reads like a dystopian thriller, Alexandre describes the dangerous episodes he experienced assisting Christians, including the perilous twelve-hour bus ride from Damascus to Aleppo and the numerous face-to-face encounters with Islamic rebels - the last of which resulted in his abduction and sixty-six-day captivity by Iraqi terrorists. "What is affecting us here today will strike you tomorrow!" people in Iraq and Syria told Goodarzy, predicting that the radical Islamic atrocities in their countries would soon assail France and other Western countries. Kidnapped in Iraq is a riveting story of bravery and courage and one man's extraordinary efforts to aid Christians in need. It is also a chilling guidebook on how to fight for justice and proclaim the hope that comes in the triumph of the Cross. Book jacket.

Download or read book Abducted in Iraq written by Saad Sirop Hanna and published by University of Notre Dame Pess. This book was released on 2017-09-30 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do we respond in the face of evil, especially to those who inflict grave evil upon us? Abducted in Iraq is Bishop Saad Sirop Hanna’s firsthand account of his abduction in 2006 by a militant group associated with al-Qaeda. As a young parish priest and visiting lecturer on philosophy at Babel College near Baghdad, Fr. Hanna was kidnapped after celebrating Mass on August 15 and released on September 11. Hanna’s plight attracted international attention after Pope Benedict XVI requested prayers for the safe return of the young priest. The book charts Hanna’s twenty-eight days in captivity as he struggles through threats, torture, and the unknown to piece together what little information he has in a bid for survival. Throughout this time, he questions what a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq means for the future, as well as the events that lead the country on that path. Through extreme hardship, the young priest gains a greater knowledge both of his faith and of remaining true to himself. This riveting narrative reflects the experience of persecuted Christians all over the world today, especially the plight of Iraqi Christians who continue to live and hold their faith against tremendous odds, and it sheds light on the complex political and spiritual situation that Catholics face in predominantly non-Christian nations. More than just a personal story, Abducted in Iraq is also Hanna’s portrayal of what has happened to the ancient churches of one of the oldest Christian communities and how the West’s reaction and inaction have affected Iraqi Christians. More than just a story of one man, it is also the story of a suffering and persecuted people. As such, this book will be of great interest to those wanting to learn more about the violence in the Middle East and the threats facing Christians there, as well all those seeking to strengthen their own faith.

Download or read book Buried Alive written by Roy Hallums and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2012-10-08 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “vivid, absorbing, and chilling” true-life account of surviving nearly a year of captivity in Iraq (Lesley Stahl, 60 Minutes correspondent). AK47s, masked thugs, and brutal urgency erupt from Roy Hallums’ account of his abduction in Iraq, shredding through those frequently sterile cable news reports revealing that another American contractor is being held hostage. Hallums was the everyman behind that report—a fifty-six-year-old retired Naval commander working as a food supply contractor in Baghdad’s high-end Mansour District. His abduction was transacted in a matter of minutes, amidst a hail of gunfire and a handful of casualties. For the first few months of his captivity, Hallums endured beatings and psychological torture while being shuffled from one ramshackle safe house to another. From the four-foot-tall crawlspace where he carried out the bulk of his nearly year-long abduction, Hallums established a surprising degree of normalcy—a system of routines and timekeeping, along with an attention to the particulars that defined his horrific ordeal. His experience is recreated here, rich with harrowing specifics and surprising observations.

Download or read book American Hostage written by Micah Garen and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2005-10-11 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rare and powerful story of hope, love, survival,and the struggle to bring back alive a hostage in Iraq Micah Garen and Marie-Hélène Carleton were journalists and filmmakers working in Iraq on a documentary about the looting of the country's legendary archaeological sites, with their Iraqi translator Amir Doshi. In the late summer of 2004, they began to wrap up their work, and Marie-Hélène returned home while Micah remained for a final two weeks of filming. As Micah and Amir were filming in a Nasiriyah market, something went horribly wrong: Micah, who wore a bushy mustache and was dressed in Iraqi clothing, was unmasked as a foreigner and kidnapped by militants in southern Iraq. Home in New York, Marie-Hélène awoke to a gut-wrenching phone call from Micah's mother with word of his abduction. She promised Micah's mother the impossible--that together they would bring Micah back alive. American Hostage is the remarkable memoir of Micah Garen's harrowing abduction and survival in captivity, as well as the heroic and successful struggle of Marie-Hélène; Micah's sister, Eva; along with family and friends to win Micah's and Amir's release from their captors. The world watched and waited as Micah's drama unfolded, but the authors, now safely home and engaged to be married, detail the dramatic untold story. After learning of Micah's abduction, Marie-Hélène took a risky and unusual step: instead of relying on the authorities to rescue Micah, she used her recent experience in Iraq to construct a massive grassroots effort to reach out to Micah's captors and plead for his release. As fighting between Coalition forces and the Mahdi Army raged in Najaf, Micah and Amir became pawns in a terrible political game. The kidnappers released a video threatening to kill Micah unless the United States withdrew from Najaf within forty-eight hours. In response, Marie-Hélène's and Micah's families redoubled their efforts, eventually sending a representative to Nasiriyah to lobby for Micah. While Marie-Hélène worked on his release, Micah, imprisoned alongside Amir under armed guard deep in the marshes of southern Iraq, lived the nightmare of a hostagehaunted by the alternating impulses of hope and despair, his desire for survival and plans of escape. His experience reveals a great deal about the lives and minds of militants in southern Iraq. American Hostage is an engrossing and rare story of how hope, love, and communal effort can overcome war, distance, and cultural differences in Iraq.

Download or read book His Glory Through My Story written by Fadi B. Matti and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-05-20 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christians escape Saddam Hussein hanging in 2003 This book is my real story that shows the real face of Christian persecution in Iraq - Baghdad during Saddam Hussein's regime. I was arrested in February 2003 by the Iraqi intelligence with some other Christian believers and we were accused of sharing our Christian faith with non- Christians. I tell how Jesus Christ himself appeared in my cell to one Muslim leader who was persecuting me because of my faith in Jesus and Jesus Christ rebuked him face to face and told him that he will release me from the Iraqi intelligence headquarters prison in Baghdad, called (Al Hakimieh - the white ship). This book also reveals the reality of The Lord Jesus Christ as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords during the hard times. The Lord Jesus is not the Christianity religion, he is a real person and he is still alive today and still appears in dreams, visions and physically to people to save, encourage, heal, deliver or rebuke and judge others for the sake of his real beloved friends. This book is to encourage the persecuted Christians and Churches around the world and to let them know that they are not alone during the persecution and to prepare the Church for the persecution Biblical way and learn how to thank God always during that time and how to deal with it. This book is to help other people from all different religions and beliefs and even Christians to know Jesus Christ himself closer and in a personal way. This book is to encourage those who put their trust in Jesus Christ and to let them know that they are not alone in this life but Jesus Christ himself is with them ALWAYS whether they feel that or not. He is there for them even if they don't have enough faith to see that. In this book you will read many other personal testimonies that reveals practically that the Bible - is the real word of God and it is still active and working in our day and our generation. This book reveals that there is no power on earth can fight and stand against Jesus Christ and His word - The Bible and his followers can stand on earth but eventually it will be judged and destroyed totally. This book is all about real and practical testimonies that supports the Word of God and the Word of God is supporting these testimonies as well. Read the real and only reason why Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Government collapsed and why the other governments on the earth they are facing judgments year after year. More details in my next book. The first step into destruction of any country is to fight Jesus Christ and his real followers and to stand against His Word (which is the Bible). In this book you will read about the God's patience and love towards people and the judgment of the Anti-Christ governments and countries and those who reject his love and mercy and His Word - The Bible they will have to pay for their sins consequences which is death. God will allow people to reap what they deserve (the penalty of their sins which is death) because they rejected what they don't deserve (His Son Jesus who took their sins and its penalty upon himself by His death and His resurrection). That's called judgement. In this book you will see how I saw God's powerful hand and how I learned about him in my darkest time more than what I have learned in many religions churches I've been through. You can see God more clearly and closely in your worst and darkest times than in your best and quiet times, just don't lose hope in him till the end and he will deliver you from all your temptations as he has done with me personally and still doing with me and he will continue forever. I am still learning in spite of all my mistakes, failures and weaknesses. I recommend all governments and people in authority to read this book and learn from it especially those who are against the Wrod of God - Bible. I hope you enjoy this journey as you read this book. Be blessed and encouraged. Fadi B.Matti

Download or read book Hostage in Iraq written by N. F. Kember and published by Darton Longman and Todd. This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Norman Kember, Christian pacifist, kidnapped in Iraq until set free by a Special Forces raid, gives for the first time his own account of his ordeal.

Download or read book 118 Days written by Tricia Gates Brown and published by DreamSeeker Books. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2005, Christian Peacemaker Team members Tom Fox, Jim Loney, Norman Kember, and Harmeet Sooden were kidnapped in Iraq. Fox was killed, and the other three men were freed after 118 days of captivity. This volume discusses the event's impact and results.

Download or read book Kidnapped by the Taliban written by Dilip Joseph and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2014-10-21 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Being abducted and held captive by the Taliban isn't a tale many survive to tell. An American doctor shares the harrowing story about the four days he spent with his captors after being abducted on a humanitarian mission and his incredible rescue by SEAL Team Six. On December 5, 2012, American medical doctor Dilip Joseph and two colleagues are driving back to Kabul, Afghanistan, after serving villagers that morning at a rural clinic. Suddenly a man waving an AK-47 blocks their path. More armed men jump out of hiding. For Dilip, it is the beginning of a nightmare—he’s being kidnapped by the Taliban. Dilip recounts his story with chilling detail, transporting the reader to rural Afghanistan. “As we walk, I fear the worst—that when we reach the top, they will shoot us. God, however this is going to end, please don’t let them torture me to death. Let it be one shot and done.” Dilip and his friends endure a nine-hour march into the mountains, gruesome images of torture and death, and repeated threats of execution. After four days of uncertainty, gunfire announces the arrival of Navy SEAL Team Six, the elite group of soldiers that took down al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. SEAL team member Nicolas D. Checque loses his life in the rescue, as do the Taliban kidnappers. Yet this is more than a story of desperation, survival, and loss. It is also a tale of surprising connection, compassion, and inspiration. As Dilip begins to view the Taliban not as monsters but as men, both he and his captors are challenged to re-examine everything that matters: courage, sacrifice, hope, and faith. The book includes: First-hand account of a Taliban kidnapping survivor Insights into the Taliban's daily existence Insights into the sacrifices made by the American armed forces Includes a glossary and map of Afghanistan Kidnapped by the Taliban is a story of both terror and triumph. After reading this dramatic and inspiring account, you will never view Afghanistan or the Taliban in the same way again.

Download or read book Routledge Companion to Media and Humanitarian Action written by Robin Andersen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-14 with total page 649 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this moment of unprecedented humanitarian crises, the representations of global disasters are increasingly common media themes around the world. The Routledge Companion to Media and Humanitarian Action explores the interconnections between media, old and new, and the humanitarian challenges that have come to define the twenty-first century. Contributors, including media professionals and experts in humanitarian affairs, grapple with what kinds of media language, discourse, terms, and campaigns can offer enough context and background knowledge to nurture informed global citizens. Case studies of media practices, content analysis and evaluation of media coverage, and representations of humanitarian emergencies and affairs offer further insight into the ways in which strategic communications are designed and implemented in field of humanitarian action.

Download or read book Lion of Babylon A Marc Royce Thriller Book 1 written by Davis Bunn and published by Bethany House. This book was released on 2011-07-01 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marc Royce works for the State Department on special assignments, most of them rather routine, until two CIA operatives go missing in Iraq--kidnapped by Taliban forces bent on generating chaos in the region. Two others also drop out of sight--a high-placed Iraqi civilian and an American woman providing humanitarian aid. Are the disappearances linked? Rumors circulate in a whirl of misinformation. Marc must unravel the truth in a covert operation requiring utmost secrecy--from both the Americans and the insurgents. But even more secret than the undercover operation is the underground dialogue taking place between sworn enemies. Will the ultimate Reconciler between ancient enemies, current foes, and fanatical religious factions be heard?

Download or read book The Girl Who Escaped ISIS written by Farida Khalaf and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-07-04 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A rare and riveting first-hand account of the terror and torture inflicted by ISIS on young Iraqi Yazidi women, and an inspiring personal story of bravery and resilience in the face of unspeakable horrors. In the early summer of 2014, Farida Khalaf was a typical Yazidi teenager living with her parents and three brothers in her village in the mountains of Northern Iraq. In one horrific day, she lost everything: ISIS invaded her village, destroyed her family, and sold her into sexual slavery. The Girl Who Escaped ISIS is her incredible account of captivity and describes how she defied the odds and escaped a life of torture, in order to share her story with the world. Devastating and inspiring, this is an astonishing, intimate account of courage and hope in the face of appalling violence"--

Download or read book A House in the Sky written by Amanda Lindhout and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-09-03 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The spectacularly dramatic memoir of a woman whose curiosity about the world led her from rural Canada to imperiled and dangerous countries on every continent, and then into fifteen months of harrowing captivity in Somalia—a story of courage, resilience, and extraordinary grace. The dramatic and redemptive memoir of a woman whose curiosity led her to the world’s most beautiful and remote places, its most imperiled and perilous countries, and then into fifteen months of harrowing captivity—an exquisitely written story of courage, resilience, and grace As a child, Amanda Lindhout escaped a violent household by paging through issues of National Geographic and imagining herself in its exotic locales. At the age of nineteen, working as a cocktail waitress in Calgary, Alberta, she began saving her tips so she could travel the globe. Aspiring to understand the world and live a significant life, she backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each adventure, went on to Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a television reporter. And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Somalia—“the most dangerous place on earth.” On her fourth day, she was abducted by a group of masked men along a dusty road. Held hostage for 460 days, Amanda converts to Islam as a survival tactic, receives “wife lessons” from one of her captors, and risks a daring escape. Moved between a series of abandoned houses in the desert, she survives on memory—every lush detail of the world she experienced in her life before captivity—and on strategy, fortitude, and hope. When she is most desperate, she visits a house in the sky, high above the woman kept in chains, in the dark, being tortured. Vivid and suspenseful, as artfully written as the finest novel, A House in the Sky is the searingly intimate story of an intrepid young woman and her search for compassion in the face of unimaginable adversity.

Download or read book The Global War on Christians written by John L. Allen, Jr. and published by Image. This book was released on 2016-03-15 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most respected journalists in the United States and the bestselling author of The Future Church uses his unparalleled knowledge of world affairs and religious insight to investigate the troubling worldwide persecution of Christians. From Iraq and Egypt to Sudan and Nigeria, from Indonesia to the Indian subcontinent, Christians in the early 21st century are the world's most persecuted religious group. According to the secular International Society for Human Rights, 80 percent of violations of religious freedom in the world today are directed against Christians. In effect, our era is witnessing the rise of a new generation of martyrs. Underlying the global war on Christians is the demographic reality that more than two-thirds of the world's 2.3 billion Christians now live outside the West, often as a beleaguered minority up against a hostile majority-- whether it's Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East and parts of Africa and Asia, Hindu radicalism in India, or state-imposed atheism in China and North Korea. In Europe and North America, Christians face political and legal challenges to religious freedom. Allen exposes the deadly threats and offers investigative insight into what is and can be done to stop these atrocities. “This book is about the most dramatic religion story of the early 21st century, yet one that most people in the West have little idea is even happening: The global war on Christians,” writes John Allen. “We’re not talking about a metaphorical ‘war on religion’ in Europe and the United States, fought on symbolic terrain such as whether it’s okay to erect a nativity set on the courthouse steps, but a rising tide of legal oppression, social harassment and direct physical violence, with Christians as its leading victims. However counter-intuitive it may seem in light of popular stereotypes of Christianity as a powerful and sometimes oppressive social force, Christians today indisputably form the most persecuted religious body on the planet, and too often its new martyrs suffer in silence.” This book looks to shatter that silence.

Download or read book Criminals Militias and Insurgents written by Phil Williams and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author identifies the roots of organized crime in Ba'athist Iraq and reports on major criminal activities including the theft, diversion, and smuggling of oil, the kidnapping of both Iraqis and foreigners, extortion, car theft, and the theft and smuggling of antiquities. The author also reports on how al-Qaeda in Iraq, Jaish-al-Mahdi, and the Sunni tribes used criminal activities to fund their campaigns of political violence.

Download or read book Dear Reader written by Michael Malice and published by Michael Malice. This book was released on 2014-01-25 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No country is as misunderstood as North Korea, and no modern tyrant has remained more mysterious than the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il. Now, celebrity ghostwriter Michael Malice pulls back the curtain to expose the life story of the "Incarnation of Love and Morality." Taken directly from books spirited out of Pyongyang, DEAR READER is a carefully reconstructed first-person account of the man behind the mythology. From his miraculous rainbow-filled birth during the fiery conflict of World War II, Kim Jong Il watched as his beloved Korea finally earned its freedom from the cursed Japanese. Mere years later, the wicked US imperialists took their chance at conquering the liberated nation—with devastating results. But that's only the beginning of the Dear Leader's story. In DEAR READER, Kim Jong Il explains: *How he can shrink time *Why he despises the Mona Lisa *How he recreated the arts in Korea *Why the Juche idea is the greatest concept ever discovered by man *How he handled the crippling famine *Why Kim Jong Un was chosen as successor over his elder brothers With nothing left uncovered, drawing straight from dozens of books, hundreds of articles and thousands of years of Korean history, DEAR READER is both the definitive account of Kim Jong Il's life and the complete stranger-than-fiction history of the world's most unique country.

Download or read book The Inescapable Love of God written by Thomas Talbott and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2014-11-17 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Will the love of God save us all? In this book Thomas Talbott seeks to expose the extent to which the Western theological tradition has managed to twist the New Testament message of love, forgiveness, and hope into a message of fear and guilt. According to the New Testament proclamation, he argues, God's love is both unconditional in its nature and unlimited in its scope; hence, no one need fear, for example, that God's love might suddenly turn into loveless hatred at the moment of one's physical death. For God's love remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. But neither should one ignore the New Testament theme of divine judgment, which Talbott thinks the Western theological tradition has misunderstood entirely. He argues in particular that certain patterns of fallacious reasoning, which crop up repeatedly in the works of various theologians and Bible scholars, have prevented many from appreciating St. Paul's explicit teaching that God is merciful to all in the end. This second edition of Talbott's classic work is fully revised, updated, and substantially expanded with new material. ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO FORMAT The Inescapable Love of God is also available as an unabridged audiobook wonderfully narrated by the actor George W. Sarris (running time: 11 hours and 2 minutes). The audiobook can be downloaded from christianaudio.com and Audible.

Download or read book A Country Between written by Stephanie Saldaña and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A Country Between reminds us that grief is as indispensable to joy as light is to shadow. Beautifully written, ardent and wise." —Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Secret Chord, People of the Book, and March Moving her family to a war zone was not a simple choice, but she's determined to find hope, love, and peace amid the conflict in the Middle East. When young mother Stephanie Saldana finds herself in an empty house at the beginning of Nablus road—the dividing line between East and West Jerusalem—she sees more than a Middle Eastern flash point. She sees what could be home. Before her eyes, the fragile community of Jerusalem opens, and she starts to build her family to outlast the chaos. But as her son grows, so do the military checkpoints and bomb sirens, and Stephanie must learn to bridge the gap between safety and home, always questioning her choice to start her family and raise her child in a country at war. A Country Between is a celebration of faith, language, and family—and a mother's discovery of how love can fill the spaces between what was once shattered, leaving us whole once more.