Fleeing ISIS, Finding Jesus

Fantastic book. really enjoyed reading about it. its a topic i am very interested in

Fleeing ISIS, Finding Jesus Charles Morris and Craig Borlase, David C. Cook
If it is true that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians (spoken by Tertullian in 197AD) then we should expect to see the number of Christians in the Middle East growing. The persecution of Christians, including death, is well documented and even live-streamed.
In this book Charles Morris gives an eyewitness account of the Christians he met in Iraq. These Christians are not SMOs (Sunday Morning Only) but are people living out their faith every day of the week. Many of whom have left their homes and are living in refugee camps.
I don’t know how anyone who reads this book can ever complain again about the petty things we tend to complain about—no cake left at the church fellowship dinner, faulty air conditioning or the pastor going two minutes over in his message. (Come on, we have all heard this or even said it.)
Though the names have been changed and the locations masked we still get to know our brothers and sisters in Iraq and the Middle East.
These people are not ones who grew up in the Christian faith and their faith became more important when they had to flee. We are introduced to killers and sex slaves who came to know and follow Jesus.
The reader is reminded that death is not the worst kind of persecution. Charles Morris introduces us to a young girl who was raped and passed around until she was delivered. He wrote of this young girl, “Shame doesn’t kill a man as quickly as a jihadi’s blade or a sinking boat, but it can suffocate and strangle life just as powerfully”.
One of the recurring themes in this book is the presence of Jesus. He often makes his presence known by speaking or in a dream and he gives specific direction. There are those who say this kind of thing does not happen today—Jesus does not speak or lead through dreams. I will not offer my opinion to the doubters but I will say it is best for them not to read this book.
I read this current, moving book and now I need to change the way I pray and act. I can’t just put it aside.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com with the understanding I would read it and write a review.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness," Jesus once said, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Charles Morris finds the embodiment of this text in his travels among the refugee camps of Jordan and Syria, collecting the stories of some of the most persecuted Christians in the world. In a region where converts to Christianity face death from their own family members, where ISIS wages genocide, one would expect to find despair (indeed, Christians make up about 30% of the refugees from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq). Instead, the reader will find in <i>Fleeing ISIS, Finding Jesus</i> a remarkable amount of hope.

In fact, Morris reports, "In the last twenty-five years there have been more Muslims coming to Jesus Christ than in the whole fourteen centuries preceding," according to one of his hosts, a Christian pastor named, Naser, "Since the birth of Islam, there has never been a time like this."

While this assertion--along with the ideal of a "golden age" of Christian conversion--is repeated several times in the book, it isn't Morris's primary focus. The evidence is anecdotal--stories of Muslims seeing Jesus in a dream, encouraging them into his kingdom--and Christian readers will find inspiration in every chapter.

Readers find first-hand accounts of ISIS brutality--rape survivors and those who lost entire families share their stories with Morris. The Christian town of Qaraqosh, just outside of Mosul, is featured heavily in the book, as several survivors recall ISIS's onslaught on the village.

Morris ties his reporting together at the end in a very inspiring way. He doesn't lower his vision to counter or demean Islam. "We don't belong to the land; we belong to Jesus," another Christian priest tells Morris near the end of the book. "Wherever we have Jesus, we have the Promised Land."

In an epilogue, Morris calls on American Christians to use the suffering and the soul-winning of Iraqi & Syrian Christians as a tonic to complacency and luxury here at home.

Out of one of the darkest conflicts of the present day, Morris's book has brought a great light to shine.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fleeing ISIS, Finding Jesus

The Real Story of God at Work



by Charles Morris, Craig Borlase

David C Cook

You Are Auto-Approved

David C. Cook



Nonfiction (Adult), Christian

Pub Date 01 Jan 2017

I am voluntarily reviewing a copy of Fleeing Isis, Finding Jesus through the publisher and Netgalley:

Despite what is happening in the Middle East, with extremists like Isis,there are some Christians who are standing up against the terror.

In many parts of the Middle East, Christians risk the chance of being murdered by extremist groups like Al-Quaeda and Isis, as well as those who sympathize with Christians.

This book reminds us that even in the darkest places seeds can grow.

I give Fleeing ISIS, Finding Jesus five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

“My husband has lost his family and we have moved three times; we have one son and there are people who want to kill me. I have lost my family, I have lost my culture, and I am not allowed to work her in Jordan. But life is great because I believe in Jesus. He is great… Sometimes I pray for ISIS. I pray that Jesus would let them know who He is.” – Sabreen
Is Christianity dead in the Middle East? That is the question that Morris set out to answer. The answer isn’t really surprising, but it’s still stunning. He meets Christians who know with every fiber of their being the answer. They know God is living within them, still calling sinners to repentance, still delivering his people, still comforting the broken, still caring for the fatherless and the widow. He shares their testimonies as he heard them after setting the stage for each with a description of the way they are living now.
The many individual stories in this book are placed chronologically with the author’s travels in the area not with when they happened. So, the timeline bounces back and forth quite a bit. It wasn’t hard to follow, but sometimes it has the feel of a travelogue.
Christianity is very broadly defined to include Catholics, Orthodox, Protestant, and Evangelical. I believe many of these people have truly found Everlasting Life through Jesus, but other than loving Jesus and people there isn’t a whole lot of doctrine in this book. For example, Jesus death for sin is never mentioned. There is a lot about Jesus being our all, but not how to reach Him. I guess what I’m trying to say is the Gospel isn’t presented in this book. In fact, there wasn’t any scripture mentioned either. Several of the conversations he relates sound like they had sound theology behind them. It just wasn’t included in the book.
It ends with a call to reach out the lost everywhere but especially the lost of the Muslim faith.
It is worth reading, but it has some very mature content. It was handled delicately. It’s just really hard material.
I received a free ARC of this book through NetGalley and David C. Cook. No review was required, but it was my pleasure to write it.

I knew going into it that this book would be very difficult for me to read. I'm very aware of my persecuted brothers and sisters, and I pray for them daily. But I struggle with knowing the details; they haunt me at night and sicken me if I think too much about them. As they should. I was afraid if I read this book that it would have similar effects on me. But I wanted to hear what Jesus was doing in the Middle East! I have listened to Charles Morris on the radio for a few years, and I was riveted as he discussed his trip on various shows. I knew I had to read the book, whatever the cost to my sensitivities.

Was it hard to read? Yes. No one actually wants to read about unspeakable atrocities. But more than the atrocities, I read miraculous stories of how Jesus is meeting these persecuted people in very real ways and how He's also confronting those who do not know Him. Those were amazing stories! He is certainly changing lives in the Middle East! Christianity is not a dying religion there, and this book tells just a small part of the greater picture. This book is filled with story after story of despair met and overcome with glorious hope! I highly recommend it!

I gratefully received a free eARC from the authors, publisher, and NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

I took some time to read this book and it is so powerful! Fleeing ISIS, Finding Jesus follows Charles as he travels around the Middle East to meet with the persecuted Christians. Most of the book consists of their testimonies and reading them reminded me of how terrible things are there, and how God is working in them and through them.

Some of the believers were from a long line of Christians and lost everything when ISIS took over. It was painful to read of how many of them trusted their Muslim neighbours to take care of their houses and possessions, only to find out that their neighbours had taken their things as theirs. But it was uplifting to see that despite all this, they still forgive and love them.

Some of the believers were Muslims who came to Christ and experienced terrible persecution. But for them, no price is too high for the peace they receive and their words and actions reflect the love of Christ as well.

These people truly are heroes and there is a lot that I have to learn from them.

And this is a little bit of a sidetrack, but a bit of what someone said reminded me of the hidden Christians in Silence:
"I look at the West and wonder if Satan uses our affluence to limit the growth of the Church. [...] So we give God a Sunday morning but love the other six days of the week for ourselves. Where real persecution happens, you're not afforded that. You have to call on God multiple times a day."
From the testimonies of these brothers and sisters in Christ, we see that God is always present, even in the toughest circumstances. So God wasn't silent like Rodriguez assumed. He was always with the Christians of Japan like He is with the Christians in the Middle East.

This book isn't a comfortable read - my heart kept breaking when I read about the suffering that those in the Middle East are going through. But it is a book that we have to read, because we need to open our eyes, and we need to keep working for the persecuted and those that are suffering right now.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.