GLOBAL PRAYER NETWORK: Iraqi Refugee Child’s Startling Message to World Leaders

Jumat, 18 Desember 2015

Iraqi Refugee Child’s Startling Message to World Leaders

Young Islamic State (ISIS) Victim Responds to Persecution with Love

By Dan Wooding, Founder of the ASSIST News Service

EASTON, MD (ANS – December 17, 2015) – Myriam, an 11-year-old Iraqi refugee girl who became a viral video star, has startling advice for how world leaders should respond to the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS).

She says, “Walk with love and mercy in your hearts.”

A year ago, Myriam’s message – first filmed and aired by Middle Eastern Christian satellite television channel SAT-7 KIDS – went viral worldwide on the Internet and via social media to tens of millions of viewers when she said that God loves IS, she forgives them and prays that God will forgive them too.

Myriam displayed faith and forgiveness, even after losing her school and her friends when the self-styled Islamic State (ISIS) terror group drove her family out of their hometown of Qaraqosh.

“Living in an unfinished shopping mall structure in Erbil, she had three wishes – that she could return to school, that she could be reunited with her best friend Sandra, and that her message of love and forgiveness would reach the world,” said a spokesperson for SAT-7.

Over 800,000 people watched her short video interview that SAT-7 ARABIC posted on their Facebook page! It was translated into multiple languages, including Chinese, Russian, and Italian and can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/sat7ar?fref=ts&ref=br_tf .

Today, all three prayers have been answered as she sits at the same desk as Sandra at a school in Erbil in Northern Iraq. She has a new message for the world when she was reunited with the Egyptian reporter who first interviewed her, Essam Nagy, a popular program host on SAT-7 KIDS.When asked what message she would give world leaders, she said, “Walk with love and mercy in your hearts.”

Sandra, said,“I want to tell them to pray to Jesus because He is everything in life. He is the one who gave them life and shields them during the hard times.”

Don’t miss Myriam’s latest interview on ABC News' 20/20, Friday, December 18 at 10PM EST.

“Iraqis are still suffering at the hands of Islamic State (ISIS), with many being subjected to kidnappings and human trafficking. Mothers are having their children stolen right out of their arms by IS militants as a price for getting out with the rest of the family,” concluded the SAT-7 spokesperson.

Launched in 1996, with an international headquarters in Cyprus, SAT-7 broadcasts Christian satellite television to an audience of over 15 million people in the Middle East and North Africa. SAT-7 broadcasts in Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish languages. For additional information or interviews, contact SAT-7 USA or discover more at www.sat7usa.org.

Photo captions: 1) A recent picture of Myriam with Essam Nagy, the Egyptian reporter who first interviewed her. 2) Myriam singing a Christian song for the camera. 3) Dan Wooding pictured outside the Kurdistan Parliament in Erbil, Northern Iraq.

About the writer: Dan Wooding, 74, is an award-winning author, broadcaster and journalist who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, and is now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 52 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the author of some 45 books and has two TV programs and one radio show in Southern California. He has reported widely for ANS from all over the Middle East, including from Northern Iraq.