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 Meet Simon. 

Children are often the forgotten victims of persecution. Their vulnerability makes them easy targets; if we will not speak up on their behalf, who will? A recent trend is the trafficking of Christian children by radical Islamists, posing as pastors and offering a good education and a bright future to impoverished parents. ICC has learned of over 300 children who have met this fate, 200 who are still missing. This is just one of their stories:

Looking at Simon, one would never know that this young child, not even 12 years old, has experienced more persecution for his faith than most any report ICC has ever received. He has learned from a young age how to stand strong in the face of persecution.

Simon was born into a small, poor, Christian village in Bangladesh, a dominantly Muslim nation. Simon’s parents had no money to educate their child, the only way to escape a life of struggle and poverty.

One day, a man came to the village, a man they believed would help their son achieve the dreams they had for him. The man promised that, for a large fee, he would enroll Simon into a boarding school in the city, where he would be housed, fed, clothed and educated both intellectually and spiritually by a Christian organization.

The parents eagerly accepted, scrounged up what little fortune they had, and waved goodbye to their son.

Much to Simon’s horror, the man sold him and other boys to a madrassa, an Islamic training center. Simon was forced to memorize the Quran, pray Muslim prayers five times a day, and learn Arabic. When they refused, they were beaten with live electric wires or rods, underfed, locked in small closets, and verbally abused. Simon recounts being beaten many times because he did not want to pray, so he prayed quietly in his heart to Jesus to avoid the inevitable wrath of his captors.

The boys would often be threatened with circumcision, so, with fear that this alteration would forbid them from remaining Christians, the frightened boys gathered enough courage to escape. They told the teacher they needed to go to the village and tell others to follow Islam ‘because it is the truth.’

Pleased that his message had reached the boys, the teacher allowed them to go as they had asked. The boys knocked on doors until they found a Hindu family who allowed them to use a cell phone to call one boy’s father. The father was overwhelmed with relief, as he had been searching for his son four months. The father gave his son the number of an ICC partner who would arrange for the boys’ rescue.

Even with all the kindness of the Hindu stranger, “the boys were still shaking and scared,” Simon recounted. He says the boys hid in the darkest corner of the house, refusing to eat until they were safe and far away from the people who were hurting them. Until then, they would not feel safe enough to trust anyone.

Simon and his friends are now in a private school, grateful to have been rescued, able to laugh and play as little boys should.

This Week: 

• Pray for the missing children who have been trafficked by madrassas; pray that they will be swiftly found and rescued.
• Pray for those children still enrolled at madrassas; pray that the Holy Spirit will block out any teachings of Islam, and comfort them in their time of need. Pray that any physical, mental, emotional or spiritual violence will cease immediately.
• Pray for those children who have been rescued; pray for their complete healing; pray that their hearts will not grow bitter towards their persecutors, but they will praise God in all circumstances, for He is good when life is not.
• Pray for the persecutors, that they will see the wickedness of their ways and abandon their mission; pray that they experience radical encounters with Christ, and give Him their hearts.

Categories: Christian persecution