Church history

In early August 2015, twelve Christians near the
city of Aleppo, Syria, were captured by ISIS militant

forces. Their leader was a pastor and missionary
who, along with his twelve-year-old son, had planted
nine churches in the countryside surrounding Aleppo.
Taken to an unnamed village, the pastor and son,
along with two other Christian workers, were
paraded before a crowd. Pushing the father to the
forefront, the Islamic militants demanded that he
renounce his faith in Jesus Christ and return to Islam,
or die. When he refused, they dragged his son before
the horrified crowd of relatives and neighbors and, as
his father watched, they began to slice the ends of
the boy’s fingers off.
Still strong in their faith in the Savior who had
hung on the cross for their salvation, the father and
son refused to renounce Jesus. Both, along with the
two other Christian captives, insisted that nothing
could separate them from the love of God through
His Son, Jesus Christ. They would not renounce their
faith.
Losing all patience, the murderers brutally beat the
four Christians before crucifying them in the middle
of the village. According to a Christian Aid worker,
“They were left on the crosses for two days; no one
was allowed to remove them.”
8 The four were crucified beside signs that proclaimed them infidels