News / Thoughts

Still missing

A four year old’s birthday is usually something to celebrate, but for Ayda her daughters’ birthday only brings more heartache. Her little girl, Christine is three years old, but will turn four on Saturday (18th July). Eleven months ago, she was snatched from the arms of her mother by militants of Islamic State (IS). After that, the family was deported from their home town of Qaraqosh in Iraq. They haven’t seen Christine since.

Over the past year Open Doors has stayed in touch with the parents through local contacts and recently visited the family again. Ayda, the mother of the family of five children, explained that even though her eldest son, 24, was recently married her “biggest joy would be when my child Christine would be returning to us.”

On 6th August 2014, their home town of Qaraqosh was overtaken by militants of the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Khader Abada, the father of the family, is blind, and therefore the family stayed in Qaraqosh, even after the takeover. They had no place to escape. They were hoping Islamic State would show mercy to the blind and disabled.

This hope was shortly destroyed. On 22 August, the family was taken by IS radicals for, what was said to be, a medical check-up. More Christians were brought together that day. Most of them had stayed in Qaraqosh for similar reasons as the Abada’s; because of disabilities, old age or other issues that kept them from fleeing.

The “medical check” proved to be a pretext in order to rob the families and subsequently deport them from Qaraqosh. They were getting rid of all Christians from the city.

Ayda described the situation inside the building as very chaotic. She was holding Christine close to her, but noticed she was pointed at a lot by IS soldiers.

The Christians had brought valuable belongings, some clothes and their ID cards. At some point they were told to take out gold and other valuables. The IS fighters took them.

They were then ordered to get onto a bus, the windows of which had been covered with dirt to block the view outside. Ayda held Christine tightly in her arms. She remembers what happened next:

“Then one of the Daesh (Arabic acronym for IS) came and inspected the people on the bus. He walked up to us. He took my little girl from my arms and just walked away.”

Ayda ran after the man who was called “Fadel,” begging him to return her daughter, but he did not listen. Christine was taken back into the building.

Several times Fadel walked in and out. Ayda pleaded and cried for the return of her daughter, but he would not listen. Suddenly an older, heavily-bearded man stepped out of the building, carrying Christine in his arms. He appeared to be the leader of the gang and was called “the prince.” Christine was crying. Ayda was crying too, still begging for her return.

“The prince did not say a word, but only looked at me and made a despising gesture with his arms like he was saying get out of my eyes,” recalls Ayda.

At gunpoint, Ayda was forced by another IS fighter to get onto the bus again.

“From the cruel look in the eyes of the prince, I realized that I had no other option but to go back. And so I did. The man holding Christine then walked away with her. That was the last time I saw her.”
The bus drove off. All the time Ayda kept looking back, desperately hoping to get a glimpse through the muddy windows of her little girl coming back to her. Every time when the bus would slow down or even stop, her hope increased that Christine would be returned to her any minute. But it did not happen.

Although Christine was only three, “she was a good child,” according to Ayda. “She used to hold the hand of her blind dad to guide him in his walk, even though she was a little child.”

During the past 11 months the family and their church have made many attempts to get Christine released, or at least learn more about her location. However, there is nothing known about her situation; they’ve no idea where she is or if she is even alive.

Like other families in a this refugee camp, the family is receiving regular support from Open Doors through the church and local partners in the form of food bags and items for cleaning and hygiene.
The one-year anniversary of her kidnapping presents a worldwide opportunity to pray for her return.

Ayda concludes: “Please tell everyone to pray for Christine and for us, as we are living in the hope that someday Christine will come back.”

Please Pray…

• Pray for strength for Ayda, her husband and her family as they continue the search for little Christine
• Pray that Christine would be safe and free from harm. Ask God to protect her and somehow bring her back to her family
• Pray for the many families like Ayda’s that have been affected by the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. Ask God to bring peace, reconciliation, forgiveness and hope.

Help now

Just £4 can provide a week’s worth of essential supplies for someone who has lost everything due to the fighting in Iraq and Syria. Just text ODYG15 £4 to 70070 to give £4 (you can give more or less by changing the amount you’d like to give in the test). The amount you give will be added to your bill and we’ll receive the full amount.
You can also give online here...