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A review by jdintr
Fleeing Isis, Finding Jesus: The Real Story of God at Work by Charles Morris, Craig Borlase
4.0
"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 Fleeing ISIS, Finding Jesus 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.
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 Fleeing ISIS, Finding Jesus 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.