In the August 13th edition of the New York Times there was an article titled, “ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape.” It is the most disturbing piece I have ever read. We are familiar with the atrocity of rape in our nation, but here the perpetrator is hunted down. It is a crime punishable by imprisonment. Not so in Iran and Syria, where it is now perceived in ISIS circles as an act of worship! Recently, twenty-one women and young girls escaped the Islamic State and one of them, a twelve-year old girl, agreed to an interview, if her identity were hidden.
She told the reporter that just before he raped her the Islamic fighter explained to her that what he was about to do to her was not a sin. As she is not of the Muslim faith, the Quran not only gave him the right but actually encouraged him to rape her. He then gagged her and bound her hands. He prostrated himself in prayer before getting on top of her. She cried out, but he ignored her cries. When it was over, he knelt in prayer again.
When I read such a report I’m drawn back to Psalm 10:
They lurk in ambush in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They are always searching for helpless victims. Like lions crouched in hiding, they wait to pounce on the helpless. Like hunters they capture the helpless and drag them away in nets. Their helpless victims are crushed; they fall beneath the strength of the wicked. The wicked think, “God isn’t watching us! He has closed his eyes and won’t even see what we do!”
Break the arms of these wicked, evil people! Go after them until the last one is destroyed.
The Lord is king forever and ever! The godless nations will vanish from the land. Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them. (Psalm 10:8-11, 15-18 NLT)
As a mother I am heartbroken to imagine such a barbaric act carried out on one who is basically still a child. As a Christian I am called to rise about the heartbreak and do something. I have a friend, Lisa Bevere, who is in contact with someone in this part of the world. Her contact recently told her that “the broken, abused and deeply assailed women … all they are asking for is women to pray for them.”
How can we fail them? We have been placed on the planet in this hour for a reason. My friends and fellow warriors Christine Caine and Pastor Bobbie Houston have put out a call for sisters around the globe to set their alarms for noon every day and stop what they are doing — even for a few moments — and pray for our sisters in Iraq and Syria. I’m in! Will you join us?
I believe that all across the world God is calling an army of His daughters to rise up and let our voices be heard. There is no place where we will be more powerful than on our knees!
