Advocating for Survivors of ISIS’s Genocide of Christians and Yzidis in Syria and Comforting the Oppressed and Trafficked in the Middle East
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ALf_6FLNg44
This short film tells the stories of many Syrian Christians who watched their loved ones tortured and killed at the hands of men who hated their religion and their God. The martyrs were unfazed at the hands of their tormentors. “I am blessed because I am persecuted for my Yeshua,” cried a lady who was tied to a pole in the middle of the street in Aleppo, spat on and punched day after day. A man was crucified in the city, having the glory to die in the same manner as his own saviour. These were the stories I heard tonight from Jacqueline and Yvette Isaac, a mother-daughter team of Egyptian Christians who started Roads of Success, a humanitarian NGO which provides support and care to the downtrodden and oppressed, and advocates for those whose stories have been suppressed.
Jacqueline is a lawyer who started her career in a top London firm practising international arbitration, working 18 hour days and loving the prestige and benefits of a magic circle London law firm. As she was about to continue into her second year of practice, a 35 year old newly minted female partner told her, “I’ve been observing you; you still have a soul. As for me, this is my life.” That gave Jacqueline pause. After some searching, she realised her calling. But she struggled with God. Large commercial law firm prestige or the deep unknown and unglamorous of a calling to humanitarian work? She surrendered to God in desperation. And in no time, a series of events led her to start her own estate planning law firm which gave her the flexibility to do humanitarian work at her own time. God brought a senior lawyer to her who would hand over his 30-year-old practice to her in one year. And the rest was a blur.
In the short time that she and her mother founded Roads of Success, they have travelled to places ravaged by terror, come into close contact with ISIS, and stood before the United Nations, the US Congress and the U.K. Parliament to tell the stories of those who have been torn by terror. They have a programme which care for and empower 24 girls who have suffered sexual abuse and slavery. They have sent shipping containers of humanitarian aid to various places in grave need.
One particular story sticks out. The story of how they were instrumental to advocating for the UK Parliament to pass a resolution to recognise ISIS’ acts of horror to the Christian and Yzidi minorities in Syria as genocide, which would have significant although unimaginable consequences.
This was what happened. Yvette Isaac was given the resources to go into Syria to interview the Christian and Yzidi minorities. In the meantime, separately, Jacqueline Isaac was just in London doing her work, right after having a hectic travel schedule. Where she was at a cafe in London, she saw some protests and demonstrations outside. But she was too tired and had too much work to do, so she didn’t bother about it. Just at that time, some friend from California dropped her a message saying she was in London too. Turned out that the friend was just a few doors down from where she was. She went over to meet her. Her friend urged her to go out together to take a walk. So they ended up witnessing the demonstration, discovering that it was led by an EU Parliament member. She couldn’t get close though she tried to reach out to the Parliamentarian. In vain, she went up to a man whom she thought was a security guard, and gave her a name card, hoping he would pass it to the EU Parliamentarian.
As it turned out, the “security guard” was actually a U.K. politician connected to the media. That very evening he called her and said tomorrow you will go live on the most watched show in UK. She would go on Jon Snow’s show and she was asked to share about what was going on in Syria. But she had no idea what to share.
In the meantime, Yvette Isaac had just finished shooting 8 hours of material collecting the stories of the many survivors of genocide. She was at the Syria-Lebanon border trying to get out when she realised that the border officers were confiscating and destroying all the electronic equipment they could find. She prayed and pleaded to God. She made a bargain with God. The exclusive rights to the video material belonged only to God, she decided. So she called her sponsor who had given the condition that exclusive rights to the material belonged to him. She told him, too bad, I will return you the money, this belongs solely to God. Right after she put down the phone, someone in the line recognised her Egyptian accent and said hey you should be going to this other line. So she went. At the immigration counter, the man looked at her and said, hey you’re the one on the Arab television channel. I became a Christian because of the show. Thank you for coming here. Please come back. He let her pass without even checking her belongings. Wow.
At that point, Jacqueline called Yvette and said, Mom, come to London instead of the US (where Jacqueline was based at). I’ll explain. So with all the video testimonies, Jacqueline and Yvette went on UK television live to share of the stories of the Christian and Yzidi minorities.
Unbeknownst to them, Lord David Alton in the UK House of Lords was watching the Jon Snow show. He is the politician who has been pushing in vain for the House of Lords to vote and agree on a declaration that the ISIS’ acts were genocide. There were political consequences to this. Including prioritising Syrian refugees and allowing Britain to table a resolution at the UN Security Council regarding ISIS, and possibly resolve to have them tried by the International Criminal Court. But it was not happening. When Lord Alton watched the Isaacs on the show, he knew that this was his prayer answered. He contacted them and asked them if they could come back to the UK Parliament to testify at a special hearing if it happened. They said yes of course. They returned to the US, and 48 hours later, they received the call from Lord Alton.
So they went before the UK Parliament in a closed door hearing and screened the video testimonies as well as got one of the girl survivors whom they support to testify of how ISIS murdered her father and raped a young girl so many times her body just gave way and the girl died before her eyes. With that, the House of Commons voted unanimously in favour of a declaration that ISIS’ acts were genocide.
This is not a story about ISIS. It’s not a story about genocide. It’s a story about God weaving everything together seemingly like patchwork but in reality, like a master craftsman pulling everything together in one stroke. This is a story about God’s sovereignty and glory. It is about how He works through His servants to untie suffering and brokenness from evil and instead bind them to stories of redemption and beauty. The Isaacs are continuing their ministry in working with girl survivors, empowering them to flourish. This is a story of redemption and glory. This is a story about Jesus Christ being the one who holds all things together and who is reconciling all things to Himself. And how He uses different people, big and small, from all across the world for His beautiful purposes. Praise be to God.
For more information on the Isaacs’ ministry check out www.roadsofsuccess.com.