Source: Christian Aid Mission, October 1, 2015
At several steps on their path to death by beheading and crucifixion last month, 11 indigenous Christian workers near Aleppo, Syria had the option to leave the area and live. The 12-year-old son of a ministry team leader also could have spared his life by denying Christ.
They stayed because they believed they were called to share Christ with those caught in the crossfire, [the leader] said.
The 41-year-old team leader, his young son, and two ministry members in their twenties were questioned at one village site where ISIS militants had summoned a crowd. The team leader presided over nine house churches he had helped to establish. His son was two months away from his thirteenth birthday.
In front of the team leader and relatives in the crowd, the Islamic extremists cut off the fingertips of the boy and severely beat him, telling his father they would stop the torture only if he, the father, returned to Islam. When the team leader refused, relatives said, the ISIS militants also tortured and beat him and the two other ministry workers. The three men and the boy then met their deaths in crucifixion.
» Read full story, details of which are also included in a larger story, Christians in Syria Struggle to Survive amid Terrors (Morning Star News).
» See also Egyptian Land Dispute Threatens Inter-religious Flashpoint (World Watch Monitor).