A young Iraqi Christian girl, whose family has been living in a refugee camp after fleeing persecution by the Islamic State terrorist group, has said that God's grace enables her to forgive her tormentors and provides her with the hope that there will be a brighter future.
"Yes I forgive them," Myriam told ABC News "20/20" co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas." As Jesus said 'forgive each other, love each other the way I love you,' that is what we need to learn. Forgiveness."
The ten-year-old girl and her family are among thousands of Iraqi Christians forced to leave their homes due to ISIS terror over the past two years. ABC notes that Myriam has been living with her family in a refugee camp in Kurdistan's Irbil after they lost their home in the historically Christian city of Qaraqosh, Iraq.
"My hopes for life are for there to be no wars," she said of her hopes for the future. "With no wars there will be love...I'm going to love my sister, I'm going to love whoever is in front of me. When there is no love, there is no justice and justice is what satisfies."
Little Myriam's deep faith and wisdom beyond her years parallels Jesus Christ's words found in Matthew 18:3, where he says,"Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
This is not the first time Myriam has spoken out about her Christian faith and willingness to forgive her persecutors: When asked what she thought of ISIS during an interview with the Arabic-language TV network SAT-7 in March, the young girl said, "I will only ask God to forgive them. Why should they be killed?"
She added, "Sometimes I cry because we left our home, and Qaraqoush. I'm not angry at God because we left Qaraqoush. I thank Him because he provided us, even if we're suffering here, He provides for us."
As previously reported by the Gospel Herald, more and more Muslims living in Iraq are turning to Christ after witnessing the brutality of ISIS fighters, who carry out horrific acts in the name of Allah.
A ministry leader in the Kurdish Region of Iraq told the Christian Aid Mission that his organization can barely keep up with the desire of refugees to learn about Christ and the Bible, which has grown increasingly strong since ISIS overtook many parts of the region.
"They're just sick of Islam," he said. "People are very hungry to know about Christ, especially when they hear about miracles, healing, mercy and love."
He added, "As terrifying and horrifying as ISIS is, they did us a great favor because they came and have shown them all the killing, saying that it's all in the Koran verses. So now we don't have to say much, we just say the truth."
After showing refugees the love of Christ by meeting their needs, aid workers later bring Bibles, he said. "We just help because we love them, and maybe the next time we visit we tell them about Jesus and give them Bibles," he said. "We believe in the power of the Word of God. We don't have many preachers. We don't have many missionaries, but we have the Word of God that we're able to print, purchase and deliver to the people and their children."
He also emphasized that there has been a great "awakening" among Muslims in northern Iraq, citing many conversion accounts he has personally witnessed or heard secondhand from local churches.
