In America, being a Christian might get you mocked on social media. In northern Iraq, it might get you killed.
Yasin is a husband, a father and a shepherd. His hands are rough from tending sheep, but his heart is soft — transformed by the love of Jesus. Once a violent man, raised in a tradition of tribal honor and bloodshed, Yasin cried out to a God he wasn’t even sure existed. Then one night, God answered — in a dream that would change his life, and the life of his entire family.
In his dream, Yasin saw a beautiful man — robed, radiant and full of peace. The man placed His hand on Yasin’s head and said, “You are my beloved child; this is the way, follow me.” Though he didn’t yet know it, Yasin had encountered Jesus.
After years of wrestling with doubt and the cruelty he had witnessed around him — including the 1988 Anfal massacre that killed tens of thousands of Kurds — Yasin found himself longing for a different way. Islam, to him, was cultural tradition, not spiritual truth. His experience with religion had left him with more questions than answers. But when he read the Bible for the first time, everything changed.
“I cried because of the beautiful words,” Yasin said. “The first thing I read was Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount. The words of Jesus gave me peace in my heart.”
The Cost For Choosing Jesus
For Yasin, conversion was not just a theological shift. It was a death sentence. He hid his Bible under tape, told no one, and kept praying. But eventually, his faith was discovered. His brother beat him and broke his nose. His home was attacked. His business was boycotted and forced to close. And worst of all, he was abandoned by much of his family, including his mother, who hasn’t spoken to him in 14 years.
Yet through all of it, Yasin has stood firm.
“I did not worry,” he said, “because Jesus said, ‘If you abide in me, there is no one who can hurt you.’ And I abide in Him.”
His life began to preach before he ever spoke a word. The once-violent man now served his family with gentleness. Slowly, they began to notice. First, his son — after attending church with his father — had his own encounter with Jesus. Then his daughter, after initially refusing, began reading the Bible aloud and found herself drawn to the truth. Eventually, even Yasin’s wife, once terrified that a Bible in the house would bring God’s judgment, came to believe.
Today, the whole family follows Christ.
But the persecution hasn’t stopped. Yasin’s children are treated as outcasts when seeking marriage. His family name is smeared in the village where they live. Jobs are hard to come by. And yet Yasin refuses to run.
“I stayed in my village because Jesus said, ‘Whoever gets insulted because of my name, he will have a great reward in Heaven.’ In my village, many people insulted me, and I was very happy because I knew that I would have a great reward in Heaven.”
Rather than shrink back, he presses in. Yasin continues to share his faith, even with those who once tried to destroy him. Two former enemies have since become followers of Christ and now attend church with him. He prays not for escape, but for strength — and for the salvation of his neighbors.
It’s easy to scroll past stories like this — to file them under “it’s not relevant to me.” But the persecuted Church is not a distant cause. It is part of our Church. Yasin is our brother.
Faith in Freedom vs. Faith Under Fire
In much of the Western world, Christianity is increasingly sidelined but not persecuted. Our faith might be mocked or misunderstood, but few of us face the kind of crushing opposition Yasin does. We have access to Scripture in every translation, churches on every corner, podcasts and YouTube sermons and prayer nights without fear of arrest. And yet, how often do we treasure the things Yasin risked everything for?
When we hear stories of believers like Yasin, we’re not meant to feel pity or even guilt — we’re meant to feel solidarity. Scripture tells us to “remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3).
Yasin doesn’t want our sympathy. He wants our prayers.
“I believe in the power of prayer,” he says. “Jesus says, ‘If you believe, you can move a mountain and throw it in the sea.’ I ask you to pray that God gives me strength to evangelize as many people as possible. I ask you to pray that God protects my children. Many times I have cried for them. The persecution really affects my children.”
He also asks us to forgive those who hate him, just as he has. “Jesus says, ‘Forgive your enemies.’ He also says that we are the light of the world. How can I be the light of the world if I don’t forgive them?”
What Would You Risk For Jesus?
Yasin risked everything and found life. May we, too, choose the narrow road. May we be inspired by the faith of our persecuted brothers and sisters. And may we live a faith worth persecuting.
