05/11/2023 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – We will often hear stories of Christians living in areas of the Middle East who are targeted and discriminated against for their faith in Christ. This is the case for Farah, Omar, and Arman.

Farah is a 50-year-old woman, who is married to her husband, Omar. Together, they have two married daughters and two sons. One of the sons, Mina, is 22 years old and works in a blacksmith shop. The other son is 12 and is still in school.

The family lives in a village that is 94% Muslim, leaving them in the minority. Omar struggled to find a job in the village, so he traveled to a larger city where he worked at an iron factory, and because of his honesty and intelligence, he was quickly promoted.

He worked for seven years until a new boss came along. This new boss was an Islamic extremist and hated Christians. He used to curse Omar and insult Christianity, but Omar chose not to respond to the harassment.

Omar’s new boss asked him to convert to Islam to promote him. When Omar refused, Hassan and some of the workers accused Omar of negligence and began to file complaints. One day they gathered and beat him severely, damaging his spine, and eventually, they fired him.

Omar was unemployed due to his spinal injury, and his son Mina supports the house even though he earns only 50 pounds a day. The family wants to start a clothing business to generate income to support their daily expenses.

ICC rented a storefront and provided the startup materials and clothes for Farah to sell while her husband recovers from his injuries. She can support her family with these profits.

“I thank God who helped me in my difficult circumstance. I believe that God has compensated me for all the persecution and injustice that my husband suffered, and I am confident that through this project, I will be able to provide for my family. Many times I felt despair, but when your staff visited me, I felt Christ’s visit to me. [The staffer] listened to my story and reassured me. Thank you for your help, and may the Lord bless you,” said Farah.

Arman, another follower of Jesus, was an experienced tailor of more than 10 years in the Middle East. But a group of Muslim extremists burned his shop down after they could not convert him to Islam.

It started when a man walked into Arman’s shop to discuss the Bible. This “customer,” however, was secretly trying to convert Arman to Islam.

Islamic leaders soon followed and came to Arman’s shop to pressure him to convert. But he refused.

The extremists eventually gave up and kicked him out of his shop, forcing Arman to sell clothes for several years in the open market. In early 2022, Arman rented out a new shop from a Christian owner, but extremists found him again and burned the shop and all his supplies.

After hearing of his hardship, ICC helped Arman resupply his shop so he could return to business.

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