Priest says Iraqi Christians are praying for God to have mercy on ISIS

An Iraqi priest said that Christians in Iraq are following the commandment of Christ to love their enemies and they are praying that God would have mercy on the militant group ISIS.

Father Martin is one of the priests who leads the families that are living in a complex run by the Chaldean Catholic Church in Erbil. Many Christians fled to city when ISIS overran northern Iraq in the summer of 2014. The complex currently houses nearly 130 families.

Ithara Assis, a mother of three who resides at the complex, hopes that Mosul will be liberated soon so that they can head back to their village and live a normal life.

Martin remarked that Christians are facing uncertainty about their future but they have not lost their faith.

"Yeah, of course, their faith is very–maybe it was empowered by these difficulties. They are–every time they are praying–every time. They are also praying for ISIS to – to God have mercy on them, to make them a good people. They are praying for their – for their enemies," he told CBN.

Martin believes that Christians are the "salt" of Iraq and they will bring hope to the country.

"So we can take, like a salt give a taste for the food, so we can give a taste for this country. They can see that we have hope, we have charity because we are living [for] the guy we call Jesus Christ," he said.

The Church gave Martin the chance to live with his family in San Diego but he chose to serve the people in Iraq instead.

The priest believes that it is possible to change the world from Iraq just as Christ changed the whole world from Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the Christian advocacy group Open Doors started a global petition, called "Million Voices of Hope," urging the U.N. to protect the rights of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.

Open Doors is planning to hand the petition the new U.N. Secretary General in June 2017.