Baghdad Pastor Recalls Miraculous Escape from Car Bomb Explosion, Boosting His Faith
This pastor from Baghdad now knows why he's still alive after a bomb explosion ripped through the car he was driving on his way to church.
Pastor Joseph still vividly remembers that horrific incident that happened several years ago when he thought he was about to die as flames engulfed the vehicle he was driving, trapping him inside, following the explosion.
According to Open Doors USA, despite the flames that surrounded him, Joseph was still able to get out of the wrecked car in the nick of time before it was completely consumed by the fire.
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Miraculously, he survived unscathed—not even a scratch on his body.
"Each part of my car was destroyed and damaged—except for my seat," the young pastor said.
He said he had pieces of glass in his hair and some parts of the bomb in the scarf around his neck—"as if a scarf could stop a bomb."
Joseph could not believe that he could survive such a devastating explosion with not even a drop of blood lost.
God did not want him to die yet, the pastor thought. "God gave me additional time. He put his stamp on my ministry, He said 'Go on.' God encouraged me that day," he said.
Seven years after his miraculous escape from death, the Islamic State (ISIS) launched their terror campaign and captured some parts of Iraq and Syria.
Seeing the brutality of ISIS caused disenchantment among Muslims, prodding many to abandon their faith and turn to Christ instead.
It was then that Joseph clearly saw the reason why God kept him alive: The Lord wanted him to minister to the new converts in Baghdad.
Joseph is now married and has two children. Despite the risks, his family still lives in the Iraqi capital and he still ministers to the city's Christian residents
On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared that the ISIS' self-proclaimed caliphate in both Iraq and Syria is no more and that the terrorists' last stronghold in Iraq, Mosul, has been liberated by Iraqi forces, the Associated Press reported.
However, fighting reportedly still rages in some pockets of Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city.
"We are seeing the end of the fake Daesh state. The liberation of Mosul proves that," al-Abadi said on Twitter, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
Across the border in Syria, Kurdish and Arab forces have completely encircled Raqqa, the ISIS' de facto capital, reports said.
