A young Christian girl who was mutilated by Muslim radicals and deemed dead after spending six days in a coma was saved by Jesus and miraculously brought back to life after visiting heaven.
Lydia, the 14-year-old daughter of Yoonus, a Christian missionary with Bibles for Mideast in West Africa, was confirmed dead by doctors after she was brutally subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) by Muslim radicals on her way home from school last week.
An hour after Lydia's death, workers arrived to remove her lifeless body from her hospital room. However, while mourning beside her bed, the girl's distraught family noticed movement under the sheet.
Suddenly, Lydia threw the sheet off of her body and stood from the bed: "Mummy, our Lord Jesus, our Lord and God Jesus Christ!" she exclaimed. "I'm alive! Jesus gave me my life back, and healed me! See, He's just disappearing there on the clouds!" She pointed her finger towards the sky.
"My soul left my body and I was dead," she continued. "Angels came to receive me to heaven. But Jesus appeared before me and said, ‘I cannot turn back from the prayers of my children. My eyes are upon my children and ears are open to their prayer. So I give you your life back, for the issues of death belong to me. You go, and be my witness.' Then he put his face right against and right into mine. He breathed into my nostrils, and my soul went in. Then he moved his nail-scarred hands over my body and healed me completely!"
Lydia's overjoyed mother embraced and kissed her repeatedly, praising the Lord Jesus as the rest of the family gathered round them sang. Amazed, the staff around the family simply had no idea what to do or say.
According to Bible for Mideast, a ministry that operates in the Middle East, Asia and Africa by giving away Bibles, evangelizing the lost and planting churches, Lydia was initially targeted by Muslim extremists for her faith, as she "boldly proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God" and "loved to speak of how He died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead to save everyone from sin and death."
In its annual World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Open Doors USA notes that Islamic extremism remains the top driver of Christian persecution in several African countries.
In light of this, Bibles for Mideast is asking Christians around the world to continue to pray for Yoonus and his family, as they continue to face persecution from Muslims.
