By Kayla DeKraker
It’s been 10 years since 21 Christian martyrs were killed by ISIS in Libya, and THE CHOSEN’s Jonathan Roumie recently spoke up about what Christians can learn from these men who died for their faith.
“It’s an opportunity to really connect, not only my faith, to my art, but to connect my heritage as an Egyptian American to what I do. I think I want people to be more aware of the sacrifices that so many Christians give, especially in other parts of the world,” the actor said, reflecting on what it’s like to be in Egypt in a video posted to the Coptic Orphans YouTube page.
Dying for one’s faith is much more rare in the West than in the East, and Roumie is painfully aware of that.
“Martyrdom is not something that is common in the western world, but in the Middle East, in the orient and in places where there are legitimate physical threats to people on a daily basis. You know, the fact that these guys, these 21 guys, one of — at least one of — whom wasn’t even originally a Christian but counted himself among the 20 brothers as a Christian himself who came to the faith through this experience. I believe they just set an example for the rest of the world about what it means to be a believer in Christ and to have your faith mean everything,” he reflected.
Roumie executive produced a YouTube animated short film called THE 21, which told the story of these 21 Coptic Christian martyrs. Movieguide®’s review reads:
THE 21 is an extremely powerful animated short on YouTube portraying the amazing faith of 21 Coptic Christians who were abducted and killed by ISIS in 2015. Though they faced weeks of torture which would end by renouncing the name of Jesus, all 21 men remained faithful to Jesus until the end, choosing to die rather than give up their faith. One of them even prays to Jesus to forgive their killers.
THE 21 mixes beautiful but haunting animation with clips from the real-life event. The movie reveals how admirable these 21 martyrs were. It encourages viewers to emulate them. THE 21 stresses Christian, biblical values as the faith of these men is tested unto death. The men quote the Bible verse where Jesus warns His followers they will suffer as He has. The movie shows Jesus walking with them and giving them the strength to move forward. Visions of Jesus and angels leave some ISIS soldiers fearing for their lives. THE 21 tackles an intense subject and features some strong violence. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.
Roumie had the opportunity to meet the widows of these men, an experience that was both humbling and eye-opening.
“It was pretty intense and humbling, and their joy and their forgiveness for the killers is something that just defies human comprehension and serves as an example for all of us as to how to live Christ’s laws and rules,” he reflected. “An ethos of turning the other cheek and forgiving your enemy and praying for those who persecute you. These women and families are living that out.”
Roumie’s referring to Matthew 5:44-45, which says, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”
He shared more about THE 21 in an interview with Tucker Carlson.
“Christian persecution is something really close to my heart,” Roumie told Carlson. “In fact, I just executive produced an animated short film called THE 21, which came out towards the end of February, the 10th anniversary of the martyrdom of 21 martyrs in Libya. Twenty of them were Coptic Christians from Egypt and one of them was non-Christian initially from Gana, and they just rounded up all these guys…and tried to force them to deny their faith. ISIS was like, ‘Yeah, deny your faith, [we’ll] let you go. Don’t deny it, we’ll kill you.’ They’re like ‘Oh well, we’re not going to do that.'”
Roumie explained how they tried to allow the man from Ghana to be released: “And he’s like, ‘No, no, no, their God is my God.’ And so, they say he converted, he died with them.”
THE 21 is available for anyone to watch on YouTube. It already has over 922,000 views.
Read Next: THE CHOSEN Star’s Next Project Tells the Story of These Christian Martyrs
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