“They burned me, but I didn’t burn,” the Yazidi man said.

He told Sean Feucht, worship leader for Bethel Church, that ISIS had soaked him in 20 liters of kerosene and lit him on fire when they found out he’d converted to Christianity. They also stoned him, but he told Sean that it didn’t affect him. The Iraqi Christian had been tortured and imprisoned by ISIS for months but God protected him from harm. He explained that Jesus appeared twice to him. “Jesus appeared twice to you in a dream because He loves you,” Sean told the man.

This encounter was just one of many captured on video by Sean’s team. The group went to Iraq to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the refugees in tents. They prayed for the refugees and laid hands on them for healing. One family received miraculous healing, then they accepted Christ as Savior.

Light a Candle 

Sean’s nonprofit organization called Light a Candle ministers to those in war-torn and poverty-striken locations around the world. Many of Sean’s partners with Light a Candle have been “on the ground” in these countries for years. Light a Candle has been in Iraq for five years. According to the website, “Light A Candle exists to bring hope and sustainable change in the darkest corners of the world.”

The organization provides essentials like food, diapers and baby formula to those in need. They also help with trauma counseling, provide music lessons and hold empowerment seminars for women. “There’s just really a long list of things that we’re involved with on the ground,” explained Sean, “but it all has to do with refugees that have fled ISIS over the last few years.”

The Darkest Places

Light a Candle’s team goes to some volatile and difficult locations. Just recently, the tension with Iran became so great that the team in Iraq was evacuated. Some have returned; others will return within a few weeks. Sean asked for prayer for protection and provision. “Honestly, we would love prayer. … I think it’s easy — Americans are moved by the cycle of the news media, so whenever Iraq is on the front of that cycle of the news media, our support grows; but when it shifts, when the narrative shifts, sometimes people lose interest. But we have long-term projects and we’re not leaving. We just need consistency.”

Heart and Hands: Iraq

Sean’s 65-minute documentary, called Heart and Hands: Iraq, has been released so far in closed-session showings and premieres in the U.S. While he is still working on distribution strategies, he expects the full-length film to run on TBN and Bethel.TV before the end of the year.

Watch a clip of the Yazidi man’s interview: