Following a U.S. counterterrorism operation named in her memory, Kayla Mueller is being touted for her ability to hold on to her faith despite her capture, torture, rape and murder.
The Oct. 26 operation reportedly killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Mueller was a member of the Northern Arizona University (NAU) chapter of United Christian Ministry, an ecumenical group supported by the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ, according to the organization’s Facebook page.
While in IS captivity Mueller defended her faith in front of an IS executioner who paraded Mueller before other prisoners, according to an ABC News report based on comments from former hostages who shared cells with Mueller.
“One of the (IS militants) started to say, ‘Oh, this is Kayla, and she has been held all by herself. And she is much stronger than you guys. And she’s much smarter. She converted to Islam,’” former hostage Donald Rye Ottosen told ABC in 2016. “And then she was like, ‘No, I didn’t.’
“I would not have had the guts to say that. I don’t think so,” Ottosen said. “It was very clear that all of us were impressed by the strength that she showed in front of us.”
NAU President Rita Cheng spoke fondly of Mueller’s faith.
“Kayla was actively engaged in serving others even in her time as an undergraduate at NAU and her faith fueled her desire to work with Syrian refugees,” Cheng said. “Losing Kayla was a great loss to all those whose lives she touched and the many she was certain to help in the future.”
Mueller’s death was confirmed in February 2015. She was 26.
Al-Baghdadi is accused of keeping Mueller as an IS slave after terrorists kidnapped her in 2013 while she was working at a hospital in Syria. (BP)
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