In January 2014, before the Islamic State had conquered Mosul and the Nineveh Plain and begun its genocide against Christians and others, an American colleague and I traveled to several Middle Eastern countries to document the plight of Christians there.

To get into Syria, we needed a guide. But many Westerners had gone across with local guides, only to be handed over for money to terrorists. And so an Assyrian Christian friend gave us the name of a man who could be trusted: Oshane Ide, known by his friends as “Sawo.”