Bodies of 21 Christians Beheaded by ISIS to be Returned to Egypt

The bodies of the 21 Egyptian and Ghanaian Christians who were brutally beheaded by ISIS on the shore of a Libyan beach will be returned to their families in Egypt, according to Al Arabiya English.

Libyan Attorney general Abdul Qader Juma Radwan agreed Wednesday to return the remains at the request of Egyptian Attorney General Nabil Sadek.

The decision came after the Libyan government confirmed it found and identified the remains of the martyrs in October 2016.

Meanwhile, the Coptic community in Egypt recently honored the martyrs by erecting a new church in the city of Al-Aour, home of 13 of the victims.

SAT-7, a broadcast ministry to the Middle East, reports that hundreds of people from around the region piled into the church, which was funded by the Egyptian government, to honor the slain Christians.

"Today we remember our martyrs who were killed in Libya three years ago," the bishop said. "Knives were held to their throats to force them to deny their faith after 40 days of being kidnapped, insulted, and threatened. But like the martyrs of every era in the history of our church, they held on to Christ. They are an example for us to hold on to our faith and to Christ regardless of circumstances."

Photographs of the 21 martyrs were displayed in the front of the church as a reminder of the ultimate price they paid for their faith.

"Part of the amazing testimony of this is the fact that others have witnessed how Christians have responded to church burnings, church destructions, bombings, or of course what happened on the beach of libya. Not in anger, not in rock throwing and killing, but in forgiveness," Rex Rogers, President of SAT-7 told CBN News. "What an incredible statement of what Christian love is all about."