Goto wrote a message where he talked about forgiving those who hurt you and which, subtly foretold of his demise at the hands of the ISIS terrorist group in Syria long before the horrific gruesome murder video was leaked online on January 31, 2015.
“Closing my eyes and holding still. It’s the end if I get mad or scream. It’s close to a prayer. Hate is not for humans. Judgment lies with God. That’s what I learned from my Arabic brothers and sisters,” wrote Goto on Twitter on Sept. 7, 2010.
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do,” said Jesus to God, according to Luke 23:34.
Goto accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior in 1997 and was a member of the Denenchofu Church of the United Church of Christ in Japan.
He was kidnapped by ISIS in October 2014 after entering the nation of Syria by way of Turkey. He went back to Syria hoping to rescue his friend Haruna Yukawa, who was kidnapped by ISIS last August 2014. He was the first Japanese man publicly beheaded by the radical Islamic group.
In a leaked photo, it was shown that they forced Goto to hold a picture of Yukawa’s severed head on January 24.
“I have seen horrible places and have risked my life, but I know that somehow God will always save me,” said Goto.
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