Christians in Iraq ask for renewed prayers

This area, including the towns of Qaragosh, Karamlis, Bartella and Tel Kayf, is the birthplace of Christian communities in Iraq and was home to the largest concentration of Christians in Iraq, including many who fled Baghdad due to the violence in recent years. This area is now completely empty of Christians.

Image right: Islamic State brutally crucifies people belonging to the country's minorities.

The Chaldean Patriarch estimates that 100,000 Christians fled during the night, mostly on foot and with little or no possessions. Many of these people had already been displaced once and had fled to these cities in recent weeks after fleeing Mosul. Most have now fled to towns in the Kurdish-controlled areas nearby.

Earlier this week, ISIS captured the town of Sinjar, traditional home to the Yazidi minority, forcing 200,000 to flee into the surrounding mountains. There are many reports of atrocities, men being summarily executed and women being treated as spoils of war, including abductions, forced marriages and rapes.

The humanitarian needs of these displaced communities are massive. The Yazidis trapped in the mountains, suffering from dehydration and hunger, are grateful that aid is now beginning to arrive by air. Among the Christians who have fled to Kurdish areas, many have taken refuge in church halls and corridors, in schools, in gardens and in the streets. There is a great need for water, food and shelter.

Help an Iraqi refugee family survive 

• It costs around DKK 550 to feed and medicate an entire refugee family for a month.

Some are sick. They have lost everything and are struggling to survive. Food and water are scarce and the hygienic conditions are disastrous. This is the terrible reality for many refugees in the suburbs of Baghdad.

In the midst of this threat to the existence of the church in Iraq, the church continues to be involved in the distribution of relief aid. Our partner reports that food, medicine, clothing, water and shelter are needed.

Your support is desperately needed to continue helping the refugees.

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Iraqi Christians ask for prayers for:

a. A permanent political solution will soon be found for Iraq so that those who seek violence can be effectively resisted and that justice and lasting peace will be achieved.

b. All those who have been displaced must find a place of refuge, receive the relief they need and eventually be able to return to their homes.

c. Christians in Iraq, especially those who have had to flee their homes, need to experience the peace of Jesus, the protection of the Father and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.