Pictured above: A mother said: "Oh, it's been so long since my children have had their own toys", as the opportunity to give not only emergency aid but also the children a toy"
You may wonder why there are up to 350 widows and around 1000 fatherless children living in the mountainous region of northern Iraq, which we will not name for security reasons. But the reason is the sad fact that these young women were widowed in the recent war against the Islamic State in the Nineveh Plain.
Children hoped dad would come back from the front
Ten days at the front, ten days at home with family. That was life for the Kurdish soldiers. For the last three years, the family had to say goodbye to their father, brother or son every three weeks. It was customary for each of the children to bring their father a piece of his military equipment before he left for the front - a shoe, a sleeping bag, a backpack - in the hope that they would see their loved ones again after the ten days. The war is now over, but the grief is still felt, hundreds of families are left without their father and breadwinner.
Abdallah*, a former Muslim and Kurdish soldier who now has a leadership role in a local town, is a caring man who has received Jesus Christ as his savior and has a warm heart for the many widows in the town. He asked the network the Danish European Mission is part of if there was any way they could help these widows who had lost their husbands in the war against Islamic State or whose husbands were still in captivity with these terrorists.
Widows feel cared for in relief work
They had no other help from anywhere and found it very difficult to feed their children. The local partners agreed to help with food and the day came when the widows gathered with their identity papers to be registered. To make the distribution as efficient as possible with shorter waiting times, they were called in groups. This made it possible to avoid rushing the distribution and to give the widows the feeling that someone cared about them. And they didn't just get food - this time the children also received a toy each. What joy there was to see on the children's faces, and what joy for the mothers too, as one of them expressed by saying: "Oh, it's been so long since my children has received their own toys".
Pictured right: Children who have lost their father not only receive emergency aid, but also care and encouragement.
During the final handout, Abdallah said: "After the food parcels were unloaded and put away, there were at least 15 knocks on my door. But people know it's a church door they're knocking on, because I've clearly explained to them where the help is coming from". After distributing the parcels from his house, there were still 190 parcels left for Abdallah to distribute in the village. He explains: "I can't ask them to come here and pick up the packages because they can't afford to come here to pick up The food here." Abdallah already has a team of several new believers helping him with the distribution. So he loads the car and heads out to people with the packages. Two days later, Abdallah happily reports: "It's amazing - we've had the opportunity to preach in several places, and you know what? 37 people have accepted Christ!"
We do not count saved souls, since it is not we who convert them, but the Holy Spirit who has worked in their hearts for a long time and in many situations and through many people. We do not yet know how durable their new faith is, but it is still a source of great joy. Please pray for the many new Christians in the Middle East - who, because of the brutality of the Islamic State, began to question Islam and found a new life of faith in Jesus.
Internally displaced families in Iraq still need help to recover from the traumatic experiences inflicted by ISIS. You can help families by giving them what they need to survive.
- On average, it costs around $150 to ensure a family has water, food, kitchenware, hygiene items and medicine for a week.
- On average, it costs around 652 DKK to ensure a family has water, food, kitchenware, hygiene items and medicine for a month.
Thank you for helping Christians in need and other vulnerable minorities in Iraq.
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