The project is underway in five villages east of Mosul, which were among the first cities liberated from Islamic State in 2016. Around 80 % of the people displaced by Islamic State from these villages have now returned home.
Married couple Zaya and Laktar are among the displaced who have now returned home. They tell how one morning in 2014, at three o'clock in the morning, they received a phone call telling them they had to flee as the Islamic State was coming. They left their cattle, sheep, everything. They tell us: "We went to the small town of Khabat [near Erbil in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq],... It was hard to live there. When winter came, we had a very hard time and Laktar got diabetes. We felt like fish that had been pulled out of the water and hung to dry"
Islamic State was not defeated without a fight, and these battles took a heavy toll on the buildings in the project villages. Clinics and schools were damaged, as were several of the residents' houses. It costs around 450,000 kroner to complete the work. You can help the brave returnees by Infrastructure, Schools, clinics and el- and water supply will be completed in all five villages.
Persecuted yet courageous Christians are leading the rebuilding effort. Christians who have experienced persecution and now bring hope and encouragement to the displaced and help them recover.
Zaya and Laktar are deeply grateful for the help. They tell us: "We are very pleased to welcomeæback, because we love our home region". I have visited the villages myself and can confirm that there is great joy among the returnees.
But the rebuilding work is not finished - and you can ensure that villages are rebuilt. Thank you for equipping local Christians to bring encouragement to the returnees and show God's love to the vulnerable in their country in a practical way.
You can - together with local Christians - lend a helping hand to people who have suffered so much fleeing Islamic State, but have taken courage and moved back to rebuild their communities.
