In case you weren’t aware, there is anarchy in Iraq. Last week, as terrorists took over, the condition of the country deteriorated. Our brothers and sisters, Iraqi believers, are being executed, severely attacked and driven out of their homes. They are begging for our intercession on their behalf before our almighty God. According to Christianity Today last week:
“Thousands of Christians have fled Iraq’s second-largest city as an Islamist terror group solidifies its control over Christianity’s main remaining stronghold in the struggling nation.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), an Iraq and Syria-based Sunni offshoot of al-Qaeda, took over Mosul (pop. 1.8 million) earlier this month, the BBC reports.
Most of Mosul’s remaining Christian population of 3,000 fled for safer areas, according to World Watch Monitor.”
Our brothers and sisters in Iraq need our support. And not just in Mosul. The past week has been a terrifying one in the country. The Baptist Press also issued a statement addressing the crisis and calling for action:
“Most pressing is a situation the White House calls a “looming humanitarian catastrophe” unfolding on a mountaintop near the Iraqi city of Sinjar, home to the country’s Yazidi religious minority, where some 50,000 Yazidi refugees are trapped with limited food and water. On Aug. 3, Sunni extremists known as Islamic State or ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) seized the city as Sinjar’s Yazidi population fled fearing massacre. Many Iraqis without transportation escaped to the nearby Sinjar Mountains, a barren heap of rock where daytime temperatures can top 120 degrees.”
Here are 2 ways the BP is urging believers to act:
“1. Most importantly, pray. God has ordained prayer, and He hears our pleas. Here are the prayer points released by the BP today:
- Ask the Lord to awaken the world to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Iraq and to provide pathways for Christians and others to respond.
- Ask God to miraculously protect the Yazidis and other Kurds who fled into the mountains; ask Him to provide a means of rescue and temporary homes for the refugees.
- Pray that ISIS leaders and soldiers would experience the love of Jesus Christ and that their lives would be transformed.
- Ask God to preserve and embolden the small remnant of believers in Mosul and Kurdistan, so that one day through their witness, every Iraqi might have the opportunity to hear the Gospel.
2. Give. When it comes to crises like this, sufficient resources are critical.
Help respond to Iraq’s refugee crisis by donating to the International Mission Board’s general relief fund or by texting imbrelief to 80888, which will donate $10 to that fund. To give through Baptist Global Response, visit gobgr.org/donate or text bgr to 80888.(More info here)”
In case you’re surfing around the web and see it, the ACNS (Anglican Community News Service) has shed some light on the use of the Arabic letter N (pictured in the header above) in digital media:
“Yesterday, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby changed his Twitter and Facebook profile picture to the Arabic letter N as a sign of solidarity with Iraqi Christians. The symbol – meaning Nazarene, or Christian – is being painted on Christian homes by IS supporters to mark them out for attack; and is now being adopting by Christians around the world as an act of support.”
Please read the entire stories below. Let’s pray for our brothers and sisters, both young and old, as many are suffering even now.
justinbedingfield.com 