Dear Friends,
Back
in Baghdad the situation is still very dire and is at a very crucial
moment; for the future of Iraq is depending on how the next few weeks
turn out and which side starts taking very active steps. The Iraqi army
is surrounding Baghdad and shots can be heard from St. George's church
every night. The situation is so dire and we need help more than ever.
Thankfully we have a large amount of people praying all over the world
but we always need more. It is hard to know how many members of the
congregation have been killed or fled because the situation is still
changing every day and it is so difficult to keep track of people during
this crisis.
Iraq
is where Christianity started in the very beginning and Christians are
now being persecuted. Numerous churches have been burnt down and
countless Christians have been forced to flee or killed. Even Christian
graves are being desecrated and knocked over the hatred is hard to
understand.
We
are trying to help some of the families that have fled to Erbil in
northern Iraq but the need is just so great it is difficult. People left
with nothing but the clothes they were wearing and now the situation in
the cities they fled to like Erbil is bad as the cities are being
overwhelmed the power goes out at least once a day which makes things
difficult when it often gets to 45/120 degrees. Parts of Iraq are also
facing a gas crisis as ISIS disrupts the infrastructure and the lines
for gas are filled with hundreds of cars and take hours just to get 20
litres because that is the limit.
There
is just so much hardship in the country that is allowing ISIS to make
such huge gains. The government is still very disorganized and has not
been able to make a successful plan to combat ISIS. The Iraqi army is
much bigger than ISIS and should have been able to easily crush their
uprising but has not been the case while ISIS is still capturing land,
supporters, money and weapons. All of these things make everything
difficult and everything is really starting to cripple the country.
Blessings,
