Easter in Iraq 1: Christians in Qaraqosh celebrate Palm Sunday

For the first time since so-called Islamic State (IS) drove Christians from Iraq’s Nineveh Plain in 2014, the Christian town of Qaraqosh has celebrated Palm Sunday. Andraws tells us about returning with his family to his home town and celebrating again.

For the first time since so-called Islamic State (IS) drove Christians from Iraq’s Nineveh Plain in 2014, the Christian town of Qaraqosh has celebrated Palm Sunday.

On Palm Sunday morning (25.03.18) thousands of Iraqi Christians walked through the streets of the ancient town, waving palm and olive branches. Their chorus, “King of kings and Lord of Lords. Glory! Hallelujah!” was heard throughout the entire town.

Twenty five year-old teacher, Andraws, told Open Doors about the importance of Palm Sunday to Iraqi Christians. “Today is the start of the week of Easter. And we are very excited about it. I’m glad that we can celebrate Palm Sunday again in our city. Thank God for that. Because three years ago, something like that would never happened, when we were displaced.”

Palm Sunday is traditionally a huge celebration in Qaraqosh, drawing Christians from all over the region. “You can go anywhere in the world and you’ll not find Palm Sunday celebrated like here,” Andraws said.

The march through the streets of Qaraqosh ended with an open air service in the square of Qaraqosh’s St. John’s Church. The roof of the church served as a pulpit for the church leaders who proclaimed the gospel, read the Bible and lead the crowd in worship and singing.

Andraws and his family moved back to Qaraqosh last spring, after they rebuilt their house. When they first returned to their house everything of value was gone or completely destroyed; IS fighters had ransacked and looted the place completely.  But he never gave up.

“Please do not lose hope. Two and a half year we were displaced and we almost lost hope to ever return here,” Andraws said. “But today, we are here again, because of Jesus; because we had hope in Him. As you can see the Christians have returned to Qaraqosh!”

Throughout this week, we will be bringing you stories from Qaraqosh featuring our Christian brothers and sisters who are rebuilding their town. 

Hope for the Middle East

Before the IS invasion in 2014, this region was home to the largest concentration of Christians and religious minorities in Iraq.

Iraq is number 13 on the Open Doors World Watch List. Tens of thousands of Christians remain displaced following the IS insurgency that started in 2014.

Open Doors has launched a global, seven-year campaign to mobilise Christians to bring hope to the Middle East. The Hope for the Middle East petition, backed by 808,172 people from 143 countries worldwide, called for Christians in Iraq and Syria to have the right to equal citizenship, dignified living conditions and a prominent role in reconciling and rebuilding society.