Easter in Iraq 6: ‘Can you stand with us in your prayers this Easter?’

Standing in the bullet-riddled courtyard of an ancient church, Adrian (20) delivers a powerful message for Good Friday. "For Iraqi Christian people suffering is something that we recognise very easily," he says. "And yet, my grandparents, my family and myself, we’re still here, still standing. Can you please stand with us in your prayers this Easter? Because we want to remain here. Thank you.”

For the first time since ISIS drove all the Christians from Iraq’s Nineveh Plain in 2014, the Christian town of Qaraqosh celebrates Easter after many of its families returned. All this week leading to Easter, we will be visiting Qaraqosh to meet with Christians there.

Adrian is 20 years old and lives in Qaraqosh, Iraq. He is one of the 25,000 Christians who returned there last year.

Standing in the bullet-riddled courtyard of an ancient church, he delivers a powerful message for Good Friday.

“Today is Good Friday. We remember that Jesus suffered for us on the cross. For Iraqi Christian people suffering is something that we recognise very easily.

“Living here as a Christian will always be a challenge. Just realise that. And yet, my grandparents, my family and myself, we’re still here, still standing. Can you please stand with us in your prayers this Easter? Because we want to remain here. Thank you.”

Christians are kidnapped, hurt and killed

Adrian stands in the courtyard of the iconic Tahira Church in Qaraqosh, one of the largest churches in the Middle East. The walls of the courtyard are riddled with bullet holes – when ISIS occupied Qaraqosh, this courtyard was used as a shooting range, a training ground for new terrorists. It is a silent, chilling testimony to the extremists’ hatred of Christianity.

But suffering and loss is not new to Qaraqosh. In the centre of the town is a memorial to all those from Qaraqosh who died and disappeared during the Iran-Iraq war of the nineteen eighties. Several of Adrian’s relatives are among them.

“Suffering is something that Iraqi Christians can identify with, very easily,” Adrian says. “From 2003 up until today, Christians are getting kidnapped, hurt and killed all the time. Especially in cities like Mosul and Bagdad. Just earlier this month, three Christians were stabbed to death in Baghdad.”

Still Standing

Living as a Christian in Iraq will always be a challenge.

But the Christians are back. The church is active again. The cross which they tore down stands on the roof again, high above the town.

Today, as we remember the cross on which Jesus died for us, we remember that it is not a sign of defeat, but a sign of great and enduring victory.

Because the truth is, that despite persecution, oppression, violence and hatred, the cross is still standing.

Hope for the Middle East

Thank you! You enabled the voice of suffering Christians in Syria and Iraq to be heard all around the world.

Thanks to your support, families are rebuilding homes and lives in Iraq and developing sustainable livelihoods. The celebration of Easter in Qaraqosh was a milestone in the recovery of this community and a sign of hope for the region that Christ's resurrection brings the greatest hope in the darkest times.

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