Iraq | April 05, 2024
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Your support helps persecuted Christians continue to courageously follow Jesus.
Together, we can reach those where persecution hits hardest.
It’s been a long road so far, but slowly, families are returning to Iraq and Syria, after so-called Islamic State (IS) occupied the region for almost three years. Your voices, your prayers and your actions on behalf of our persecuted family mean that hope is returning to the Middle East. Thank you!
The streets of Qaraqosh, Iraq, are once again teeming with life. The shops are trading, the restaurants are serving food, and students take buses to continue their studies at Mosul University. It’s been a long road so far, but slowly, families are returning to Iraq, after so-called Islamic State (IS) occupied the region for almost three years. Your voices, your prayers and your actions on behalf of our persecuted family mean that hope is returning to the Middle East. Thank you!
Before IS took over the city in 2014, Qaraqosh was home to around 50,000 residents and was known as ‘the Christian capital’ of Iraq. Now, the IS militants are gone, and residents are finally starting to return. Your giving has enabled them to start to rebuild their lives.
Father George, a godly man with an amazing vision, is putting the project into action, and thanks to your support he now has the resources he needs to help residents repair and restore their homes and livelihoods.
Due to the way the project has been structured (by working to first rebuild the houses with the least damage), thousands of inhabitants have been able to move back into their homes.
He told Open Doors, “With your support we were able to restore 286 houses. That means that 286 families have returned… We chose to restore houses close to the church in the centre. We decided to restore the city piece-by-piece so that we wouldn’t get isolated houses… The main thought is that we need to recreate the sense of community.
“The people are happy. Even though Erbil was more tidy and clean, they prefer to be back home. Qaraqosh needs to become beautiful again,” Father George says. “We also saw refugees returning from France, Jordan, Lebanon, and even Australia. I will personally work to convince more of those who left the country to come back.”
Musa and Ishba are an elderly, retired couple, who have been back in Qaraqosh for only a few months. They live with their son and daughter-in-law and their children.
“With your help we were able to repair all the windows and doors and we could do some other repairs on the house,” says Musa. “We are very happy to be back here. We’re in our own house again.”
The family owns a bookshelf which has only Christian books stacked there. Some of the books were distributed by an Open Doors partner organisation during the family’s displacement. “What helped us was our faith,” explains Musa. “We can’t live without our faith, we’re very strong in the church. Sometimes people call me ‘son of the bishop’, because we’re so attached to the church.”
There is still a long way to go for Father George and returning Christians. Khalisa is a teacher at a primary school. “We still have a problem at school due to a lack of teachers. Some left the country, others retired. [The streets] need to be fixed. And also the electricity is not available every moment of the day.”
Thanks to you, believers’ lives are changing for the better in Iraq. Stability is returning for so many people! Open Doors is committed to standing alongside our brothers and sisters as they start out on the long road to recovery. Your prayers and support are keeping hope alive.
There are three things that you can do to continue to support your persecuted church family in Iraq today:
Your support helps persecuted Christians continue to courageously follow Jesus.
Together, we can reach those where persecution hits hardest.
