Helping the Syrian refugees

قراءة في العربية

During the past two years I had the privilege to visit Syrian refugees who have fled to Jordan from Syria because of the wars that continue to this day five years ago. During our visits with the team we had the opportunity to stand with our brothers and sisters in their pain because we feel their pain they feel.

But at the beginning of this year I had the opportunity to visit different refugees, First they were from Iraq, secondly Christians, have become refugees because of escaping of direct religious persecution by "ISIS". Thirdly, they did not escape from the conflict that they are going through long time ago; there are not a lot of institutions that will help them like the Syrians.

Personally, I would say that in our last visits with the team, the strongest lesson I have learned is the power of forgiveness and love that Iraqis have towards who oppress them. Despite, the stories we heard were very difficult and painful, a lot of them had to have money and many properties. 90% of them came from Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq. All told us the same stories, how they had to flee and leave everything in less than 10 hours. Many of them have lost contact with their families or friends, and some of them have family members or even their children.

I could talk about stories and what happened to our brothers and sisters in Iraq, but maybe stories could not be short but what I want to talk about is how much we have been encouraged. After losing everything and passing through the most difficult living conditions, however, they realized and believed that without our Lord Jesus Christ, there is no freedom and joy.

It was encouraging how we saw them blessed by God with joy in their hearts.

We live these days in a world in which hope is very far from the eyes of those who are looking for. Killing and pain, persecution and lack of justice has become everywhere in the world. But when we hear and see, even when we feel the spirit of hope, love, and the joy of Iraqi Christians, I do not want to say one other thing but to learn and live with such spirit it is the only way to overcome the pain and hopelessness.