By Jeff Brumley
The Baptist World Alliance has issued a call for Baptists and other Christians to provide funds to help Iraqi Christians displaced by war, and the global organization has sent an initial donation of $20,000 for that cause.
The funds are earmarked for food and other urgently needed relief supplies for approximately 500 Iraqi Christian families who recently fled Mosul and Karakosh and are now in Irbil, a city in Kurdistan, the BWA said in a news release.
The most immediate crisis erupted in June, when the ISIS Islamist group launched an offensive in northern Iraq to drive out or kill all non-Muslims in the region. Christians were given the option of paying exorbitant taxes, converting to Islam or fleeing.
Christians there have been on the move, however, since 2003, when the United States invaded Iraq.
Mosul is Iraq’s second largest city and has had a Christian population for 2,000 years.
“Christians fled in haste without their possessions, including clothing,” the BWA said in the release. “Money, jewelry and other valuables were stolen or confiscated.”
Donations may be made online or by mail at Baptist World Aid, c/o Baptist World Alliance, 405 N. Washington St., Falls Church, VA 22046.