Honesty,I have to tell you, I've been putting this post off. Why? Well, that's a question I've had to ask myself. I think part of it has to do with the fact that this post will be about a very heavy topic. Another part has to do with the fact that I'm afraid. Afraid of what? I'm afraid that I won't be able to communicate what I want to. That the post won't be what it needs to be. I feel inadequate. But I think the biggest reason that this post is being written so many days after I decided to write it is frankly, because the devil doesn't want it to be written and has done everything in his power to disrupt the writing of it.
Now I'm sure I've peaked your interest a little bit. What on earth could be so heavy and so important?
I am here today to inform you of what is going on with the Christians in Iraq.
Many of you may have heard about it in detail. For others, this may be the first news you've had about it. But I've been realizing more and more in the past weeks, that as a Christian, it is my responsibility to be an advocate. To give a voice to those that don't have one. And raising awareness, while it can seem small and insignificant, is one way I can be a voice for them.
In one sentence, the Christ followers in Iraq are being severely persecuted for their faith by a terrorist group called the ISIS.
It's one of those news stories we see as we scroll through Facebook or be pass by as we do a Google search. One of the news stories we don't give much thought to. Like I said in my last post, we are desensitized. Its just one more news story about people being mistreated. So we don't give it much more thought than that and we keep scrolling.
Do you believe in the objectification of people? I would hope you would say no. But in a sense, that is exactly what we are doing when we scroll past these stories. We are de-peopleing the people in the story.
So I am going to ask you to do something revolutionary. We are going to go through an exercise together to re-people these people.
I'm going to ask you to look at these pictures not as news stories or as just pictures on a screen, but as people. Who are these people? What are they thinking? What are they feeling? What are they going through?
Look at this man. Is he just a news story? Or is he your brother in Christ? Think of the trials he is going through! This man is living for Jesus, knowing that it will probably cost him his life. Knowing that he may have to endure torture. Knowing that his family might be taken from him, or worse, that he might have to watch them suffer. Look at his face. Why is he crying? Has his wife just been taken? Have they cut his little daughter's head off? Does he know that this is his last day on earth?
Church, this is your brother in Christ.
Now look at these faces. Can you imagine being a mother at a time like this? Having to remain strong even when you are more terrified than you have ever been? Knowing that this child that you hold might be killed and there's nothing you can do to protect her? Look at the child's face. That is fear. That is terror. You know how you felt as a kid when you saw a scary movie and were sure there were monsters under your bed? Well what if you saw screaming families being separated by brute force? What if you saw people fleeing for their lived only to drop dead with a bullet through their head? What if you saw dead, mutilated bodies lining the streets? People you knew. People that you had talked to yesterday, people that were your neighbors. And all this because these people loved Jesus. Can you imagine the terror this child felt when she realized that her family loved Jesus too?That these bad people that belonged in nightmares were coming for her family? What can this terrified mother say to comfort her child? What can she say to comfort herself? She could pay a fee and say that Allah is the only God and her family would be safe. I'm sure it is a tempting thought as she sees the terror in her child's face.Then she could tell her child that mommy will make it all better. But instead she must choose Jesus. She must go against every motherly instinct, against every frightened cell in her body.She must make this decision knowing that it will only get worse from here.Knowing that all her worst fears will become a reality. Knowing that these people will do anything and everything horrible to her and her family. Knowing that the only hope past this point is just finally being in heaven. But knowing that to get there, she will first have to go through the closest thing to hell that she will ever experience.
Church, these are your sisters in Christ.
Have you ever felt empty? Have you ever felt alone? Have you ever felt desperate? Have you ever felt like you have nowhere to go? Well what about these people? They have fled their homes hoping to stay alive. They have nothing. No food. No house. No certainty of the future. No place to go. No certainty that they are safe. Can you imagine being in a situation where there were so many people out to kill you that no matter where you went, you were in danger? You couldn't go to the next town for safety. You couldn't try to flee the country in any normal sense of the word because you were trying to get out alive. And no matter where you go, you are alone. You have no voice. You have no advocate. No one will fight for you. So your best bet is to flee to the middle of nowhere and not be noticed. You don't know where you next meal will come from. But maybe starvation would be better than being murdered.
Church, these are your brothers and sisters in Christ.
A family photo that I'm sure this family never planned to have. Can you imagine this beautiful family of eight. Brothers and sisters that loved each other. Parents that cared for and provided for their six wonderful children. Picture in your mind this family sitting together on the sofa in the background reading their bibles. Talking to each other about God's power and love. One child has a story to share from his own life. Another has a verse to add that she had just found yesterday. The family sits down for dinner. They talk about their days. They insert funny stories from their lives. Can you see the laughter, the love, the joy in their faces as they sit together around the table? Even as they knew of the persecution, can you imagine them bringing their fears to the Lord together. Gathering together as a family and praying for strength. Then it happens.Members of the ISIS storm in their house. They give them a choice: convert to Islam or die. Then you hear it. The shots of the men's guns as each member of the beautiful family crumples to the ground.
Church, this is your family in Christ.
A cute child to be sure! Maybe you can imagine, in another lifetime, him playing legos with your sons. Maybe you can imagine him giggling as his dad pushes him on a swing. But his dad probably isn't who you imagined. His dad believes in Allah. His dad believes that the world should be rid of those that don't. This little boy has grown up hearing those messages. So now, just as your son would proudly pose with a trophy from the science fair, this little boy proudly holds up the bloody head of a Christian and smiles for the camera. That Christian is your brother in Christ, and now his head is being held up as a child's trophy.
Church, Christ calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
This is your sister. She has lived in this persecution. She has seen women get raped and tortured. She has seen the ISIS members beheading helpless children. She has seen the fleeing families. She has seen it all. And yet she shows up to church. And yet she stands strong in her faith. She knows that ISIS members could barge through the doors of that church at any moment and kill them all. Her faith is a real thing. It is worth it. She is forced to ask, "Can I believe in a God that calls me to die for him? Can I believe in a God who sees what is happening and gets glory through it?" And her answer is yes. She knows that God sees her suffering. She knows He does not find joy in watching His people being mistreated. She knows He cries with her. She comes to church, after all she has seen during the week, and she praises God. She worships Him. She prays for her enemies. She is a broken woman. A woman wholly surrendered to Christ. She is scared, she is grieving the loss of so many around her, she is terrified, she is angry, she is weak. But she clings to Christ with everything that she has.
Church, this is your sister in Christ.
Church, this is more than just another news stories. These are your brothers and sisters in Christ. Do you see them as people now? Do you see their pain? Do you feel their fear and their suffering? Does the injustice that they face make you angry?
Does this post make you ask what you can do?
I hope it does.
I hope you shed tears for these precious brothers and sisters facing all their nightmares becoming realities.
I hope you stay up at night thinking about them.
I hope you can't get them out of your mind..
And I hope you pray. Pray for them with everything in your being. Pray for the mothers, the fathers, the sisters, the brothers, the children. Pray while you eat breakfast, pray while you shower, pray while you sing worship songs at church, pray while you heat up leftovers, pray while you wash dishes, pray constantly.
PRAY.
You may want to know what else you can do. One thing I ask is that you do the same as I did: raise awareness. Post something to Facebook. Change your profile picture. Share this blog post. Research the story for yourself. (Only look up pictures if you can stomach looking at mangled, bloody bodies.) Spread the word. Get every Christian you can to pray for their brothers and sister in Iraq.
Other things you can do are to give money to organisations that are helping the refugees. You can contact your politicians to make them aware of the situation. You can sign petitions that raise awareness and push others to act.
Here is a blog post that gives you more ideas for what you can do: http://www.christiantoday.com/
Here is a petition that you can sign: http://wh.gov/lM2As
But more than anything, I just urge you to pray. We so often underestimate the power of prayer and/or get too busy to take moments to converse with God throughout our day. But remember the God we serve. He is a just God. He is a loving God. And He is the King of Kings-the all-powerful Lord. The ISIS members do not intimidate Him. So bring these Iraqi Christians to Jesus in prayer. He's got it from there!
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