Islamic State (IS), Also Known as ISIS, Crisis Creates Unprecedented Opportunity to Share Christ in Iraq
On Thursday, October 16, 2014 7:35 AM, "ANS@Assist-Ministries.com" <ANS@Assist-Ministries.com> wrote:
| ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com Wednesday, October 15, 2014 Islamic State (IS), Also Known as ISIS, Crisis Creates Unprecedented Opportunity to Share Christ in Iraq  Amie Cotton, APR (256) 426-4543 Christian Aid Mission amie@christianaid.org CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (ANS) -- Working in northern Iraq's Kurdish region day and night to help meet the needs of people displaced by the threats and violence of the Islamic State (IS) or (ISIS) in Mosul, and other areas, members of an Iraqi ministry team recently came into contact with a colonel from the Kurdish forces battling this terror group.
With the aid of U.S. airstrikes, the Peshmerga have also slowly retaken some territory. They are helping to secure the Kurdish capital of Erbil, where the ministry team assisted by Christian Aid Mission is supplying displaced people with food, clothing, beds and medicine. The colonel had a few questions for the team members: What was the reason for offering all this aid? What was the motivation, what was the source of it? "We spoke with him explicitly, explaining everything to him, saying that Christ taught us to love and express our love to the people in a practical way," said the team director, who informed the officer that all relief items had been donated or purchased locally. The Peshmerga colonel, whose name is withheld for security reasons, was qu ick to respond. "You see the Arabs around you in the Gulf states, which claim to be religious Muslims, have not sent us anything but terrorists," he told the ministry team members. "But you who follow Christ send love and peace and goodness to people every day." The conversation continued at length, the ministry team director said. "After we had a long talk with him about Christ, he bowed and prayed, asking Christ into his life," the director stated. "And he said, 'Today I am the happiest person - I've had the privilege of making this decision,' and he received a copy of the Bible." - The colonel's experience was just one of many taking place in Iraq. In cities of refuge like Erbil for people displaced from their homes in other parts of Iraq, people are turning to Christ at a stunning pace. Tent churches are springing up in the makeshift camps. Under normal circumstances, mission strategies focus on how to proclaim Christ effectively, but the challenge now is keeping pace with the number who would receive Him, the director said.
Christian Aid Mission's Middle East director said that as a result of this trend, some church leaders and workers for ministry organizations are remaining in Iraq even as the cruel practices of Islamic State - beheading Iraqi children who refuse to deny Christ in Qaroqosh and Western journalists elsewhere - gain greater notoriety. "I think of workers who stayed behind in Mosul and the surrounding areas because there are so many who are receptive to the gospel," he said. "They are willing to risk being in an area under the rule of ISIS for the privilege of more and more fruit for Christ." Forced to trust God more th an they ever have before, these Christians are growing in their relationship with God in ways they had never imagined, he said. "I respected them before the Arab Spring because they were serving in Islamic areas, but now they are serving more and maturing even more," he said. "We need to intercede for these workers. They are all always in danger. They need God's power to show His love to the thousands of helpless people." When Iraqi ministry workers assisted by Christian Aid Mission obtain more funds for food, water, medicine and other supplies, they have the opportunity to demonstrate Christ's love in a tangible way, he added. "God has put within the hearts of thousands of Muslims a desire to read His Word," he said. "We can be the instruments of providing them with New Testaments and audio Bibles." For more information, visit www.christianaid.org/News/2014/mir20141008.aspx To learn more about indigenous missions around with world by signing up for Christian Aid Mission's weekly e-newsletter, Missions Insider, here: christianaid.us7.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=ad362c05e7e320f66e6a44d00&id=f17b618e6b About Christian Aid Mission Christian Aid Mission is an evangelical missionary organization that seeks to establish a witness for Jesus Christ in every tribe and nation by assisting effective indigenous or native ministries through prayer, advocacy and financial support. Our focus is on reaching the unreached for Christ in areas in the world where there are few Christians, where Christians suffer because of poverty or persecution, or foreign missionaries are not allowed. We currently assist more than 500 ministries overseas that have tens of thousands of indigenous or native missionaries in the field. These ministries are engaging more than 1,000 unre ached people groups in more than 100 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.christianaid.org. You can also learn more at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/CAM53 Twitter:twitter.com/christianaid53 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/christian-aid-mission?trk=company_name Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/christianaid53/  See all ASSIST News articles at www.assistnews.net** You may republish this story with proper attribution. Send this story to a friend. Note to our subscribers: It you really appreciate what we do through ANS and would like to make a donation to help us continue with this unique news service, you can do so in two ways. First, just go to our secure site at www.assistnews.net/assist/donations.htm, where you can sign up for a monthly gift or a one-off contribution (tax-deductible in the US). Second, if you prefer to send a check, just make it out to ASSIST, and mail it to ASSIST, PO Box, 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609, USA (also tax-deductible in the US). Thank you so much for caring! Dan Wooding
|
0 Comments