Six month old Mate Talb is the darling of the church community center near the city of Dohuk. He brings joy to the 90 people forced to live together in very limited space. LWF partner CAPNI, provides food for the residents. Photo: LWF/S. Cox
During this Advent time, we think of the people in Northern Iraq who have fled from their homes. Many of them are Christians who in the past months were forced to flee because of their belief. Like the holy family, they need the help of their neighbors. Host communities such as the Muslim population of Dohuk have supported the refugees in many heartwarming and compassionate ways.
With the help of member churches, LWF is assisting refugees in Dohuk, Northern Iraq. Through our implementing partner Christian Aid in Northern Iraq (CAPNI) we provide non-food items such as shelter, cooking kits, stoves, blankets, carpets and water and sanitation. In November, LWF has distributed winter clothing to the families.
For the Advent season, we have gathered four different stories. They tell of love, peace, hope and even joy which is experienced in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances.
We welcome you to share the stories and prayers in your congregation this Advent season.
4th Advent: Joy
At two months, baby Mate Talb has just been baptised. A small celebration followed but the joy was short-lived. The next day, the family came home to a sticker on the door of their house informing them simply that they had to leave or be killed. The mother, Snaa Jrgees, scooped the baby up in her arms, put him in the car and the family raced out of Bashid for the safety of the Kurdish governorate in Northern Iraq.
The family now lives in a church community center where some 22 families with altogether 90 people are being cared for by LWF partner CAPNI. All of them had to flee the ISIS aggression. Conditions are inadequate: 11 families sleep in the largest communal room and the remaining 11 in the other two rooms of the center. There is no privacy. Yet the place they now call home is immaculate: bedding is stacked away, the kitchen is spotless, the carpet clean. Warmth comes from gas heaters placed around the house. Children run around, adults sit together talking. Every member of the household does their best to keep the place in order and live harmonically.
Moments of joy are rare. It is little Talb, now six months old, who is greatest source of happiness in the house. The little boy is constantly kissed, cuddled and passed around. “As the youngest, he’s the lucky one. Everyone loves him,” Jrgees says. “Sometimes I miss him because everyone wants to cuddle him. I never know who might be holding him next.”
The small moments of joy found in a baby lighten life for people who have no home to return to and no idea what the future might bring.
Pray this Advent season for the refugees in Northern Iraq. Give thanks for the witness of sharing joy even when faced with darkness around them. Give thanks that we can celebrate this Christmas season, that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it,” (John 1). Pray that we may carry this light into the world to the glory of God and the benefit of our neighbor.
