Why Iraqi's ISIS Escapees are Coming to Christ in Droves

Greg Yoder : Apr 24, 2015
Charisma News

“I want to tell you, my family and I we're having devotions together every night. We're praying together. We're reading the Bible together. We realize that all we have is Jesus.” –A convert to Christ

(Iraq)—"Could this happen to us in America?" That was the question from Patrick Klein President of Vision Beyond Borders (VBB) following his recent trip to Northern Iraq.

The refugee crisis in and around Iraq is mind-boggling. According to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), there are more (than) 250,000 refugees living in Iraq. There are another 426,000 refugees from Iraq. And, another 1.9 million internally displaced people (IDPs). That means there are 2.4 million people who have incredible needs in and around Iraq.

Klein just returned from visiting refugee camps in and around Dohuk. The stories he heard were heartbreaking. The testimonies of Christians were amazing. The needs of refugees: overwhelming.

President of VBB Patrick Klein says he visited Iraqi refugees forced from their homes in Mosul–many of them, Christians. "Most of them have lost hope, and they're just discouraged. They say, 'Where do we go? What do we do now? Maybe if we come to America or Europe, we can start a new life.' I don't want to see 300,000 Christians leave Iraq [with] no Christian witness left in Iraq."

When... ISIS started going from village to village forcing Christians to leave a lot of [the Christians] had Muslim neighbors they knew for 30 years. These Muslim neighbors said, “Get out of Iraq. You don't belong here. We hate you Christians.”

They were forced to either convert to Islam, leave, or die. "One man told us: 'I think God is chastising us because we forgot God. We stopped reading our Bibles. We stopped praying. Maybe God is using this.' He said, 'I want to tell you, my family and I we're having devotions together every night. We're praying together. We're reading the Bible together.' He said, 'We realize that all we have is Jesus.'"

Read more here.