Hard Choices for Christians in Mosul, Iraq
The eyes of the world’s media turned last month to the northern plains of Iraq, and to the city where Jonah first delivered Jehovah’s message thousands of years ago. Today the story isn’t of a messenger of Jehovah going into Nineveh (now called Mosul), but thousands of Jehovah’s followers being forced out of the city. The alternatives given to Christians by IS (Islamic State) if they don’t leave Mosul are subjugation to Islam or being forced to follow a different god—Allah. Or they will be killed.
Those Christians that fled the city—it is reported that the last 200 Christian families left prior to an IS-imposed deadline on July 19th—left behind all of their possessions, as demanded by the radical Muslims of IS. Many of those that tried to carry more than the clothes on their backs were robbed at IS checkpoints on their way out of the city.
The cross on the Cathedral of Mar Afram in Mosul—the Archbisopric of the Syriac Orthodox Church—was pulled down and replaced by loudspeakers to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer.
Middle East Concern, a VOM partner ministry, reports that: “A few Christians remain in Mosul, including some elderly or infirm who were not able to leave. In some cases Christians are being shielded by Muslim neighbors. There are credible reports that some have been compelled by the IS to convert to Islam by reciting the Islamic declaration of faith before a Sharia court.”
It is important to recognize that the Christians included in these sad news reports are almost all part of the traditional Christian community in Northern Iraq, primarily Syriac Orthodox or Catholic people who are considered by Muslims to be “Christian” because they were born in Christian families.
There is another group of Christians in Northern Iraq too: those that were born into Muslim families but have consciously made the choice to reject Islam and follow Jesus. It is important for American Christians to understand that these believers do NOT have a choice to pay a tax and save their lives. These converts are, in the eyes of IS, apostates. IS fighters would give these believers only two choices: return to Islam or be killed.
VOM is ministering to both of these groups of believers. Already we are caring for 2,000 displaced Christians who have fled Mosul; it is likely that number will increase in the days to come. We are also working with Christian converts in the region who risk their very lives to witness of the love of Jesus to Muslims—even radical and violent ones.
As we look through the eyes of TV cameras into this volatile region, may we be reminded daily to pray for our brothers and sisters suffering such hardship and violence. And as we pray for them, let us also pray for their persecutors, that some of those hunting believers today will become believers themselves in the days and months to come.