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A Christmas gift to survive winter
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
For months now Pope Francis and the Iraqi Church have been imploring us not to "stand silently by" "or "look the other way" as our brothers and sisters are persecuted because of their faith. The Pope is also asking Christians to "pray intensely" in an "effective participation" and sign of "tangible support" for all of them. This is why, some time ago, AsiaNews launched the campaign "Adopt a Christian from Mosul" which has allowed us to raise and send approximately 1.5 million Euros to support the daily needs of Iraqi refugees who fled Mosul under the threat of the Islamic State. Their needs continue to be enormous and their return home far from immediate. Because of this, the bishops are planning the transition from emergency plans that have been in place until now to a more stable relief program. This will entail the transfer of all the Christian refugees - about 130 thousand people, 21 thousand families - to houses, where they can restart their lives, get a job, think about their children's future. AsiaNews asks our readers and friends to continue to support our campaign "Adopt a Christian from Mosul" so we can help cover the costs of this project, which amounts to an estimated 3.5 million euro.
“Adopt a Christian from Mosul”:
A Christmas gift to survive winter
As Iraqi troops advance in the Nineveh Plain and Mosul, a new wave of refugees could overshadow the fate of other refugees who found hospitality in Kurdistan. People need kerosene, winter clothes, aid for children, and money for rent. The campaign AsiaNews launched two years ago is more urgent than ever. Give up a superfluous gift to offer refugees an essential gift for life.
Refugees who fled Mosul and the Nineveh Plain two years ago to escape the violence of Daesh (Islamist State) finding shelter in Kurdistan need kerosene to heat containers and houses, winter clothes, bus passes for their children to go school every day, and money to pay their monthly rent.
Among the refugees, tensions are running high as they wait and see how the battle against the Islamic State to retake the Nineveh Plain and Mosul unfolds. Every day there is joy and tears: Joy because Iraqi troops are advancing victoriously and freeing many villages and towns, and tears for the images of the destruction carried out by Jihadis against churches and houses, as well as stories of abuse against women and the massacres perpetrated by mad Daesh militants.
Fr Samir Youssef, a parish priest in the diocese of Amadiya (Kurdistan), issued an appeal in a letter he sent us and our readers, which we have published. Since 2014, he has personally helped 3,500 displaced Christian, Muslim, and Yazidi families.
Here we call on you to respond to our campaign to help refugees survive Iraq’s cold winter, hoping that they one day they will return to their land and home.
Right after refugees fled Mosul, AsiaNews launched the campaign "Adopt a Christian from Mosul" to provide them with aid to meet their immediate urgent needs. Later, given the magnitude of the needs of 150,000 Christian refugees (as well as 500,000 Yazidis and Muslims), we decided to extend the campaign to meet their long-term needs.
To ensure their survival such support is essential even now. The first reason is the Iraqi army’s offensive against the Islamic State in Mosul is creating new waves of refugees (potentially up to 1.5 million according to the United Nations).
Secondly, the latest emergency should not obscure the fact that that conditions for the refugees of two years ago have only marginally improved and they still need our help.
For this reason, AsiaNews is renewing its "Adopt a Christian from Mosul” campaign and is asking you to make a generous donation for all of the refugees. We do not ask for a superfluous gift, like those we receive or make during the holidays, but one that is for things that are essential for life, like heating, rent, and school. Let us give up superfluous gifts and provide something essential for the refugees. Donations can be made following the usual procedures [Click here]. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Merry Christmas.