Iraq

There has been a long tradition of Christians living in Iraqi cities like Baghdad and Mosul. Christians have lived in Iraq for two millennia but are currently on the verge of extinction. Iraq has suffered from years of structural uncertainty, conflict and instability under a government incapable of enforcing the rule of law and providing a minimum of security. Iraq is divided into two parts, the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north and the large remaining Arab part. Kurds and Arabs have their own languages and culture. Most of Iraq’s oil resources are found near Kirkuk and Mosul, the border areas between the Kurdish region and Arab Iraq, and these are amongst the most violent places of Iraq. Christians are caught here in the crossfire of two different battles: one for a Kurdish autonomous country and one for a religious cleansing of Iraq by Islamic terrorist groups who wish to make the country purely Islamic. On the other hand, amidst the current crisis, there are also sparks of hope as opportunities arise for churches to reach out to refugees