For those who are still following along on the teams activities and the needs out in northern Iraq right now, here is a brief update. The first team has already transitioned out and left things in the hands of a second team digging in for the long haul as the problems with the shipping container continue, and the needs expand.
The shipping container is still currently stuck in port Mersin, Turkey. This is due entirely to new, unexpected laws imposed on the shipping line that requires documents from our end stamped by the Turkish consulate in Iraq in order to release the container to it’s awaiting truck at the port to continue travel towards the Iraq border. This bureaucratic requirement and the resulting confusion (the standards required have literally changed every few days) have delayed the container by at least two weeks now. The winter is upon the refugees in full force, with a snow storm expected in northern Iraq this Friday. I fear the help from this container may come too late, if it comes at all, but God is able to turn the hearts of the officials and get this much-needed load of winter clothing moving again. Pray if you can! We have our plans, but God has His, and in this case we simply have to trust that He knows best and has good reason for all of these delays and hindrances with this container.
The Yazidi boy with cancer underwent a biopsy and a procedure to drain several liters of blood from the swollen tumorous mass on his arm. Pray for this poor child. He is in great pain, as well as great fear of the doctors, and undoubtedly the future. We found that up until we encountered him, the doctors had not been forthcoming with the severity of his condition, and he was made to think it was just a large cyst that would go away in time, and not life-threatening, aggressive bone cancer. This is not uncommon in this part of the world, as some doctors are afraid of family members reactions or blame if they give them bad news. We are still waiting on the recent biopsy results, as well as praying for a door to open to a high-level hospital somewhere in the world willing to take this case as charity. It seems impossible right now but God is able!
God does hear prayers and can still heal the sick though! As I was leaving Iraq we met with a group that earlier had a sick old woman laying on the bed with severe back pains; one of the men in that refugee group who was an Iraqi doctor said she undoubtedly had a herniated disc and would need expensive and painful surgery to walk again and get rid of the pain. One of the brothers with us prayed for her at that time weeks ago (which then also resulted in a fervent discussion with the doctor about Christ!) and then we left. Two days ago we followed up there and the doctor and his brother said she had started to get better after we had left, then when they took her to the hospital for her scheduled MRI they found it was only muscular inflammation, and not a herniated disc as they were so sure of, which could be fixed with some ibuprofen! She wasn’t laying on the floor when we came to visit, so I trust their story to be true, and have no reason to doubt it as both men were conservative Muslims who would not likely want to admit that prayer in Jesus name indeed is powerful as Jesus is God.
The winter relief distribution entered a new phase as we left. The newly arrived refugees and the poorest local enclaves were all, in as much as they were assessed to need it, provided with heaters, kerosene and other supplies for the winter. The team is now focusing on re-supply and followup to the some 200 families we were able to make direct contact with, and bring them more kerosene to keep their homes, tents, shacks and huts warm through the coldest part of winter. There are also plans to provide relief to locations outside of the main city at the time the container arrives, and possibly another bulk distribution of kerosene heaters to some or all of 400 Kurdish families a local pastor is working with.
We also had a good opportunity to help a small cluster of 40 Christian refugee families (Assyrian Orthodox) with a delivery of food for their families, as well as a new water filtration set-up we’ve been experimenting with that ties into lines already under pressure (as opposed to the traditional gravity-fed bucket systems). Both forms of aid seemed well received and needed by the families, and they invited one of the brothers with us to share with their Christian group. Afterwards several came up to him with questions about the things he had said concerning the Gospel and how a person can be right with God, and from this they found one man who seemed to truly know the Lord and wanted to meet again to discuss more. Small beginnings from God are no small thing!
The needs of the region are tremendous, and the humanitarian war is the second front in this conflict. Several Sunni refugees we spoke with said that they know of families who reluctantly returned to ISIS held territory simply to survive after expending their little remaining resources as refugees in northern Iraq, and then finding the local government could offer no help, with regional NGOs already strapped with existing needs and struggling to provide help as well. What depths of desperation could drive people back into the unutterable darkness of ISIS lands is hard to imagine. But it is tragic. What more can we do to help these people than we already are doing? This window of opportunity to minister to people in their distress, and share with them the love of Christ, is altogether fleeting as the darkness grows out here. Pray for laborers, and pray for other groups to enter into this work as well!
Updates will continue via the second team in the region as I get information from them; we are praying whether a third team of a few more people to augment the current team could be raised up in short time. This will likely be necessary to finally receive the container and distribute it’s contents. Right now 1-2 volunteers would be necessary, any interested persons can contact me directly on the website for more information.
