Dear Friend of Eurasia,
You won’t believe what Aabdar,* a young Iraqi, recently said:
“I HATE ISLAM. For the past 12 years, I have watched my home country of Iraq be torn apart by Islamic extremists.”
Aabdar was born into a Muslim family. He is one of over a million moderate Muslims fleeing the Islamic State and flooding into the capital of Baghdad from the surrounding provinces.
But even in Baghdad they are not safe: the streets of Baghdad are filled with death. The extremists of ISIS force the masses of moderate Muslims to submit to their laws on penalty of death—and daily the death toll rises.
Because of ISIS, many Muslim refugees like Aabdar are disillusioned with Islam and they are searching for an alternative. They are looking for a true religion of peace.
Having lost all hope, these Iraqi refugees are eagerly accepting New Testaments given to them by Christians in Baghdad—$1 New Testaments shipped to Iraq from other countries.
But New Testaments in Iraq are in short supply.
Last December, I shared with you the need in Iraq for Arabic Bibles, and you responded generously. Yet this year, the need is even greater—the greatest it has been in nearly a decade.
With the few Bibles they have, Iraqi Christians are trying to spread the gospel. Some of these Christians have been scattered throughout their country by ISIS, walking in the footsteps of the persecuted church in Acts 4: “Those who had been scattered preached the Word wherever they went.”
One such persecuted Christian is Fareeq.*
Fareeq, a respected Assemblies of God pastor in Iraq, evangelizes Muslim refugees through Scripture distribution. These Muslims eagerly receive New Testaments to learn about a faith of peace—about Christianity. Broken by the violence that has torn their families apart, they are ready to hear about a God who calls people to love.
“Every week, Pastor Fareeq receives phone calls from Iraqis who are disillusioned with Islam,” says our Middle East area director, “and they are looking for a different religion. Many are being led to Christ!”
Yet today, Pastor Fareeq struggles to find New Testaments for spiritually hungry people.
Even as ISIS spreads fear and carnage across Iraq, we can help bring hope and healing to Iraqi refugees in a tangible way.
A gift of $1 puts an Arabic New Testament in the hands of one of the million Muslim refugees in Iraq, bringing the good news of Christianity to those without any earthly hope.
Will you help us fill 5 shipping containers with Arabic New Testaments for disillusioned Muslim refugees in Iraq? Each shipping container holds 19,200 New Testaments.
Refugees come to Baghdad from all over Iraq. New Testaments distributed in the capital city reach people from many people groups.
As these Muslim refugees read the New Testament, they are making life-altering decisions for Christ: “They are asking to be baptized,” our area director tells me.
The Word of God in the hands of Iraqis is leading them to baptism—the sign of publicly renouncing Islam. After baptism, there is no turning back.
As the pressure from ISIS continues, will you help supply Fareeq and other Christian witnesses like him with New Testaments so that Muslims can find Christ and be baptized? These decisions are changing the spiritual atmosphere not just of Baghdad— but of the entire country.
Our area director left me with this thought: “I, too, hate Islam. But I love Muslims.”
Our workers on the ground daily risk their lives to bring the message of Jesus to these Muslims. Through Bibles, our workers and Iraqi Christians bring the light of the world into the darkest strongholds of Islam.
P.S. A gift of $1 puts an Arabic New Testament in the hands of an Iraqi refugee. Will you prayerfully consider your part in filling 5 shipping containers with New Testaments for Iraq?