Ohio Christian Alliance
"WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE"  Ohio State Motto 

Ohio Christian Alliance and U.S. Senator Rob Portman host briefing with Iraqi Christians who have family in Iraq threatened by ISIS. 

Senator Portman meets with Iraqi Christians from Central Ohio and Michigan delegation, briefing them on the situation in Iraq. Many of them have family members back in Iraq being pursued by ISIS.

The crisis in Iraq is urgent. Tens of thousands of Christians are being pursued by the Islamic group ISIS. Ten days ago, they issued a caliphate edict. The Chaldean Christians were faced with heavy fines, convert to Islam, or be executed. This Christian community dates back to the early Church. They have weathered land invasions by foreign armies over the years, muslim uprisings, and two Gulf Wars. Nothing has dislodged these people from their homes and territories like the current Islamic threat is doing to their lives and culture. The media is being selective on reporting the level of atrocities that are being committed.

On the OCA Facebook page, we have begun to tell the story from various news outlets that are reporting that thousands of men have been killed, women have been raped in mass and kidnapped, and children have been beheaded, and their heads placed on poles in parks in the towns and villages around Mosul where the Islamic State has taken control. This is why tens of thousands have fled to the mountains, stripped of all possessions and identity by the Islamic State, and are hiding in the mountains without food, water, clothing, or shelter. Thankfully, the U.S. has begun to respond with humanitarian aid and some military action. But, much more needs to be done. There is no free passage for these people at this time out of the region. And without military personnel on the ground, their security and future is uncertain. 

Last week, OCA was asked to provide a venue and to host a gathering of Iraqi Christians who have made their way to the U.S. in recent years to meet in Columbus with Senator Portman. The briefing took place yesterday in a closed door meeting hosted by OCA at the Calvary Bible Church of Westerville. Pastor Matt Keller graciously opened their facility and participated in the forum. Zena Aziz, a young Iraqi Christian who I met earlier this spring at a meeting where I was speaking in Columbus, helped to organize the event by spreading the word through the Iraqi Christian community in Central Ohio. Also attending was a delegation that came down from Michigan. These Christian people are precious. My wife Silvia and I enjoyed meeting them all and established new friendships. Their stories are heart-wrenching of what is taking place with their relatives back in Iraq.

OCA is working with Senator Portman's office to expedite the visa process for the persecuted Christians to leave Iraq.The assylum process and visa processing will take time for these people to come to safety. 

    

 PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR CHRISTIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN IRAQ

NEWS IN FOCUS BROADCAST WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6.  Interview with Senator Portman and Zena Aziz, Iraqi Christian, now U.S. citizen, tells the story of her relatives that are now being pursued by the Islamic State.  

 

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