THE
P RTAL
January 2016
Page 18
Aid to the Church in Need
This month we highlight the work
of Aid to the Church in Need in the Middle East
T
he recent conflict in Iraq and Syria and other parts of the Middle East has forced tens of thousands
of people to abandon their homes. Despite the media’s focus on the refugees entering the European
continent, the vast majority of Middle Eastern refugees have remained in the region. Those that have been
internally displaced, particularly in Iraq and Syria, are in drastic need of humanitarian aid.
The findings of Aid to the Church in Need’s 2015
Persecuted and Forgotten? report show that Christians
have been disproportionately affected by the conflict.
Figures quoted by the European Parliament state
700,000 Christians have fled Syria alone. If this figure
is a true reflection of the crisis, then 56 percent of
Syria’s Christians have left during the conflict.
The charity’s report also found that as well as the
conflict, the mass exodus of Christians is threatening
the survival of Christianity in the Middle East. This
huge evacuation of the biblical heartland has been
prompted in part by a fear of genocide. A fear that
Christians, among other minority groups, have been
subject to deliberate targeted attacks intended to
destroy ancient communities. The report estimated
that should the current trends continue the Church in
Iraq will all but disappear within as little as five years.
ACN has been one of the biggest providers of aid,
particularly for Christians in Iraq and has supported
displaced people from the Nineveh Plain, Mosul
and Dohuk in Iraq with more than £3.5 million for
covering such basic needs as food, water, blankets,
medicine and accommodation. The charity also works
with project partners such as Father Douglas Bazi in
Iraq and Fr Ziad Hilal in Syria to help Christians living
in refugee camps.
Archbishop Jeanbart in the damaged Christian quarter in Aleppo
In 2006, he was captured and tortured for nine
days by terrorist organisation Al Qaeda. Despite his
traumatic past, Fr Douglas remained in Iraq and
continued to minister to victims of persecution.
ACN is also able to coordinate a number of projects
supporting suffering families and displaced people
in Syria by working with project partners like Fr
Ziad. Before being moved to England following the
completion of his assignment, Fr Ziad worked at a
pastoral centre in Homs which provided medical
assistance for those with physical disabilities and
education for youngsters with learning difficulties
– as well as humanitarian aid. The centre cares for
6,000 families from Homs and the surrounding area
– regardless of their religious or ethnic background.
Christianity is said to be the most persecuted religion
in the world and ACN findings reflect this. The decline
of Christianity, particularly in the Middle East, has the
potential to significantly damage prospects for peace in
countries where the Church has traditionally acted as a
peace-maker – playing an important role in community
Representatives including ACN staff and friends development and inter-faith cooperation. ACN is
met with Fr Douglas in May 2015 during a project trip continuing its support of the persecuted Church in the
to Iraq and visited the Mar Elias Camp where he is Middle East at this especially difficult time.
aided by a dedicated team of volunteers and teachers
who care for the displaced adults and children in
Clare Creegan co-authored Aid to the Church
the centre. Fr Douglas also attended the launch of in Need’s Persecuted and Forgotten? A report on
ACN’s Persecuted and Forgotten? report and spoke Christians oppressed for their Faith 2013 – 2015. For
at the annual Westminster Event in October 2015 information about Aid to the Church in Need and how
where he described his own personal experience of you can help, please visit www.acnuk.org or contact us
persecution.
at [email protected] or call us on 020 8642 8668.
Fr Douglas runs the Mar Elias Camp in Erbil which
cares for more than 700 people. Though the people are
free to come and go, Fr Douglas has said that he hopes
they will remain and rebuild their lives in Iraq.
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