You’re helping restore hope and happiness to the Nineveh Plains, ten years after IS invasion

This week marks ten years since so-called Islamic State invaded the Nineveh Plains, forcing thousands of Christians to flee. The region has since been liberated and your faithful and generous support has helped more than 2,000 families to return home.

“A black day.” That’s how Rawnaq and Rawa describe the day, ten years ago this week, when they and their young family were forced from their hometown in Iraq as so-called Islamic State (IS) closed in.

It was early August 2014 and, after seizing Mosul, IS set their sights on the Nineveh Plain, a region steeped in Christian tradition. It’s where many believers fled after Saddam Hussain was toppled in 2003. At the time, some 40% of its population were said to be believers, most of whom spoke different dialects of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus.  

The invasion of IS displaced some 120,000 Christians and other minorities. Those who stayed in the Nineveh Plains were taken as captives by IS, with some still missing today. All crosses on churches and monasteries were taken down, and some church buildings were used to store ammunition (one Christian community in Qaraqosh was repurposed as a shooting range). After Christians had left, some locals joined IS in looting abandoned houses, stores and shops.

Aching nostalgia

Amongst those who managed to escape were Rawnaq, Rawa and their three children, the youngest of whom had just been born, as well as Rawnaq’s family. They fled with nothing but the clothes they were wearing and their valuables. Their home had only just been built. “Our life was good,” says Rawnaq. “We felt safe and comfortable.”

It all changed on that ‘black day’. “My son was very sick, he had lung deficiency,” recalls Rawa. “He couldn’t breathe normally and needed an oxygen tube. The moments of fleeing were like hell. It was so dark we couldn’t see ahead of us, we could barely see the other people fleeing.”

The family eventually arrived in Erbil, capital of Kurdistan, an autonomous region where most believers fled to. To keep rental costs low, Rawa and Rafnaq ended up sharing a small house with four other families. “In the beginning we spent a week without taking a shower,” says Rawa. “Some people were taking showers in the streets. The hardest period was the first three months, it was intense suffering. I didn’t have milk for my newborn son. It was very hard and tragic especially to have an infant that you can’t feed.”

“During displacement our eyes would fill with tears when mentioning our hometown,” shares Rawaq, who found work in Erbil as a plumber. “The nostalgia for it was great no matter what happened. All our thoughts and conversations were about it.”

A happy return home

In December 2016, soon after their town was liberated, Rawnaq returned to their home. “When I saw it for the first time, it was completely destroyed,” he shares. “I went to both my parents’ house and my house. Both were dark like coal from being totally burned. I was shocked.” Nothing was left, not even photos and memories of precious moments like their wedding day.

Back then, the family could not see a way to go back and live there, but in November 2017, Rawa and the children returned and lived with her in-laws. She got a job as a teacher at a reopened school. Meanwhile, Rawnaq split his time between there and Kurdistan, where he continued to work.

Two years ago, the family finally returned home – a wonderful moment that you helped make possible. They’re amongst the 2,283 families whose homes have been restored or repaired through the work of Open Doors local partners in Iraq, the aim being to restore hope, dignity and a sense of belonging to the places they once called. The support was also a tangible reminder that the global church had not forgotten about them, but are standing with them.

“We thank you so much,” say Rawa and Rawaq. “Without your support, we wouldn’t have restored this house. We wouldn’t have been able to fix a door even. Many people were helped through this support. Praise the Lord. Without your help, we wouldn’t be sitting here.”

Rebuilding towns and restoring hope

The assistance with rebuilding is just one of many ways you came alongside your family in Iraq in the ten years since the invasion of IS.

“The situation was not easy for anyone, and the organisation did its best to support the people and help the churches,” explains Shifaa*, representative of an Open Doors local partner. “We distributed Bibles to over 25,000 Christians because they had all left their Bibles behind. The Bibles brought people closer to God and helped them stand strong and firm in their faith through those horrible and difficult days of displacement.”

The organisation also provided trauma counselling. “We brought in specialists to have one-on-one sessions with religious leaders as well as people who were severely traumatised,” Shifaa says.

The support for displaced believers went on for years as IS continued to inflict brutal violence in the region. “During the winter, we provided blankets, heaters and warm clothes,” continues Shifaa. “For two-and-a-half years, we provided 15,000 families (around 60,000 people) with food baskets every month. We also gave health support to sick people.”

“Our goal was to stand beside the church in solidarity with people in their suffering,” she says. “We tried to be their voice and we showed them that they’re not alone as other Christians around the globe cared about them, as we are all connected as the one Body of Christ.”

In 2003, around 1.5 million Christians lived in Iraq. The number is now believed to be less than 200,000, a quarter of which live in the Nineveh Plains. It’s a remnant – one that your prayers and support are helping uphold. Today, local partners continue to help believers with support including trauma care and livelihood support.

Ten years after mass displacement and the destructive rule of IS, happiness and hope have returned to the Nineveh Plains. “After the liberation, the towns started slowly rebuilding,” says Shifaa. Thank you for your invaluable role in helping our brothers and sisters remain in this very special place. It means so much to them.