A Darker Iraq: Light Of Christian Faith Going Out Fast

Matthew 5:14, 16, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

The Iraqi pastor interviewed in this CBN report shares precisely the same sentiment I communicated earlier this month. Christians are the light of the world, but when forced to completely flee cities and towns and entire regions from the threat of the Beast, the only thing that remains is darkness. And like Sodom and Gomorrah, a kingdom full of darkness is a kingdom that will soon witness the full wrath of Almighty God …

Revelation 16:10-12, 16, “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared… And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”

• Flashback: ISIS Jihadist: We ‘Shall Conquer Jerusalem From You, Oh Jews!’
• Flashback: Turkish Government Completely Cuts Off Euphrates Water Supply
• Flashback: ISIS Jihadist: ‘This Is The War Muhammad Promised Us, The War Of The Great Tribulation’

By Gary Lane, CBN News – “While the Obama administration tries to figure out if targeting terrorists is worthwhile, thousands of refugees are suffering across northern Iraq.

Talk to anyone who has fled the Islamic State and they’ll share their story of tragedy and suffering.

One Christian CBN News spoke to said the terrorists seized all his gold and money, then threatened to cut off his hand.

This boy was traumatized when he witnessed Islamic State fighters armed with machine guns open fire on fleeing Christians near Mosul.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi Christians now live in tents, schools, and abandoned buildings. War weary and despondent, most now say they want to leave Iraq.

‘Go to America, Christians go to America. No, stay in Iraq!’ one refugee woman said of the enormous decision to leave the land of their ancestors.

When Islamic State fighters seized his city, this former police officer took his family, including his newborn daughter, to safety in Erbil.

‘If we return to our village, they will kill us,’ he said.

With passports in hand, these Iraqi Christians hope Congress will soon grant them immediate religious asylum status so they can live in the United States.

Ten families from this church, Ankawa Evangelical, have already left Iraq since the crisis began last June. That troubled Pastor Ghassan Yalda, who urged them to stay.

‘This is hurting a lot because the faith that we have is that the Christians are the salt of this land and the light of this land,’ he said.

‘If everybody leaves this country, who is going to be speaking the truth to the people who need it and who is going to be keeping this area from the wrath of the Lord because the sin is everywhere and people are killing each other?’ he asked.” Read more.