Christians Facing Genocide Need Your Help Now - Chris Mitchell

Christians Facing Genocide Need Your Help Now

By Chris Mitchell

CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief

Friday, September 04, 2015

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JERUSALEM, Israel -- More than 100,000 Christians have escaped ISIS terrorists over the past year. Most are still scattered across the Middle East.

Finally, one proposal might offer them a way out of their heart-wrenching dilemma.

Christians in the Middle East face the worst situation in centuries. Human rights observers say the West must pay attention to their plight.

Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, says the world cannot in good conscience ignore them.

"They need to know that Christians are facing genocide," Shea told CBN News. "They need to help these Christians. They need to help them with their prayer and with aid to them to leave."  

After ISIS conquered Mosul and large swathes of territory in Iraq more than a year ago, thousands of Christians found refuge in Kurdistan, others in Jordan and Lebanon. They can't go back home and they can't find work to support themselves and their families.

"ISIS stripped them of all their property," she explained. "When they went into exile, they went into safe havens that will not give them residency status, that will not give them worker authorizations. So they have no money. So it's a very bleak picture."

Shea hopes teaming up with Hollywood producer Mark Burnett will make a difference.

"We've decided that for the most-needy cases, they need to leave; they need to start their lives over," Shea explained. "They need to be re-settled in countries that would give them work authorization, that would allow them to rebuild their lives."

The center plans to resettle these Christians in comfortable surroundings.

"For the Armenians, Armenia; they're Christian of course. (For) Orthodox communities we're looking at Orthodox countries, maybe Georgia, maybe Russia, maybe some places in Eastern Europe. For Protestants we're looking at the Western countries," she explained.

While the numbers are staggering, Shea adds that Christians face an even greater danger.

"Now, the difference with Christians is that they -- underneath the conflict, they're not just running from a conflict. They're running from targeted persecution against them," she said.

Shea calls on the Church not only to pray, but to get involved.

"The Church of the West and the free world, Latin America, needs to pray all the time, I mean, not just once a year, but pray every Sunday in congregation for these persecuted Christians," she said. "And if they can, [they should] contact their political representatives and the candidates running for office to say the United States should take its share of Christians as well."

Find out how to help these Christian refugees 
at the Center for Religious Freedom.