Rafi was roughly bundled into the trunk of a car and driven around until evening to avoid any well-meaning neighbours being able to discover where he was being taken. He had been working as a mechanic in a small garage in Mosul, supporting his wife and three children aged eight, seven and two, until this armed gang kidnapped him and held him to ransom, initially asking for $250,000. As Rafi convinced them he wasn’t actually the owner of the garage and just an employee he managed to negotiate his ransom down to $10,000, still far beyond anything he had anyway.
As he sat with his abductors Rafi related some of their questions. “Why are you Christians offending Muslims by publishing cartoons of our holy prophet Mohammed? We should kill you.” This was August 2006, almost a year after the publication of the controversial Danish cartoons. Rafi replied. “We are Christians but we are also Iraqis and have been living here for a long time in this country and served in the army, just like you. These cartoons are nothing to do with us - they are from the west so you will need to ask them why they did it. I am your friend and an Iraqi just like you. I am not a threat.”
Rafi was allowed contact his family to raise the ransom required. He explained. “I started getting loans through my family, who in turn went to friends and colleagues and managed to scrape the money together. My family also gave me anything they had. My wife had $400, my sister $900, my brother $300 and another brother in Baghdad sent me $5,000. My family kept collecting until we had exactly $10,000. Even then, they only released me on condition that I didn’t talk to my family in Armenian or any kind of Christian language but only in Arabic. I agreed to their conditions and so they didn’t hurt me.”
“I was lucky that I was taken by a gang that were just interested in money. Other Christians, especially after that time, were taken by Muslim jihadists and were killed after they were kidnapped because they were Christians.”
After I was released though, I started to hate living in that unsafe atmosphere, as they then began attacking many Christians in Mosul. I fled to this village in Northern Iraq in September 2006. We were part of the first wave of families who came here and we took shelter in a ruined school house. It was really difficult but I felt like I was born again - I had a new life. After all we have been through, we feel really blessed that God has given us this village and Christian community. I have even found work as a mechanic again.
“As for the past, I have to forgive and forget it and try to move on. I can never do anything in the future if I keep thinking about and living in the past. I have to carry on, support my family and enjoy our new life. Of course my family and I have dreams and hopes for our future because we have faith in the Lord. It is very hard to have a dream for this country though because things are very hard and unstable. There are so many difficulties and we need true believers to pray that Iraq will be safe again, because when true believers pray God will answer their prayer.
65 year old Golizkhan was another Christian who also fled Mosul. About 3½ years ago she fled to a village in the Nineveh plain. Although 30 km from Mosul, she says “I feel safe here and I am free to go to Church whenever I like.”
“I was born and lived all my life in Mosul but Christians were being targeted and threatened and many were killed. I lived alone and was afraid to stay there any longer so I came here. I stayed in a room that my nephews rented for me and Open Doors partners gave me food baskets and other household supplies. They also set up this grocery shop for me to work in. I have been working here for four months now.
After two months I started paying about $40 per month to the Open Doors partner and will do so for about 18 months so they can use it to establish another shop for another Internally Displaced Christian. Thank you so much for this project that now gives me a living. Please pray for my health as I have had stomach cancer and a broken shoulder. Pray that people of all religions and nationalities in Iraq will live in peace with each other.
Other Christians in the Nineveh plain have fled from cities such as Kirkuk. 54-year old Schmoeil relates his story.
“I lived in Kirkuk for more than 40 years but fled here about three years ago when I was threatened. I got up one morning and someone had put a letter through the door of my house saying ‘you are a Christian so we will kill you’. They also said ‘you must become a Muslim otherwise you will be considered as an unbeliever and will have to die’.”
“I was frightened for the sake of my wife and children. Many Christians were being threatened and were being killed when they didn’t leave, including a Christian police officer. I was just a poor man with few things, so I packed everything up and left within a few days.
“When I came here three years ago, Open Doors partners supported me with food baskets and household requirements. I was able to find work as a builder but then I had two brain clots and I don’t have the strength to do building work anymore. Now, Open Doors partners have set up these premises for me. Children come here and pay me to play on these games consoles. I am so grateful for this job as despite my sickness this work does not over-tire me. Thank you so much. Now I can make my living without depending on anyone.
“I need your prayers for my health and for the health of my children. Two of my children have serious mental disabilities – only one son is healthy. Please pray for peace for everyone in this country.”
More than 600,000 Christians in Iraq have been displaced since 2003 of which 100,000 are living in the Kurdish controlled region in Northern Iraq. A further 400,000 have fled to countries such as Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, because of the security breakdown in the country and the increased persecution because of their faith following the 2003 US invasion.
Prior to the Gulf War in 1991 there were an estimated one million Christians in Iraq - now there are less than 400,000. With your donations, Open Doors have been supporting internally displaced Christians in Iraq and neighbouring countries to strengthen and support the Church in these troubled times.
