FROM IRAQ: this story came today from an Egyptian who works across the Middle East.

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> (This came through the Facebook Page of an Uncle, distant Mentor and Friend)<br /> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He says that, "It describes the plight of Christians in war-torn Iraq as the ISIS group advances. Please read it prayerfully in the spirit of Hebrews 13:3." (If you hit "Like" on Facebook or write a prayer on eberesamuel.blogspot.com, I'll interpret this to mean " I will pray..."<br />++++++++++++++++++++<br />My name is Victor, I am Christian, I am 57 years old. Together with my family I enjoyed life in Mosul (Iraq) where I had a good private busin<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ess which secured a comfortable life for us. We lived there till Saturday July 4, 2014</span></span></div> <div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); display: inline;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px;"> In June militia from the fundamental, violent Islamic forces ISIS, entered Mosul with no resistance from the Iraqi army. With their arrival our lives changed drastically.<br />Within one week of their arrival, crosses were removed from on top all Churches in the city and replaced with their black flag. They ordered that all women and girls in the region (they control) must be circumcised, a tradition which we never practiced in our area of Iraq.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> Then they ordered all Christians to leave the city before Saturday August 12 – they announced that all their property would be confiscated. If Christians chose to stay they would have to pay high tax or convert to Islam otherwise they would be killed.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> Several days ago, they arrived at my house, they searched every room, they found a New Testament in English, I was beaten and accused of being a traitor. I am not sure what that meant, but I knew that killing people was very easy for them and happened very fast, they had already executed hundreds of people since they arrived. It was God’s mercy that they didn’t kill me on the spot.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> On their way out they painted the sign “Christian” on the door of our house – the Arabic letter “N”, an incomplete circle with a dot on the top. Next to it they wrote “Property of the Islamic republic” !</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> Next day early in the morning we left out home, we were not allowed to take anything with us, we left with the clothes on our back. They searched each one of us, they took the money, the passports, even my medicine, I’m diabetic and have high blood pressure, they confiscated my medicine!</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> We, together with all the Christian families in the city walked for more than 50 km to the nearest Kurdish town. There was no place for us to go except to a monastery - they received us.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"> In one day we lost everything we possess, we turned from being owners of a house and a business to being refugees. That is where we live now. It is devastating, so embarrassing. That is where we sleep. That is not just us, but that is how each family lives, just take a corner and stay together, surrounded by hundreds, each in his spot.</div> </div> </div>

FROM IRAQ: this story came today from an Egyptian who works across the Middle East.

(This came through the Facebook Page of an Uncle, distant Mentor and Friend) He says that, "It describes the plight of Christians in...

Read more »

Lebanon: TV channel shows support for Iraqi Christians

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lebanon: TV channel shows support for Iraqi Christians</span><br /> <span class="byline byline-photo" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(216, 216, 216); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; display: block; height: 62px; margin: -1px -160px 21px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; position: relative;"><img alt="News from Elsewhere..." src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/68386000/jpg/_68386559_blog_paper_internet_radio.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; float: left; font-style: italic; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; position: relative; top: 2px;" /><span class="byline-name" style="display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 2px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">News from Elsewhere...</span></span><span class="byline-title" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">N stands for Nasrani, an archaic Arabic word for Christians</span></span></span><br /> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="Screenshot of Dima Sadeq wearing a T-shirt in solidarity with Christians" height="351" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/76598000/jpg/_76598554_76598550.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span></div> <br /> <br /> <div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="clear: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Lebanese TV channel is using the Arabic letter N in its logo, in what appears to be a show of solidarity with Christians in Iraq.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dima Sadeq, one of the main anchors on the channel LBCI, has appeared on screen wearing a T-shirt with the letter N - pronounced Noon in Arabic. "From Mosul to Beirut, we are all Noon," Sadeq said just before a recent edition of LBCI's nightly news bulletin, <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Jul-29/265396-lbci-launches-mosul-solidarity-initiative.ashx#axzz38qphdIVT" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The Daily Star newspaper reports</a>. N appears to stand for the old Arabic word Nassarah - a term used in the Koran to describe Christians.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since the Iraqi city of Mosul fell into the hands of Islamic State militants in June, houses where Christians live have been marked out with the letter N. Many Christians have fled the city <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28381455" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">after they were told</a> to pay a tax, convert to Islam, or face death. "We are all targets to be pointed at with a finger or a sword because we're different, whether in terms of sex, religion, or colour of our skin," Sadeq said, adding: "We are all targets of murder in this insane era."</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/140899-lb%D9%86-lbci-changes-logo-in" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Naharnet news website says</a> LCBI was inspired by the Iraqi Muslim journalist Dalia al-Aqidi, who started a campaign to wear cross pendants in solidarity with her Christian countrymen, and Lebanese social media users are using the letter N on their Facebook avatars, The Star says.</span></span></div> <div> <br /></div> </div>

Lebanon: TV channel shows support for Iraqi Christians

Lebanon: TV channel shows support for Iraqi Christians News from Elsewhere... N stands for Nasrani, an archaic Arabic word for Christians ...

Read more »