Iraq (MNN) — As the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran enters its 19th day, the spillover especially shakes Iran’s neighbor to the west, Iraq.
Samuel* with Redemptive Stories explains that Iraq contains United States military bases as well as armed groups loyal to Iran. Therefore, Iraq is a target for both sides. Not only does Iran shell US forces, but also, “some of those attacks actually come from inside of Iraq through the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which is an Iraqi paramilitary group that is heavily allied with Iran,” he says.
Iraq (Photo courtesy of Jonathan Ramalho via Unsplash)
Case in point: In Baghdad on Tuesday, both an Iran-affiliated building as well as the US Embassy (or the area around it) came under targeted strikes, according to a report from Al Jazeera.
Samuel calls the situation a mess on multiple levels. “It’s having secondary effects on the economic state of the country, which is really troublesome to the people as a whole.”
Iraq’s minority Christian population lives in the middle of these realities. Samuel says believers have had to shelter in place at times this month. Yet they continue to minister the gospel during Ramadan.
“When chaos happens, it is upon the church and ministries to be a stabilizing force, to still communicate the hope — not just to survive, but to communicate hope and peace in the midst of it. I’m hearing that from a lot of our partners on the ground that are working with many of the minority groups, including Christians and the [Yazidis,] Syrian refugees,” says Samuel.
(Photo courtesy of Mhrezaa via Unsplash)
Find your place in this story by praying for Iraq. Although God does use trouble to shake people’s lives in good ways, stability also helps the gospel reach more people. Ask God to preserve stability in Iraq by His mercy and enable more people there to accept Jesus.
“Pray that the infrastructure mechanisms which are necessary for them to continue to do their ministry — whether that be fuel, whether it be food supplies, electricity, medical care — would still be able to continue on.”
*Pseudonym
Header photo courtesy of Ali Hussein via Pexels.
