More and more Kurdish Muslims living in Iraq
are turning to Christ after witnessing the brutality of extremist groups like
ISIS, who carry out horrific acts in the name of Allah, Christian aid workers
have revealed.
A ministry leader in the Kurdish Region
of Iraq told the Christian Aid Mission that his organization can barely
keep up with the desire of refugees to learn about Christ and the Bible, which
has grown increasingly strong since ISIS overtook many parts of the region.
"They're just sick of Islam,"
he said. "People are very hungry to know about Christ, especially when
they hear about miracles, healing, mercy and love."
He added, "As terrifying and
horrifying as ISIS is, they did us a great favor because they came and have
shown them all the killing, saying that it's all in the Koran verses. So now we
don't have to say much, we just say the truth."
Numbers released by the UN in January estimated the
Kurdish Region of Iraq is hosting 900,000 refugees, around 233,000 from Syria
and the rest from elsewhere in Iraq. As well as Kurds, who have fled northern
Syria, the region has also accepted thousands of Arabs feeling the cities of
Anbar province, which the terrorist group captured in 2014.
The ministry director revealed that his
organization provides aid to displaced people in tents and whatever dilapidated
or unfinished buildings they can find for shelter, with needs for blankets,
heaters, food and diapers still being high.
After showing refugees the love of
Christ by meeting their needs, aid workers later bring Bibles, he said.
"We just help because we love
them, and maybe the next time we visit we tell them about Jesus and give them
Bibles," he said. "We believe in the power of the Word of God. We
don't have many preachers. We don't have many missionaries, but we have the
Word of God that we're able to print, purchase and deliver to the people and
their children."
The leader said there has a been a
great "awakening" among Muslims in northern Iraq, citing many conversion accounts he has personally witnessed or heard
secondhand from local churches.
He recalled one particularly memorable
account, where a Muslim receiving aid from his ministry was given a Bible.
"He said, 'OK, but I'm Muslim, I
can't become Christian - I have a big family, and my father is a very extremist
radical,'" the director said. "I said, 'I didn't ask you to be
Christian. I'm not trying to change your religion here. I just want you to read
the Bible and know who Jesus Christ is. I want you to have a relationship with
God.'"
The Kurdish Muslim agreed, and he began
reading the Bible with his wife and their many children. Over time, the Muslim
presented the ministry leader with a list of questions he had made while
reading, and one day asked for information about the prophet of Islam.
According to the Christian Aid Mission,
the surprised director, who normally does not talk about Islam, "gave him
a token bit of information about Muhammad that did not include anything
offensive about the founder of the religion."
"I said, 'Why do you ask me that
question?'" he said. "He goes, 'You know what? I don't like Muhammad
anymore.' I was happy but surprised, so I said, 'What now?' He goes, 'I want to
be a Christian.' I said, 'I thought you said you didn't want to be Christian
before.' He goes, 'Oh, I changed my mind.' So he got saved."
The ministry director emphasized that
the Word of God has the power to change lives with no embellishment. He
recalled another instance, where administrators at a sharia (Islamic law)
college requested 21 Bibles for a comparative religion class so they could
equip Muslims with enough criticisms of the Bible to proselytize Christians.
"In a couple months, after they
took that class going through the Bible, five of the students got saved,"
the ministry leader said. "They called me and said, 'Hey, we're done with
Islam.'"
Upset by the conversions, the teacher
alerted the authorities, who in turn summoned the ministry director. After
being asked if he had tried to convert students, the ministry director
explained that he didn't even know them, and had simply provided Bibles because
the school had requested them.
The officer confirmed this with the
teacher and asked the students why they had converted.
"One said, 'The Bible is strong,
powerful; it changed our lives,'" the leader said. "Then the
policeman said, 'Okay, then go, there is no case here; I can't do anything.' So
he dismissed the guy and asked me, 'Is it true that the Bible has the power to
change lives?' I said, 'Yes, of course. It's been changing lives everywhere.'
He asked, 'Can I have a copy?
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