“They might gain an even better resurrection, and the world was not worthy of them.”
[Sep.22. 2021]The American Christian Post reported that the president of the Congress of Christian Leaders has warned that president Joe Biden’s plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the year could lead to increased persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.
Rev. Johnnie Moore, a former commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and an evangelical communications executive, recently spoke with conservative commentator Glenn Beck on his podcast and discussed the situation for Christians in the Middle East.
Considering all the despair surrounding the pull out of U.S. forces in Afghanistan this year and the rise of the Taliban in that country, Beck asked Moore, “should we be trying to convince those people [in Iraq] … get out right now?”
“I’m always hesitant to say ‘Get out right now.’ But these are decisions for these people to make,” Moore responded. “If I’m a Christian or Yazidi or another threatened community sitting in Iraq, yeah, I would be getting out of there as quickly as I could,” he continued.
Moore, the author of Defying ISIS: Preserving Christianity in the Place of Its Birth and in Your Own Backyard, warned that “we could see” what took place in Afghanistan “all over again.”
He referenced the Islamic State terrorist group that killed and enslaved thousands after it conquered large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
Even after the defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq in December 2017, many of Iraq’s Christians haven’t found their homeland liveable.
According to estimates, there were about 1.5 million Christians in Iraq in 2003, which has reduced to fewer than 250,000. They have either not returned home or have continued to leave the country.
After the recent withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Afghan society is undergoing rapid changes due to the Taliban’s takeover.
The Taliban regime said that there would be no democracy and that they would enforce the Sharia law. With the Taliban now in complete control, it is likely to return the country to the oppression of the 1990s.
At that time, the Taliban included the oppression of women under Sharia law and the brutal execution of an apostate who became a Christian. Currently, Christians in Afghanistan fear the threat to their lives, and are asking the nations to pray for them.
But this time, the U.S. government announced plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. Afghanistan and Iraq are not the same, but there is a risk that what happened years ago by the Islamic State (ISIS) could be repeated. (Source: Gospel Prayer News Comprehensive).
Who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11:33,35,38)
God, may You pour out your grace and truth on Iraqi Christians who are afraid of the U.S. President’s announcement of withdrawing U.S. troops by the end of this year. May You strengthen the faith of the Iraqi churches that are in fear by hearing the news of the Afghan believers suffering due to the Taliban. May You help the Iraqi church continue to be Your witnesses that the world cannot overcome, and may they receive a better resurrection.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
