A Food Distribution and a Refugee Camp Closing

For one group of refugees we’ve had the privilege of ministering to for years, July 1, 2021 promises to be a tough day because it’s the day their refuge camp is scheduled to close. It would be nice to be able to tell you there’s a silver lining to this story but at this point there isn’t; we don’t know what will happen to them and these families don’t have a place to go. IMI is committed to continuing to help them.

During difficult challenges it’s hard to hear anything above the storm, sometimes buffeting winds just won’t let up. Can you identify? The loss of a loved one, health or a job especially during COVID weigh heavily on our hearts and are costly. Mental health is an important part of dealing with challenges for each of us and for refugees as well. Satan is the author of confusion; he loves disasters and wars where souls are in turmoil and pain, and children imprinted with a lifetime of anger and PTSD. And once started, the ongoing churning cycle of relationship and job losses compounded with gaps in education and drug and alcohol abuse continues on almost effortlessly.

The cycle of confusion, fear and threat of death is broken by the whisper of God’s presence. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…” God’s presence is one of faithfulness, holiness and perfect love. Indigenous Ministries stands in that gap; and our teams minister in the midst of the storms, reminding the hurting that God has promised to never leave us or forsake us.

The last weekend of February, our teams in N. Iraq held a food distribution for refugees in our Child Sponsorship Program. Because the camp is closing down, we held one of the food distributions at another location, the church, so that in the future these refugees from the camp that is closing will know where to come for food. Pastor Sabri said it was one of the most special times together they have had. We rented buses (pictured below) and held two meetings; one for the children and one for the parents to pick up their food and hear a message from the pastor. Afterwards he said quite a few wanted to pray to accept Christ. Please pray for Pastor Sabri, the rest of our teams in Iraq and Egypt as they minister to a hurting people. Our teams are well but tired right now, as they have continued to help refugees month after month during the COVID crisis. Would you specifically lift up our teams in your prayers? Thank you!