WARS IN SUDAN, THE MIDDLE EAST CREATE FERTILE GROUND TO SOW

By Dee A. Cook:

This month I am in the Middle East in meetings with our national teams. Last night, I attended church in N. Iraq where a number of families in our Child Sponsorship Program attend under the leadership of Pastor Fadeel. They are from Syria, forced to flee their homes because of the ongoing 13-year-old civil war. IM ministers here in two enormous refugee camps, home to Yazidi refugees from Syria and Sinjar. This is a place you wouldn’t want to call home—and neither do they.

Last month I shared with you the opening of our new ministry center in this area, which will minister to these families. While I’m thankful that it’s almost ready, the need grows bigger day by day. Therefore, I am asking the Lord for many new prayer partners, sponsors, and donors to join us in sowing the seed of the Word of God and the Good News—as we read in Matthew 13—in the Middle East.

With the Sudanese Civil War in its 19th month, and the war in Israel and Gaza in its 13th month, the question of how many people these “newer” conflicts have directly impacted is an important one we as Christians should ask. We simply cannot stand by and ignore these mind-numbing statistics. Exact numbers remain hard to verify. However, estimates show that between 20,000 to 140,000 people have died, and over 30,000 more have suffered injuries in the Sudanese Civil War. Over 2–3 million people have fled their country—many of them to Egypt. According to the UNHCR MENA Region, millions more across the Middle East and North Africa face ongoing displacement, uncertainty, and urgent

Casualties from the conflict in Gaza/Israel/West Bank/Lebanon/Iran/Iraq include 1,543+ Israelis and 43,000+ Palestinians. In Iran and Iraq, the only reported casualties involve a handful of prominent political figures. Lebanon has seen over 2,300 casualties and many tens of thousands injured and displaced.

It’s one thing to read these numbers in a news article. Yet, it’s quite another to sit face to face with parents, widows, and children and listen to their stories. War tears families and communities apart. Children witness devastating events that become filters for how they experience the rest of their lives—hatred, evil crimes, and despair. Nevertheless, wars give us an opportunity to respond in compassion and with love to those who have suffered so much. As a result, I urge you to engage in ministry to refugees through prayer, giving, or sponsorship.

How is Indigenous Ministries helping children who are victims of war?

Our local teams serve on the frontlines as the hands and feet of Christ—helping and sowing the Seed. When families need relief aid, we respond. We enroll children in our Child Sponsorship Program, offering regular food, school supplies, emergency medical care, Bibles, Bible studies, day camps, and more.

Sponsorship works. In fact, it creates long-term relationships that deeply impact children and their families for Christ. Many children still wait for sponsors. For just $39/month, you can take action that shows you care for refugees in a very personal way.

In closing, will you dare to step into a child’s life – a life which war has forever scarred – and change their eternal future? Sponsor a child with Indigenous Ministries today.