37. "Then the righteous will answer Him, `Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
38. `And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
39. `When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
40. "The King will answer and say to them, `Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
41. "Then He will also say to those on His left, `Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
42. for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
43. I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'
44. "Then they themselves also will answer, `Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'
45. "Then He will answer them, `Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
Last night I watched a program on EWTN where Raymond Arroyo interviewed Nina Shea and two Chaldean Catholics about the current states of affairs for Christians in Iraq. To summarize: After the fall of Saddam Hussein the influx of foreign fighters who had no relationship with the native Christian populace attacked them. To quote Nina Shea in her aricle in the Washington Post:
Priests have been beheaded; churches bombed; unveiled women burned with acid; men killed for operating theaters and barbershops; children murdered for wearing jeans, for mingling with the opposite sex or simply for being seen as symbolizing the infidels in some way. Criminals find members of religious minorities to be easy prey. During the buildup of U.S. forces this spring, a Sunni mosque in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood issued a fatwa demanding that local Christians convert to Islam or pay an Islamic tax; thousands fled.
Complete article here (may require free subscription).
This is the road to genocide. 3-5% of Iraqis are Christian. 40% of the refugees are Christian. The math there should startle you. Please help these people.
We, the Chaldeans of the United States of America, are the descendents of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia-today’s Iraq. We are Catholics who speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ. Our ancestors adapted Christianity in its early decades.We, do hereby the establishment of a community based charitable, educational, and humanitarian relief organization. The Federation is a non-profit organization designated 501 (C) (3) entity.
Our current focus is to provide the following:
Help settling thousands of Chaldean refugees outside Iraq to country of permanent residency and providing humanitarian relief while they are in the waiting
Provide humanitarian relief for our displaced people inside Iraq
Help establishing a secure province in Northern Iraq where displaced Chaldeans may relocate
Support advocacy issues that affect our Chaldean American Community
Hold annual scholarship grants and commencement for the new Chaldean graduates
We affirm our belief in the United States and its Constitution. Since all Chaldeans around the globe are integral part of the Chaldean Community, the Chaldean Federation of America shall extend these objectives for all the Chaldeans through out the world.
Year 2007 marks the 25th anniversary of the Chaldean Federation of America founding.
The CFA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We were founded in 1981.
Christians have been an important part of the fabric of Iraqi society from first Christian centuries.The Christian community of Iraq made substantial contributions to the emergence of the Abbasid civilization that flourished on Iraqi soil as well as the building of modern Iraq. They have always been proud of their country in which they lived from ancient times and to which they are attached by bonds of history that go back to the Assyrians and the Babylonians.
Recent attacks on the Christians of Iraq, their churches and their religious leaders
The recent attacks on the Christians of Iraq, their churches and their religious leaders and the resulting displacement are heartbreaking. It is estimated that more than half of the Christian population has fled the country and a lot more displaced within the country to safer areas. UNHCR have reported that 44% of asylum seekers reaching Syria since their register started in 2003 are Christians, despite the fact that Christians form only 4% of the Iraqi population.
While neighbouring countries have been generous in receiving the displaced people, resources are limited and many are reduced to dependence on relatives who live in more prosperous countries. Those who do not have any such help need immediate support and it is those people that ICIN intends to reach for.
As Christians we continue to pray asking our Benevolent Creator to protect his creation in Iraq both Christian and Muslim, and while we pray for all world leaders that they may be enlightened to take the right decisions in steering our beloved country to safety, we feel we want to make some contribution towards the sufferings of those displaced people who do not have the privilege of somebody to protect them.
It is the suffering of those vulnerable displaced people that our charity tries to address by giving financial help through our churches.
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