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A Journey
Into
Kurdistan
Dreamsalive:
The
Arab/American
Alliance
With Denny & Sue Barger
www.thearabamericanalliance.com
If you read our last newsletter youll know
how utterly broken hearted weve been
over the murder, kidnapping, sexual
abuse, and theft being perpetrated by men
of the Islamic State in Iraq. Please
understand that the people suffering this
abuse are not combatants, they are
innocent civilians. IS, declaring that Sunni
Islam is the only true religion, have
perpetrated these horrible atrocities
against Christians, especially those who
had once been Muslims, against the Kurds
& against Shiite Muslims. One minority
has been especially targeted for complete
genocide and that is the Yazidi people.
These folks have been a particular target
of IS, thus the hardest hit. Since Yazidi
people are not Jews or Christians they are
unprotected people & considered close to
animals by IS members.
With Sues blessing I boarded a plane on
October 5th bound for Erbil, the northeast
province in Iraq, bordering Turkey & Iran.
By Gods grace I have an old friend from
my days in Cairos garbage village that
lives in Erbil. Iskandar (Sandy) Russell

Newsletter: October 2014

leads the International Bible Society in Erbil
where he has been laboring to translate the Bible
into the modern Kurdish language. Sandy met
me at the airport & arranged for me to visit
refugees throughout the region, now known as
Kurdistan. It would be a tear filled visit.
There are SO MANY refugees that the Kurdish
government closed all the schools in order to
provide housing for the refugees. That means
that NO children in Kurdistan are attending
school. We met people living in abandoned
warehouses, unfinished buildings, & tents.
Most of the people barely escaped slaughter,
abandoning their homes with only the clothes on
their backs. One group of 200-plus people live in
an empty warehouse. A gas station owner across
the street allows them to use his mens & ladies
lavatory facilities for toilet & washing. After 2
days we travelled north, almost in Turkey, where
we visited a United Nations camp near Duhok.
The UNHCR provided tents for 37,000 families,
about 196,000 people! Row after row of tents
stretched across the desert before me. People
milled about with nothing to do, just waiting &
hoping for their nightmare to end. Children
played in the dirt, no school, no toys, no life.

Elderly Yazidi Couple, walked 17 miles during their escape

Sitting with the director of a local clinic he said, I have over

1,000 people in my waiting room everyday and not near
enough medicine to treat them. What could we do? We
listened to their stories, shared hope from Gods word, and
prayed for them. Additionally my team bought & distributed
$5,000 of medicine to the clinic in Duhok; 500 blankets &
500 pairs of shoes to refugees in Zakho. Upon my return to
Bahrain I was exhausted but inspired. Weve contacted
other relief agencies to see if we can partner with them to
provide more help. Plans are underway for a Childrens
Christmas Outreach in which the Gospel would be presented
through drama & each child receive a package with a toy, a
sweater, a Bible activity book & food. Please seek the Lord
as to how you can help. Thank You!

Siblings orphaned when parents

were murdered

PRAYER POINTS:
I asked the men pictured at
the bottom left what should
we pray. The 1st request was
that God would bring our
daughters home. Thousands
of young Yazidi women, aged
12-35, from Sinjar were sold
into slavery in early August;
a few have escaped; some
have committed suicide;
many still remain in
captivity, being abused.

He then asked, That we

could return to our homes &
live in peace. Please join us
in these prayers.

Pray for the families who

have lost family members
through the fighting,
exposure on the mountain,
or through being kidnapped;
pray for the words of Christ
to reach them to bring
healing & comfort.

3 We need wisdom to know

All donations to DA from now until December 31st
will go directly to the refugees from Iraq & Syria.
Gifts may be sent to Dreams Alive, PO Box 78, West
Creek, NJ, 08092. You may also use PayPal on our
web page www.thearabamericanalliance.com
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how to minister to the

refugees. There are so many
of them & the needs are so
vast. Please pray that we are
filled with the Holy Spirit to
do just the right things to
bless these dear people.