March 10, 2017
OUR MINISTRY TO REFUGEES: A “˜loaves and fishes” alternative
By Brad Pontius In an effort to help displaced victims of violence by the Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East, Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington, Indiana, discovered a different way to assist thousands of Iraqi Christians who have been forced from their homes. An initial effort to host refugees in Hoosierland was transformed into a campaign to provide necessary, life-giving tools to 125,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), Christians who lived in the Ninevah Plains near Kurdistan, Northern Iraq. It all began simply enough: an Indiana University undergrad asked Rawand, a Kurdish student from Iraq, “Can I help you?”
