World Renew Responds in Iraq, Gaza, Ukraine

A  humanitarian crisis is unfolding in northern Iraq, where minority groups are facing potential genocide. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced since January, including an estimated 650,000 people when the northern city of Mosul was seized by Islamic State fighters in June.

This escalating conflict in Iraq is just one of several areas of violence and strife around the world today to which World Renew and its partners continue to respond. The other areas include Gaza, Ukraine and Nigeria.

World Renew is responding in Iraq through a local Christian partner in the Kurdish regional capital city of Erbil, where many of the minority groups have fled.

In Iraq, people are fleeing from the violent group known as, “the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” (ISIS), which was grown out of al-Qaeda in April 2013. It has since been disavowed by al-Qaeda, but has become one of the main jihadist groups fighting government forces in Syria and Iraq.

World Renew is also responding in Gaza, where in the last month 1,935 people have been killed and 10,866 wounded.

The UN estimates that 85 percent of the deaths have been civilians. In addition, hundreds of thousands of families have been forced to flee from their homes. In neighbouring Israel, the conflict has also led to death and injury.

World Renew is partnering with TEAR Fund New Zealand and the Bethlehem Bible College’s humanitarian arm, The Shepherd Society, to meet the urgent needs of those most-affected by this crisis.

With Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM), World Renew is responding in Ukraine, where a small group of university students began protesting a sudden move by Ukraine’s government to move away from an association agreement with the European Union and towards a closer relationship with Russia last November.

At the time, nobody thought that the protests would swell to the hundreds of thousands, that in three months the government would collapse after a bloody crackdown that killed over 100 protesters, that Russia would covertly invade and annex the Crimean Peninsula, or that today Ukraine and Russia would be engaged in a bloody conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

In the middle of these whirlwind developments, millions of people have found themselves living in a war zone. Hundreds of thousands  of innocent children and families have been displaced as they attempt to flee the cross-fire and find safety outside the conflict zone.

Along with with CRWM, World Renew is partnering with Association for Spiritual Renewal ASR and Russian Ministries, to provide food packages to internally displaced families.

In addition, World Renew continues responding in Nigeria, where, since 2001, communities in Northern Nigeria have been experiencing regular and persistent violence which has affected thousands of individuals and families.

The militant group, Boko Haram, has been carrying out a series of attacks including killings, abductions, bombings, and the destruction of property. This has traumatized individuals and families, and left entire communities without a sense of security.

World Renew and Beacon of Hope are now providing these men and women with training to provide psycho-social support and trauma counseling in their communities.

In addition, World Renew is at work in South Sudan and the Central African Republic which are also undergoing violent upheaval.

To help World Renew in its work, donate online.

You can also donate by sending a check to:

World Renew US
1700 28th St SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49508
Tel: 1-800-552-7972

World Renew Canada
3475 Mainway
P.O. Box 5070 STN LCD
Burlington, Ontario, L7R 3Y8
Tel: 1-800-730-3490

http://worldrenew.net/our-stories/world-renew-responds-needs-created-conflict-persecution