The Real Life Stories of People Living In Iraq Today!

From time to time we come across a story that shocks us to the core, those videos of people having their heads chopped off. Those videos of people being thrown off of the top of the tallest building in Mosul for the accusation of being Gay.

Life was always tough for Iraqi’s especially the last 13 or so years. The tough times show little sign of easing, at least not any time in the immediate future. All we can do is have hope, if we lose hope we lose everything.

I have been following this Non-Profit organisation for sometime and wanted to share with you some of their stories.

Organisation: Because, I Love Peace

Key Leader: Dr. Sarah AK Ahmed with the support of Canon Andrew White (aka Vicar of Baghdad)

Website: She has a website but it wouldn’t do justice if I gave the link to it since it is not updated often. The updates are regular on her Facebook page: http://ift.tt/1DL1kHn

With that, I would like to share three short REAL LIFE STORIES of three REAL PEOPLE living the REALITY of our 2015 IRAQ.

Story 1 – Because, I Love Peace

At Baharka Camp in Erbil love stories always breaks my heart. Abdulla is one of many that ISIS managed to get to his heart in a certain way. Today in our visit Abdulla came and shared his story with the team. Thanks Christian for putting it into words. “Abdullah was engaged to be married to the love of his life. A Mechanic in Mosul, he was saving up to move with his future bride and start a family. During the invasion of Mosul, they were separated. After being beaten bloody, he returned to consciousness only to see his fiancé being dragged away, her fingers broken and ankles crushed. He has been looking for her since. Nearly 8 months have passed and he has yet to hear of her death or release. While he searches, he takes time during the day to assist with deliveries of flour and medical supplies to refugee camps. When asked if he thinks he will ever find her, he states, “She is my life. If I stop looking I will die”, he then returns to loading food onto his truck for the others who have lost everything.” Christian Stephen

Story 2 – Because, I Love Peace

Luai is one of the most helpful people I have meet in one of the Christian Centers on the boarder of Erbil. He lives in this compound where the church is paying the rent of 45 houses for around 220 families to live in. We went yesterday and he wanted to share his story to our team. And it was heart breaking. “Luai was forced out of Mosul by ISIS before he could reach his family. His Aunt, who he describes as “my heart”, was taken before he could rescue her. At 62 years of age, she was taken to the ISIS camp and forced to “Marry” the fighters. ISIS militants believe that if they marry a woman before having sex, it is blessed in their gods eyes. She was “married” over 250 times, every 2 hours, with each “Marriage” resulting in brutal injuries. She was eventually released after 3 months of hourly rapes. The reason for her release was, according to the note, that she had lost her mind and was no longer of desire to the fighters. Upon her return, she had no papers, could barely walk, refused to speak as well as having violent traumatic flashbacks. Luai did all he could to bring “his heart” back to health, but she was lost… When asked what he feels, Luai begins to gently shake with rage and tears rim his eyelids. He simply states, “When I find them, I will destroy them. I will drink of their blood.” Christian Stephen

Story 3 – Because, I Love Peace

“Saddam was part of the Iraqi army in Mosul when ISIS took over. His two sons were at home while he was fighting. ISIS came to the house and took the two boys. They took the youngest boy and shot him in the head, heart and knees with a pistol as his brother was forced to watch. When Saddam returned to his family, his son was dead and buried in the neighbours bathroom under a makeshift grave. Here, he holds his only surviving son. The surviving son remembers nothing of the event except for the sound of the air releasing from his little brothers body when the bullets hit. Saddam has vowed to kill every last ISIS fighter until either they are all dead, or he is.” Christian Stephen Thank you Christian and Dylan for coming along with me to Erbil to report on all that I have to deal with here, and to make those people heard.

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