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INDIA:
A group of missionaries who refused to leave .... |
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TURKEY People lined the streets to applaud as a group of "peace walkers" ....
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GUATEMALAAn unexpected reunion on a medical missionary ship ...
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SWEDEN Candidates for a fast-response crisis relief team ....
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UNITED STATES: A Christian relief group leader met with national security advisors ....
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| - | BRAZILFast-moving roller hockey is helping former street kids.... | | - | WORLD An attempted murder and a mock funeral highlight .... |
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YWAM International
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University of the Nations
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5. U N I T E D S T A T E S :CAPITAL TALKS TO HELP RESCUE "DEATH THREAT" RELIEF HELPERSA RELIEF GROUP leader met with national security advisors late last month to try to win help in securing the safety of Kurdish workers living under a death threat from Saddam Hussein.
Bill Criswell, President of Hawaii-based Impact Teams International, traveled to Washington DC in his efforts to see evacuated around 40 local workers who have been in hiding near the Turkish border since Iraqi troops captured Erbil, in the north of the country, in September.
The Kurdish staff had been working alongside foreign ITI workers for three years, treating up to 3,000 malnourished children a month in a special feeding program. Since arriving in the UN security zone soon after the end of the Gulf War, ITI has helped thousands of Kurds through refugee resettlement, reconstruction, water and health care projects.
Seven American staff escaped Erbil as part of a UN convoy after the city came under heavy artillery fire when Hussein's soldiers attacked the city. With the threat of the remaining Kurdish staff being executed by Iraqi agents if they stayed in the area, Criswell returned to the area to try to secure their evacuation.
He decided to go back after reading the Old Testament book of Ruth . "It struck me that like Boaz in the story of Ruth, I was these Kurds' kinsman redeemer, and needed to take action to help them," he said.
"Hussein told the Kurds that all could be forgiven except those who had worked with American agencies. Many of our workers are Kurdish Christians, and we feel a moral obligation to help them since their association with us is what put them in danger."
While he was back in Iraq, Criswell learned that two of the local staff who had returned to their homes to collect belongings had not been seen since, and were feared dead.
Unable to arrange for the evacuation while he was in Iraq, Criswell went to the US capital for talks with members of the National Security Council, along with leaders of several other relief and development agencies. Criswell was told that the workers would be evacuated at some stage.
Associated with Youth With A Mission, and the mission's University of the Nations, in Kailua-Kona, ITI has involved hundreds of Christians in relief and development work in northern Iraq over the past five years.
Workers have given away thousands of Kurdish and Arabic New Testaments, shown the "Jesus" film in dozens of cities and villages, and seen many Kurds make commitments to Christ.
Much of the agency's equipment and supplies were confiscated during the Iraqi attack. "The hard part for us is that we want to continue our work there," said Susan Marchand, leader of the Erbil team. "We love the Kurdish people, and we don't want to abandon them."( - reported by ND correspondent Scott Tompkins)
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