Canon Andrew White, more commonly known as the Vicar of Baghdad, says the time has come where Christianity will soon be wiped out from its biblical homeland in the Middle East.
“The time has come where it is over, no Christians will be left. Some [say] Christians should stay to maintain the historical presence, but it has become very difficult. The future for the community is very limited,” White told Fox News. “The Christians coming out of Iraq and ISIS areas in the Middle East all say the same thing, there is no way they are ever going back. They have had enough.”
The Islamic State gained control of much of Iraq and Syria in the mid-2000s. Radical Islamists drove Christians out of their homelands, many of which were described in the Bible.
Believers who stayed were tortured, crucified and beheaded under the regime. Still, some remained.
As 2016 drew to a close, Iraqi forces pushed to regain Mosul, allowing displaced peoples to return to their lands. Yet the homecoming was bittersweet: Churches vandalized and burned out; icons shattered; crosses broken.
“I adore my village. I adore it,” Maha al Kahwaji said. Kahwalji was forced to flee at the hands of the Islamic State. “But to return is difficult. It’s not just difficult, with the tunnels, the burning of homes and the destruction, it’s impossible.”
The Vicar of Baghdad says stories like Kahwaji’s are the norm.
“If there is anything I can tell Americans it is that your fellow brothers and sisters are suffering, they are desperate for help,” he said. “And it is not just a matter of praying for peace. They need a lot—food, resources, clothes, everything. They need everything.” {eoa}
