“Shall I tell you what happened those first days?” Ramy, a persecuted refugee, asks us.
As we sit down in the relative coolness of the library, Ramy starts sharing about how he had to flee from Mosul and ended up on a church compound that now looks like a little village. “When we arrived, there was nothing here, just the garden of the church. So the first week we slept on the grass.”
When asked about how he felt those first days, Ramy is quiet for a while. He stares at the ground, then puts his chin in his hand and starts talking. “We were shocked. We couldn’t believe that we had lost everything in just one day and had to sleep on the ground the next night.”
His eyes start to quiver. “We lost our house and our memories. But we had no choice. If we would have stayed in our city without converting to Islam, Da’ash (Islamic State) would have killed us.”
Persecuted Refugees
Priests and spiritual leaders are the ones displaced Christians expect help from in their trauma situations. That’s why they are the first to be invited to participate in the trauma awareness training organized by Open Doors through a local partner. Ramy’s priest, Father Douglas, invited him to participate as well because of his work with the children in the center.
“The training helps participants reconnect with God in the midst of their pain and suffering and shows them how to help others do the same,” says Kyra. Read the entire article here
Open Doors commits to serving persecuted Christians like Ramy. They equip persecuted believers and raise awareness about worldwide persecution. To find out how you can support Christians around the world facing persecution, visit Open Doors.
This article is an excerpt from a recent Open Doors article about persecuted Christian refugees.
