"EFCA ReachGlobal Crisis Response shares the following news story on what their ministry is doing this week to help in the face of this violence and suffering:
"...We have heard of the homes and businesses of Mosul Christians marked with the Arabic letter I (a derogatory reference to Nazerene) to subject them to a list of impossible choices: pay an extortionately large ransom/tax for protection (jizya), convert to Islam, flee, or die.
"For most, the answer was flee, with only what they could hurriedly pack in a car. For those who were slow to leave, everything they carried was confiscated. There were yet others–handicapped, elderly, and their caretakers–who had no choice but to stay and face death.
"One woman spoke of the fear of facing ISIS at a checkpoint as her family left Mosul. ISIS took away their extra clothes, their money and gold. She was terrified for her 17-year-old daughter, afraid they might take her and hurt her. But God was merciful, and they seemed to not take notice. Soon, masses had gathered with a shared story, but many with a different hope.
"It wasn’t just Assyrian and Chaldean Christians, but also other minorities such as Turkmen and Yazidis, literally unreached people who have never heard the Gospel of the risen Christ..."