WARRNAMBOOL Presbyterians joined more than 600 churches across Australia to pray and raise awareness about the suffering of religious and ethnic minorities overseas at the hands of violent extremists.
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The rise of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria has brought disruption to the lives of many Christians, Yazidis and Muslims, according to Warrnambool Presbyterian Church senior minister Ben Johnson.
He said IS had targeted victims by spray-painting their houses and businesses with the Arabic letter “N” for Nasara, which is a derogatory term for “Christian”.
Christians in Iraq and around the world have adopted the symbol as a sign of solidarity, with many using it as a social media profile image to raise awareness.
Mr Johnson said the Warrnambool Presbyterian Church pastoral team wore T-shirts on Sunday bearing the symbol while praying for the victims of the genocide.
“We had a video put together by Australian Christian Lobby, just informing people of what’s going on in Northern Iraq and Syria,” he said.
“We’ve been keeping our congregation informed about it for months. Everyone was confronted with the reality of a situation that’s so far away but so close because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
“Christians have been given three choices: convert to Islam, pay an extraordinarily high tax to IS or flee.
“Now there is not a single Christian living in the city of Mosul. They have all fled.
“There was a very generous giving of finances (on Sunday) to support those who have been removed from their homes and left in the Arabic summer, now facing winter with only clothes they had on their back.
“During the three-year civil war in Syria, half-a-million Christians have fled persecution.
“We also acknowledge that it is not just Christians suffering under IS, but that IS has also killed many Muslims and attacked anyone that does not share their extremist views.”
