“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:15, 21)
I do not normally feel quite as inclined to be educated or informed about the affairs of the world as I should, but I understand this scripture more because in Iraq as of late, the Christians are having to go through great suffering, and I understand this scripture because as Christ said that those who loveth his Father, he will love, and I feel this same way, that these Christian's who are hungry, thirsty and scared are showing their love to HIM, and it is making me love them as well.
From the article below: U.N. agency for children said many of the children on the mountain were suffering from dehydration and at least 40 had died.
Brooke showed great empathy today as I told her what was happening to the Christians in Iraq. She was on the brink of tears to know that those who loved Jesus are risking their lives for them and being persecuted so badly. As, I asked Brooke and Will to join in prayer for these soldiers and Christians today, she was more than willing. She then asked Will, " Will, would you love Jesus enough to die for him? " Will said, " I do love Jesus, and I don't want him to die."
We can't do anything to help these suffering but pray, and be thankful....We can be thankful by not letting their suffering be worthless...We can let it move us to do better with the blessings that we have. We can be diligent in sharing what we know about Jesus Christ's restored gospel. We can take advantage our comfortable houses, and devices that allow us to so easily access the precious words in the scriptures, as well from Prophets and Apostles.
We are so blessed and so we can choose to be happy in the blessings that we have been given.
ARBIL, Iraq, Aug 7
(Reuters) - Islamist militants surged across northern Iraq towards the
capital of the Kurdish region on Thursday, sending tens of thousands of
Christians fleeing for their lives, in an offensive that prompted talk
of Western military action.
Reuters photographs showed what
appeared to be Islamic State fighters controlling a checkpoint at the
border area of the Kurdish semi-autonomous region, little over 30
minutes' drive from , a city of 1.5 million that is headquarters of the Kurdish regional government and many businesses.
Related: Obama mulls U.S. airstrikes to help trapped religious minorities in Iraq -NYT
The fighters had raised the movement's black flag over the guard post. However a Kurdish security official denied that the militants were in control of the Khazer checkpoint, and the regional government said its forces were advancing and would "defeat the terrorists", urging people to stay calm.
The New York Times reported that U.S. President Barack Obama was
considering airstrikes or humanitarian airdrops to help trapped
religious minorities in .
The White House said the U.S. government and military were supporting and Kurdish forces to protect people trapped by Islamic State fighters.
Spokesman Josh Earnest said any U.S. military action would be "very limited in scope" and tied to Iraqi political reforms, adding: "There are no American military solutions to the problems in Iraq."
Sunni militants captured Iraq's biggest Christian town, Qaraqosh, prompting many residents to flee, fearing they would be subjected to the same demands the Sunni militants made in other captured areas - leave, convert to Islam or face death.
The Islamic State, considered more extreme than al Qaeda, sees Iraq's majority Shi'ites and minorities such as Christians and Yazidis, a Kurdish ethno-religious community, as infidels.
France called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to "counter the terrorist threat in Iraq".
President Francois Hollande's office said after he spoke by telephone with Kurdistan president that Paris was prepared to support forces engaged in the defence of Iraqi Kurdistan. It did not say how.
Shares in energy companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan plummeted on news of the sweeping Islamist advance towards oilfields in the region.
U.S. oil major Chevron Corp said it was evacuating staff in light of the militants' advance, and an industry source said Exxon Mobil Corp was also pulling out staff, although the company declined comment on security concerns.
The Islamic State said in a statement on its Twitter account that its fighters had seized 15 towns, the strategic dam on the Tigris River and a military base, in an offensive that began at the weekend.
Kurdish officials say their forces still control the dam, Iraq's biggest.
On Thursday, two witnesses told Reuters by telephone that Islamic State fighters had hoisted the group's black flag over the dam, which could allow the militants to flood major cities or cut off significant water supplies and electricity.
The Sunni militants inflicted a humiliating defeat on Kurdish forces in the weekend sweep, prompting tens of thousands from the ancient Yazidi community to flee the town of for surrounding mountains. A Kurdish government security adviser said its forces had staged a tactical withdrawal.
BOMBINGS ACROSS IRAQ
Facebook and Twitter were blocked in Kurdistan on Thursday, initially for 24 hours. A government official told Reuters the reason was to prevent militants from gathering any information about the movement of Kurdish forces from social media, and to stop rumours and panic.
The Kurdish Regional government's Ministry of Interior said in a statement that "our victory is close".
The security adviser said many layers of security and a trench protecting the regional capital. "Arbil city is fine," he said.
The militants' weekend capture of Sinjar, ancestral home of the Yazidi minority, prompted tens of thousands of people to flee to surrounding mountains, where they are at risk of starvation.
Some of the many thousands trapped on Sinjar mountain have been rescued in the past 24 hours, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, adding that 200,000 had fled the fighting. "This is a tragedy of immense proportions, impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," spokesman David Swanson said by telephone.
Many of the displaced people urgently need water, food, shelter and medicine, he said. A spokesman for the U.N. agency for children said many of the children on the mountain were suffering from dehydration and at least 40 had died.
Yazidis, regarded by the Islamic State as "devil worshipers", risk being executed by the Sunni militants seeking to establish an Islamic empire and redraw the map of the Middle East.
Thousands of Iraqis, most of the Yazidis, are streaming to the border with neighbouring Turkey to flee the fighting, Turkish officials said.
The plight of fleeing Christians prompted Pope Francis to appeal to world leaders to help end what the Vatican called "the humanitarian tragedy now under way" in northern Iraq.
In Kirkuk, a strategic oil town in the north held by Kurdish forces since government troops melted away in June, 11 people were killed by two car bombs that exploded near a Shi'ite mosque holding displaced people, security and medical sources said.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shi'ite district, killing at least six people, police said. Earlier, a car bomb in another Shi'ite area of the capital killed 14.
Gains by the Islamic State have raised concerns that militants across the Arab world will follow their cue. At the weekend the Sunni militants seized a border town in Lebanon, though they appear to have mostly withdrawn.
The Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in the areas of Iraq and Syria it controls, clashed with Kurdish forces on Wednesday in the town of Makhmur, about 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous zone.
Witnesses said the militants had seized Makhmur, but Kurdish officials told local media their forces remained in control there, and television channels broadcast footage of Kurdish peshmerga fighters driving around the town.
The mainly Christian town of Tilkaif, as well as Al Kwair, were overrun by militants, according to witnesses.
Related: Obama mulls U.S. airstrikes to help trapped religious minorities in Iraq -NYT
The fighters had raised the movement's black flag over the guard post. However a Kurdish security official denied that the militants were in control of the Khazer checkpoint, and the regional government said its forces were advancing and would "defeat the terrorists", urging people to stay calm.
Carnage in Iraq as Islamic State extends reach
![Carnage in Iraq as Islamic State extends reach]({"default":"http://img1.catalog.video.msn.com/image.aspx?uuid=c4cffec7-0df7-40ff-ed21-f46b589ae34d&w=300&h=169&so=4"})
The White House said the U.S. government and military were supporting and Kurdish forces to protect people trapped by Islamic State fighters.
Spokesman Josh Earnest said any U.S. military action would be "very limited in scope" and tied to Iraqi political reforms, adding: "There are no American military solutions to the problems in Iraq."
Sunni militants captured Iraq's biggest Christian town, Qaraqosh, prompting many residents to flee, fearing they would be subjected to the same demands the Sunni militants made in other captured areas - leave, convert to Islam or face death.
The Islamic State, considered more extreme than al Qaeda, sees Iraq's majority Shi'ites and minorities such as Christians and Yazidis, a Kurdish ethno-religious community, as infidels.
France called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to "counter the terrorist threat in Iraq".
President Francois Hollande's office said after he spoke by telephone with Kurdistan president that Paris was prepared to support forces engaged in the defence of Iraqi Kurdistan. It did not say how.
Shares in energy companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan plummeted on news of the sweeping Islamist advance towards oilfields in the region.
U.S. oil major Chevron Corp said it was evacuating staff in light of the militants' advance, and an industry source said Exxon Mobil Corp was also pulling out staff, although the company declined comment on security concerns.
The Islamic State said in a statement on its Twitter account that its fighters had seized 15 towns, the strategic dam on the Tigris River and a military base, in an offensive that began at the weekend.
Kurdish officials say their forces still control the dam, Iraq's biggest.
On Thursday, two witnesses told Reuters by telephone that Islamic State fighters had hoisted the group's black flag over the dam, which could allow the militants to flood major cities or cut off significant water supplies and electricity.
The Sunni militants inflicted a humiliating defeat on Kurdish forces in the weekend sweep, prompting tens of thousands from the ancient Yazidi community to flee the town of for surrounding mountains. A Kurdish government security adviser said its forces had staged a tactical withdrawal.
BOMBINGS ACROSS IRAQ
Facebook and Twitter were blocked in Kurdistan on Thursday, initially for 24 hours. A government official told Reuters the reason was to prevent militants from gathering any information about the movement of Kurdish forces from social media, and to stop rumours and panic.
The Kurdish Regional government's Ministry of Interior said in a statement that "our victory is close".
The security adviser said many layers of security and a trench protecting the regional capital. "Arbil city is fine," he said.
The militants' weekend capture of Sinjar, ancestral home of the Yazidi minority, prompted tens of thousands of people to flee to surrounding mountains, where they are at risk of starvation.
Some of the many thousands trapped on Sinjar mountain have been rescued in the past 24 hours, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, adding that 200,000 had fled the fighting. "This is a tragedy of immense proportions, impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," spokesman David Swanson said by telephone.
Many of the displaced people urgently need water, food, shelter and medicine, he said. A spokesman for the U.N. agency for children said many of the children on the mountain were suffering from dehydration and at least 40 had died.
Yazidis, regarded by the Islamic State as "devil worshipers", risk being executed by the Sunni militants seeking to establish an Islamic empire and redraw the map of the Middle East.
Thousands of Iraqis, most of the Yazidis, are streaming to the border with neighbouring Turkey to flee the fighting, Turkish officials said.
The plight of fleeing Christians prompted Pope Francis to appeal to world leaders to help end what the Vatican called "the humanitarian tragedy now under way" in northern Iraq.
In Kirkuk, a strategic oil town in the north held by Kurdish forces since government troops melted away in June, 11 people were killed by two car bombs that exploded near a Shi'ite mosque holding displaced people, security and medical sources said.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shi'ite district, killing at least six people, police said. Earlier, a car bomb in another Shi'ite area of the capital killed 14.
Gains by the Islamic State have raised concerns that militants across the Arab world will follow their cue. At the weekend the Sunni militants seized a border town in Lebanon, though they appear to have mostly withdrawn.
The Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in the areas of Iraq and Syria it controls, clashed with Kurdish forces on Wednesday in the town of Makhmur, about 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous zone.
Witnesses said the militants had seized Makhmur, but Kurdish officials told local media their forces remained in control there, and television channels broadcast footage of Kurdish peshmerga fighters driving around the town.
The mainly Christian town of Tilkaif, as well as Al Kwair, were overrun by militants, according to witnesses.
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