Last year about this time, Alexa Smith of the Presbyterian News Service was here in Amman to write about Iraqi Christians who came to Jordan as refugees, seeking security and a safe place, leaving behind their families, friends and homes, hoping for a better future...

...I am here in Amman as the coordinator of the MECC Ecumenical Relief Service program. I am working with MECC staff to find ways to continue this program and especially to help the children in this camp. Of 700 persons, almost 300 are children between the ages of 5 and 18.

After three years, there is now hope that they may be resettled in another country. Pray with us that this will happen soon.

MECC in Amman is also working with Iraqi Christians in Jordan who have desperate needs, including food, clothing, rent, health care, and education for their children. MECC was able to get funding from a Christian agency to support them.

Several churches in Amman are ministering to these Iraqis, but their resources are very limited and diminishing. I worshipped with them at one of the churches and was very much impressed by the number of people. The church was full, and people were standing outside — more than 300 persons gathered in a small chapel. They were all singing and praising God in Aramaic, the language our Lord spoke. Most Iraqis Christian still speak Aramaic [They must have been on their land for a long time. -S]...

...If they cannot go back, they at least deserve a better life, either in Jordan or in another country. Most of them would like to emigrate and start a new life for their children in another country. I myself was challenged by their faith, their joy, and their trust that God will not leave them. I learned as I talked to some of them that their faith and belief is stronger than despair, and their hope is stronger then depression...