Resources
For information on participating in
any project please write e-mail address
Kurdish
Ministry or call the CBF office 1-800-352-8741.
Two Videos available
We have a 15 minute video available
that tells the story of the Kurdish people. If you would like to
receive copy of the video, please send your request to
Carol
or Kurdish Ministry.
Ask for the Kurdish video titled, "In Harms Way."
It is perfect for viewing in church missions
programs or prayer groups. There is no charge for the video.
Kurdish battle scenes on this video may be considered by some as
not appropriate for viewing by children.
CBF offers another fifteen
minute video on "Practicing the Presence of Christ Among the Kurds" for a
cost of $7. This video highlights the CBF Kurdish team's work among the
Kurds. Call 1-800-352-8741.
CD
available
There's a CD available containing information
of the CBF ministry among the Kurdish people. It contains video,
PowerPoint Presentation and other information that can be used in church
missions emphasis and other missions activities. Email
Carol to order. There's no charge for the CD.
Poster available
This is a great awareness resource for your
church or Bible School bulletin board. Write
Carol and request your
copy(s). There's no charge for the Poster.
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Download the Project/Volunteer Brochure
Click the
Photo
Projects that you or your
church can financially adopt
Project # 80711
Name of Project:
Turkish
Newspaper Ads for Bibles and Correspondence Course Study Program
Country: Germany
Click Here to download a brochure for
this project.
Amount Requested: US$
2000 600,000 Kurds live in
Germany because they've had to leave their homeland due to political
persecution. The project funds will
be used to cover the expenses of advertising, production and distribution of
Kurdish Bibles and Bible Study materials in response to inquires resulting from
advertisements posted in Kurdish newspapers throughout Germany.
Project # 80712
Name of Project:
Kurdish UPG Hunger Program
Country: Middle East
Amount Requested: US
$ 75,000 or any available funding possible.
The funds for this project will used to feed and establish seed money
programs for the internally displaced peoples (Kurds) in eastern Turkey.
Project # 85715
Name of Project:
Kurdish Media Resources
Amount Requested: US$
5,000
This
project consists of designing and producing a video presentation on the Kurdish
Unreached People Group. The intended use of the production is for recruiting
more workers for the ministry among the Kurds and for promoting the
current work that’s taking place.
Project # 85716
Name of Project:
Medical Clinic - Middle East
Country: Middle Eastern Country
Amount Requested: US$
40,000
The aim of this project is to establish a medical clinic in a large Middle
Eastern city that will serve the surrounding Kurdish and Muslim neighborhood
with free or low-cost medical treatment.
Project # 85712
Name of Project:
Kurds in Iraq Relief Effort
Country: Northern Iraq
Amount Requested: US$
Open These funds work toward
the re-construction/development efforts in Northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan),
meeting physical, emotional and psychological needs of the Kurds of northern
Iraq.
If you or your church would like to adopt any
of these projects or partially contribute towards them, please send an email to
us at the following address
Kurdish
Ministry and we’ll explain how and where you can send a check. Thank you.
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Kurdish
People Profile
The Kurds in Eastern
Turkey
The Kurdish people are the largest ethnic
group in the world without a country of their own.
Approximately 25 million Kurds live in an area called Kurdistan, a mountainous
area covering 200,000 miles from southeast Turkey, northeast Syria, north
Iraq and west Iran. Many have fled oppression and poverty to Europe,
North America, Australia, Central Asia and the Middle East.
Some of the ties that bind Kurds are their
common culture and history, expressed in Kurdish folklore and songs exalting
heroism and self-sacrifice. Kurds are believed to be descendants
of the Medes, mentioned throughout the Old Testament and in Acts.
"The Kurds have no friends," is a Kurdish
proverb stemming from centuries of oppression which continues to this day.
Kurdish guerrillas call themselves peshmerga, "those who face death," and
many have died in attempts to establish an independent homeland.
In Turkey, where the largest contingent
(40 percent) of Kurds live, the Kurdish are seen as a threat by the Turkish
government, which has continually sought to assimilate the Kurds into Turkish
society through forced resettlement. Until recently, it was a crime to
speak Kurdish in public.
Iraq hasn't been any more hospitable, with
poison gas raids, villages demolished, and many Kurds forcibly resettled
or placed in detention camps. Not until 1991, when Saddam Hussein
brutally attacked a Kurdish uprising did the world turn some attention
on their woes.
Tribalism is still a factor among Kurds,
promoting many different factions which weaken the possibility of an independent
homeland. A fighting people, the Kurds in Iraq have hurt their own cause
by infighting between the two primary parties: the Kurdistan Democratic
Party (PDK) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
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STATUS OF CHRISTIANITY AMONG
THE KURDS
The Syriac Evangelical Church is one of
the few groups known to be working among the Kurdish people. Literacy
training, effective translation, and distribution of the Bible are needed
for the spread of Christianity. Marxism and the rugged and secluded
area in which they live are the primary hindrances to Kurdish evangelism.
LOCATION/ENVIRONMENT
INFORMATION
The Kurds are the third most numerous
people in the Middle East and number about four million in Turkey.
They have occupied the same area for 3000 years, an area that is now part
of five different countries: Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Armenia. The
migration of the people in this area, disregarding established national
boundaries, has kept them from assimilating with other nationalities and
often contributed to their conflict with those national governments.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Kurds are people of Indo-European
origin who live mainly in the mountains and uplands where Turkey, Iraq,
and Iran meet, in an area known as "Kurdistan" for hundreds of years.
They have their own language, related to Persian but divided into two main
dialect areas. In each of the new post-war countries, the Kurds found they
were treated with suspicion, and pressured to conform to the ways of the
majority. Their old independence and traditional pastoralist way of life
was rapidly reduced. They were expected to learn the main language of the
new state in which they found themselves, Turkish, Persian or Arabic, to
abandon their Kurdish identity and to accept Turkish, Iranian or Arab
nationalism.
Homeland of the
Kurds
Kurdistan lays over the borders
of five countries: Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Armenia
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INDIVIDUAL
Profiles of a few Kurds
Feel
Free to block copy these into your Church
bulletin and/or Bible
study prayer guide
Profile #1
Ahmet
was working on the bus lines in a large city in the Middle East. One day he
met a man from Macedonia. This man rode on his bus several times, and since
his bus route changed daily this was not just by chance! They became friends
and the man invited Ahmet to church. Ahmet went to the church where our CBF
missionaries work and really enjoyed it. Before long, he felt that what the
Bible said was true, and he made a commitment to Christ!
Ahmet had been a
Sunni Muslim, and it was hard for his family to understand his change of
faith. Ahmet lost his job as a result of his faith in Christ, and he went for a
year without work. He continued to attend Church and when we asked him how he
was, he always answered that he was so happy! After a year, he began work in
the CBF missionary's office doing odd jobs.
Ahmet had been
living with his sister and her family for several years. One day, when Ahmet
was telling his nieces and nephews stories from the Bible, his brother-in-law
threw him out of the house! This greatly saddened A, but it did not dampen his
faith. He continues to be treated poorly by his family, but he seeks God's
face and grows in his faith. He now is in his first year of Bible School! He
hopes to be a pastor and open new churches in the Eastern part of his country!
Pray for new
believers who sometimes must give up their families to live out their faith in
their homeland.
Profile #2
"L" is
a believer who embraced the faith of Jesus quickly, but had such a difficult
life with her large family, of whom she is the oldest, that she often was down
about life. Being a Christian gives her hope, but she has to deal with a
family who expects her to provide for everyone, to marry (hey she is 26!), and
work also. Her family has tried several times to marry her to a "good Muslim
man".
Work is
also hard to find when by one look in her face it can be seen that she
is Kurdish. This has a couple of effects on interviewers. First, they may just
outright will not hire because of her heritage, or second, she will be
assumed to be a loose woman. Lewd suggestions are made because she is even
considering work outside the home. She has had to give up several jobs
because her father says he will kill her rather than allow her to work in
public. He is unaware that she is a Christian because she is afraid that he
will kill her for that. She was baptized, but she has not told her parents.
Pray for her as she considers marriage to another believer.
Profile #3
"G" is a
believer who was delivered from alcoholism when he became a Christian. He has
the gentleness and humbleness of a true believer. He is a willing servant in
our CBF missionaries church. He wants to attend Bible School and was a
volunteer on the Doulos Ship traveling Christian book store. He loved being
with so many young believers from all over the world! Having "Christian" on
your ID card is often a deterrent to getting work and the cause of many forms
of ostracism in a 99% Muslim country.
Pray for
our CBF Missionaries who try to meet the needs of these new believers who have
so much to learn. "G" takes every class and Bible study available to him, and
wants more!
Profile #4
Ayse and Salih fled the Kurdish
homeland nearly 10 years ago seeking political asylum in Europe. On the way
they were forced to leave their three small children in Eastern Europe as they
sought refuge in the West. It took months before the family was reunited.
The children were abused by the family who were to care for them and then
large sums of money had to be sent before they would send the children.
The asylum process took years.
In this time the family began to assimilate into life in Europe. The children
attended school and learned the language. For many years the parents were not
given permission to work, leaving them dependent on the state and leading to
depression.
Early one morning three years ago
the police appeared at their door and gave them a brief period to pack a few
items, drove to school to pick up the eldest daughter and took them to the
airport for deportation. Realizing their complete helplessness, Ayse gathered
the family together for prayer. She prayed “God if you are real perform a
miracle and I will believe and follow you.”
The plane did not fly that day
and they remain here in Europe. Ayse placed her faith in Christ and is a
vibrant witness to her people. Today the whole family is believers yet their
legal status in Europe is still unresolved. It appears that they may be sent
back to the homeland. Pray for peace as they seek God’s will for their family
and that their fears of returning to the homeland would be replaced with joy
as being sent as messengers of God.
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Volunteer
Needs
Volunteer
teachers are needed to help a school for MKs.
There will also be opportunities for other ministries, such as youth, college,
friends and neighbors, as well as ministry to the school for the blind and the
orphanage. A one to two year commitment is required.
Opportunities
for Prayer Walk Teams.
Prayer is vital to the work being done around the world. Prayer is coveted
for this Muslim nation. Take part in prayer walking in order to learn what
the prayer needs are and then know better how to share those needs with other
pray-ers in your home Church. Combine prayer walking with a tour of the 7
Churches of Ephesus. Teams should be no larger that 8 members in size.
Allow 10 days to 2 weeks for this mission trip.
Missionary
Children often miss out on youth and children’s activities that most Churches
offer. There are needs for volunteer
teams to come in and conduct Vacation Bible Schools, lock-ins, and retreats.
Time frame for this opportunity is 1-2 weeks.
We
also have the need for a longer term youth worker.
This volunteer would be available to help teach Sunday School class for MKs and
other youth/children, design a youth program, conduct retreats, lock-ins, VBS,
Bible Studies, outings, and so forth. In addition, there would be
opportunity to participate in a college student outreach through a coffee house
and other activities. Time frame is 1 to 2 years.
Twice
each year our missionary “teams” meet in order to pray, conduct
administrative items, and to plan work. We try to make this a family time
as well as just a meeting time. There
are needs for volunteers to work with our children during the business parts of
these meetings.
The team size should be 2-6 adults and teams are normally needed in January and
July. These meetings generally will last one week.
Construction
Teams may be needed.
Churches and Schools are needed and buildings normally need much remodeling in
order to make them suitable. The time period for teams is 1-2 weeks.
Missionaries
need time to hear the Word and to be fed. If you are a gifted
teacher or preacher of the Word and would like to schedule time to conduct
seminars or workshops
that will help meet this need, please contact us.
Business
provides many opportunities for entry into the Middle East. If
you are a businessman or own a company and would like to explore ways to use
your business in Kingdom work, let us know.
Examples of businesses include agriculture, aviation, computers, engineering,
construction, textiles, wood products, and the list goes on and on.
There
are short term opportunities for those with a trade or skill that can be
marketed or taught.
English
teachers are needed to work in institutions of higher learning.
One to two year commitments are required. Some universities will offer a
salaried position to a qualified and licensed teacher.
There
are many opportunities for agriculturists.
Especially needed are those with a specialty in any of the following:
irrigation, soil and leaf testing, plant nutrition, citrus, deciduous fruits,
cotton and other field crops, greenhouse management, demonstration farm
management. Time needed ranges from two weeks to two years. There is
also opportunity for a plant nutrition specialist to work via internet and email
from the US. If you have a background or degree in agriculture
and are interested in any agricultural opportunities, please let us know.
For
information about any of these volunteer positions, contact: diana
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Prayer Requests
(Please
use Discretion in who/where you share these prayer requests)
31
Days of prayer…
1.
Many new workers among the Kurds
2. Native Kurdish speakers of the various dialects to work in Bible
translation
3.
Production of ”God’s Story “ video (chronological presentation of the
OT to birth of Christ) in various Kurdish dialects
4. Wisdom in locating a larger building &
the establishment of a strong church in a strategic city in the Middle East
5.
“The Bridge” Community Outreach Center as they minister to Kurds in Germany
6.
Christians in the USA to befriend Kurds and share the gospel with the
7.
Development & production of Kurdish radio & internet ministries
8.
Stable jobs for Kurdish believers in the Middle East
9.
Increased faith and decreased fear for believers who are threatened or have
experienced loss of job, family support and/or physical harm
10.
Kurdish children to come to know God as Father
11.
Understanding of God’s love for the Kurds with all their bright colors and
uniqueness
12.
Kurmanji speakers for radio production
13.
Schooling of MKs
14.
Church plant among the Kurds in Nashville
15.
Workers & funding for Athens Refugee Center & discipleship of Kurdish
converts
16.
Continued Language learning of workers
17. Profitability and viability of business platforms for
workers in the Middle East
18.
Church Protection amidst gov’t persecution
19.
Development of evangelistic ministries to Kurdish refugees living in Europe
20.
Kurdish believers to be discipled and called out to plant churches in the
homeland
21.
Leadership development in N. Iraqi churches
22.
Kurdish church plant in Berlin—expansion of the team and development of Kurdish leadership
23.
Kurdish believers evangelizing in Germany– asylum, work, time for family &
ministry
24.
Recent Kurdish converts in Germany, their discipleship & establishment of a new
fellowship
25.
Just treatment of Kurds by government
26.
Isolated believers find fellowship
27.
Kurdish street children to hear of God’s love and programs which meet their physical
needs
28.
Churches to adopt the Kurds
29. Spiritual/physical health of workers in the Middle
East
30.
Praise for openness of Kurds to Gospel
31.
Praise God for His faithfulness in
drawing Kurds to himself
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