Roma Downey And Mark Burnett Raise Funds For Persecuted Iraqi Christians

Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, the executive producers of the Emmy-nominated The Bible series, have created The Cradle of Christianity Fund to raise funds and awareness for Christians who are being persecuted by the ISIS terror group in Iraq, Syria, and neighboring countries. The couple plans to raise $25 million for food, clothing, and housing that will be distributed through an established network of traditional church communities, Fox News contributor Cal Thomas reports.

The couple’s initial gift of $1 million will be used to rescue those who have been displaced and are in immediate need. Additionally, the couple also seeks to begin a process of healing and restoration for the Christians by documenting “both the atrocities inflicted upon their communities, and the stories of hope and courage found amidst such unspeakable tragedy.”

Burnett’s chief of staff Johnnie Moore recently returned from the region, and in an email he reports “the overwhelming need.” He says that, in Kurdistan alone, there are over 800,000 displaced people. Further, if the United Nations operates at 100 percent efficiency, it can only care for 40 percent of those desperate people.

Moore points out that Christian homes across northern Iraq have been marked by ISIS fighters with the Arabic letter Nun (N in English), which means Nasrani (Nazarene in English), a reference to Jesus’s hometown in Israel.

In the northern Iraqi town of Mosul (where Jonah is buried), most Christians fled in the middle of the night, before ISIS descended, with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Moore is very concerned for the Christians now that winter is coming.

According to the Christian Post, Mike Gore of Open Doors Australia, a persecution watchdog group, says that the targeting and exodus of Christians from Iraq and Syria is “an exodus of biblical proportions.”

He goes on to say, “Christians, not just in their hundreds, Christians in their tens of thousands [are] fleeing Iraq and Syria with little more than the clothes on their backs, because of increased pressure from the Islamic State.”

Fox News contributor Cal Thomas remarks that Downey and Burnett’s benevolence comes at a time when the majority of American Christians have been silent about speaking out about the atrocities committed against their fellow believers by ISIS.

He goes on to say, “The One these Iraqi Christians follow warned of persecution for those who proclaim His name. This does not excuse anyone from remaining silent when persecution occurs.”

He says that fighting ISIS and other forms of Islamic extremism takes more than airstrikes, and that Iraqi Christians need to know that American Christians, as well as people of other and no particular faith, “stand against genocide with more than statements of condemnation.” He is concerned about the lack of response from his fellow believers.

He says, “If American Christians won’t help their Iraqi brethren, who will?”

Johnnie Moore reports that people of other nations and faiths are getting involved with the project, and that the solidarity among those who wish to further the cause is bringing “tangible hope” to the persecuted ones, according to Christianity Today.

The Inquisitr reports that the couple’s next project A.D. will be the sequel to The Bible series, and will be out next year.

Roma Downey and Mark Burnett’s The Cradle of Christianity Fund will not only raise funds and awareness of the plight of Christians in Iraq, Syria, and neighboring countries, but will also bring hope to the persecuted.

[Image via The Times of Israel]