Paul Calvert spoke with Yvette Isaac from Roads of Success, about their work to empower, educate and act as advocates for persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

Egypt

Paul: Tell me more about how you are helping persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

Yvette: We help them in four ways. Empowering them by having empowering programmes and education. Help with the trauma that they have been going through. Help to start their own small businesses so that they can be independent, and they don't have to be under the people who persecute them. At the same time we do encourage with television and with media programmes that talk about how to stand in the time of persecution, and who you are and your identity in God, and that you're not forgotten.

The other thing is we take their cases and we speak in Parliament, and before Congress, before the UK Parliament, and the United Nations, and many other government entities, who can help and who can understand.

We are causing awareness in churches and in clubs. Especially in churches, because the body of Christ around the world needs to know they have brothers and sisters who are living in this part of the world. They need to know what is there situation and how can you pray for them? How can you stand with them? How you can stand with them in front of your Government, so your Government will understand that there are Christians in the Middle East and they can help.

Paul: Is it important for you to be here in Bethlehem, because Bethlehem is losing its Christian community?

Iraq

Yvette: It's so sad. Bethlehem was 99% Christians and now we are talking about less than 7%.

The world doesn't even know that there are Christians in Palestine. They think that they are all terrorists. It's the same situation. But there are Christians here and if we put pressure on them they will be leaving, and if they leave there will be no peace. The Christians are the peace makers. They are the ones who are standing for peace.

Paul: Are you hearing wonderful stories despite persecution?

Yvette: Definitely, the God of glory in the midst of the war. I will tell you a few stories.

A story about Aleppo. There is a man who is a doctor who had a dream before the invasion took place. In the dream Jesus came and told him, "I want you to dig 20 water wells for me in Aleppo." So he went and told his friends at the church and they said, "What are you talking about? Aleppo is surrounded by water and there is no problem with water at all." He went the second day and he had the same dream. He went again and told them and they said, "Let's think about it." The third night the same dream and then he said, "If no-one will help me I will do it myself." So he gathered all the leaders from around Aleppo from all denominations and he told them about the dream. They all gathered together and they started to dig the water wells. When they finished number 20, guess what? The enemy came and the first thing they did, was they surrounded the city and cut off all the water supplies from the city for 72 days. Only the Church people were standing by the water wells giving people water so they could survive.

Iraq

I have another story about a Yazidi man. He went home and found no-one from his family home. He thought they had left to do something, but he discovered that ISIS had come and kidnapped them. He had a father who was 105 years old and he had been waiting for them to come back for six months. He was walking and he saw a church that had a cross on the top and there was light on it, so he said, "I want to go up to see if they can help me." He went up and they started to pray with them. That night when he prayed with the Christian people and they prayed for him, Jesus appeared to the father who is 105 years old and told him, "My name is the light of the world and tomorrow early morning ISIS will come and they will kick you out of your place, you and all of your family. When you get out, there will be a van waiting for you and this van will take you home." He got up and told his wife, "I had this dream." She said, "You are 105 years old, what are you talking about? We have been here six months, we are going to die here." Sure enough at 6 o'clock in the morning, ISIS came and kicked them all out and they all went to the desert on the road. A van stopped and picked them up, and dropped them off at their home. When they turned to thank the driver, they did not find the driver, or the van.

Paul: The situation in Syria seems to be getting worse. We have Iran and Russia in Syria. Do you think it's going to get better?

Yvette: Well there are people who are praying, and there is innocent blood that was shed, and God is a God of justice and mercy. He has Syria in His heart and the blood of the Christians speaking out.

Paul: Are you seeing change through the work that you do?