{"id":43371,"date":"2022-08-09T14:00:47","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T05:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=43371"},"modified":"2022-08-16T09:45:54","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T00:45:54","slug":"vomk-report-215","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2022\/08\/09\/vomk-report-215\/","title":{"rendered":"IRAQ: FIRST-EVER MODERN LANGUAGE FAMILY BIBLE TO BE PLACED IN EACH CHRISTIAN HOME ON THE NINEVAH PLAINS"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”43368″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea announced today a plan to place copies of the first-ever modern Chaldean dialect Bible in 30,000 Christian homes in Northern Iraq, through a partnership with local Iraqi Christians and its sister mission, Voice of the Martyrs Australia. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is more than a Bible distribution project,\u201d says <\/span>Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley<\/span>. \u201cIt\u2019s a<\/span> major step forward <\/span>to revitalizing <\/span>Christianity alive in the Middle East.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, the <\/span>project\u2019s goal is to print and distribute 30,000 Bibles to Christian families living in the region of <\/span>the <\/span>Nineveh Plains <\/span>in <\/span>North<\/span>ern<\/span> Iraq, <\/span>one of the oldest continuous <\/span>Christian <\/span>settlements <\/span>in the world. Distribution is also planned for <\/span>Ainkawa<\/span>-Erbil, a historically Christian town where many <\/span>of the <\/span>Christian families <\/span>who formerly lived <\/span>on the Nineveh Plains fled <\/span>to escape war<\/span> and<\/span> attacks from the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_single_image image=”43364″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\u201cThis is one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, and yet m<\/span>any <\/span>of the Christians there have never had their own Bibles<\/span>, nor have they ever heard the Bible in their own daily language<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley.<\/span> She says the Bibles that will be distributed through the project will be family Bibles<\/span> for everyday home use<\/span>, not pulpit Bibles<\/span> for use at churches<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cT<\/span>he Bible used in <\/span>churches in the region is <\/span>written in Old Aramaic<\/span>, or \u2018<\/span>Kthobonoyo<\/span>\u2019<\/span>, also called <\/span>\u2018<\/span>book language<\/span>\u2019<\/span> or <\/span>\u2018<\/span>high language<\/span>\u2019 by the people there,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cIt<\/span> was <\/span>the <\/span>mother tongue of Jesus<\/span> and many of the earliest Christians<\/span>, but over the centuries the daily language of the people has <\/span>continued to <\/span>develop<\/span>. Today, the Christians on the <\/span>Ninevah<\/span> plains speak <\/span>Chaldean and Assyrian dialects<\/span>, which are <\/span>both <\/span>forms of <\/span>Eastern Aramaic.<\/span> Th<\/span>e Bible that will be distributed through this project will be the <\/span>first ever printed translation into the <\/span>everyday <\/span>spoken dialect<\/span> of Christians in the region<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), <\/span><\/span>the <\/span>1987 <\/span>Iraqi census showed <\/span>that <\/span>1,500,000 Christians were living in the country<\/span>,<\/span><\/span> but <\/span>by <\/span>2006 it was estimated that th<\/span>e number had dropped below <\/span>800,000<\/span>, <\/span>or <\/span>approximately 3 percent of Iraq\u2019s overall population of 28.2 million. <\/span>Research by the <\/span>Shlama<\/span> Foundation estimate<\/span>s<\/span> that <\/span>about 150,000 Christians remain<\/span>ed<\/span> in Iraq as of July 2020<\/span>, a 90% decrease in the Christian population in the past<\/span> 35 years<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, <\/span>difficulties faced by <\/span>Iraqi Christian<\/span>s under the <\/span>Baathist rule <\/span>of <\/span>Saddam Hussein<\/span> contributed to the decline, which <\/span>worsened significant<\/span>ly<\/span> as the Islamic State (IS) took control of large parts of the country.<\/span> \u201cSaddam Hussein <\/span>kept anti-Christian violence under control but subjected <\/span>Mesopotamian-Aramaic speaking Christians <\/span>to <\/span>ethnic, cultural, and racial <\/span>discrimination, including forced <\/span>relocation<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>Christians were pressured to identify <\/span>themselves as Arabs.<\/span> Then in 2014 when IS gained control<\/span> of<\/span> the areas around Mosul in northern Iraq<\/span>, they <\/span>expelled Christians from the Nineveh Plain.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to <\/span>Representative Foley<\/span>, <\/span>more than 100,000 Christians fled from the Nineveh Plain to the autonomous Kurdish areas.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”43359″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”A Bible rescued from Islamic State vandalism at a church in Iraq\u2019s Nineveh Plains. Photo credit: Charmaine Hedding, Shai Fund.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”43360″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Bibles rescued from Islamic State vandalism at a church in Iraq\u2019s Nineveh Plains. Photo credit: Charmaine Hedding, Shai Fund.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Many <\/span>of the <\/span>families fled with the hope and expectation of being able to return to their homes <\/span>quickly<\/span>, but<\/span> this proved to be <\/span>a <\/span>futile hope<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>After IS was defeated, <\/span>some <\/span>families did return, <\/span>but what they saw was<\/span> total destruction<\/span>. IS treated the homes <\/span>of <\/span>Christians <\/span>in a terrible way in the Nineveh Plain area. Churches were bombed <\/span>in<\/span>to <\/span>rubble<\/span>.<\/span> Bibles were collected and burned. Anything that <\/span>had any relation to <\/span>Christianity was destroyed.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley notes that <\/span>international aid groups <\/span>have <\/span>continu<\/span>ed<\/span> to <\/span>help <\/span>Iraqi Christians to rebuild their homes, churches, and businesses<\/span>, but she believes <\/span>that full recovery will require something that <\/span>many <\/span>Iraqi Christians did not have even before they fled: Family Bibles <\/span>translated in the everyday language of the people.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/span>Never before<\/span> has a family Bible been published in <\/span>modern <\/span>Chaldean<\/span> dialect,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>Most of the Iraqi Christians come from the <\/span>Chaldean Catholic Church <\/span>or <\/span>the Syriac Orthodox Church<\/span>. <\/span>Some of the <\/span>Syriac Orthodox <\/span>Christians have<\/span> had <\/span>family Bible<\/span>s<\/span> in the<\/span>ir<\/span> home<\/span>s<\/span>.<\/span> But even these Bibles are written in <\/span>so-called <\/span><\/span>\u2018<\/span>book<\/span> language<\/span>\u2019<\/span> or <\/span>\u2018<\/span>high language<\/span>\u2019<\/span>.<\/span> So<\/span> all they can understand is whatever and however the priest translates for them at church.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Still, Representative Foley says that churches of all denominations in the region have supported the <\/span>importance of <\/span>individual Christians <\/span>being able to <\/span>read<\/span> the <\/span>Bible <\/span>for themselves <\/span>at home<\/span>.<\/span> She says th<\/span>e support of the local churches <\/span>is essential for the project, since <\/span><\/span>print<\/span>ing can only happen with the approval of a government-recognized church official. In this case<\/span>,<\/span> the<\/span> Chaldean Church<\/span> provided official approval of the project.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Bible is being printed locally, in a <\/span>two-color<\/span> hardback edition.<\/span> \u201cThis enables us to avoid <\/span>import d<\/span>ifficulties<\/span> and also ensure a high-quality family Bible that can <\/span>last for generations, for a <\/span>very <\/span>low cost<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d says Representative Foley.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”43361″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Sanctuary of a church in Iraq\u2019s Nineveh Plains. Photo credit: Charmaine Hedding, Shai Fund. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”43362″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”A cross painted by an Iraqi church leader to cover graffiti scrawled by Islamic State terrorists on Iraq\u2019s Nineveh Plains. Photo credit: Charmaine Hedding, Shai Fund. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Each Bible costs 9,500 KRW.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven <\/span>the <\/span>statistical data on the average family composition of Christian families in the area, <\/span>we have calculated <\/span>that <\/span>30,000 family Bibles <\/span>should reach <\/span>an equivalent of 150,000-180,000 <\/span>Christians able to read and hear the scripture daily in<\/span> the privacy of their own homes<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Through the project, Voice of the Martyrs Korea plans to <\/span>cover the cost of <\/span>5,000 <\/span>of the total 30,000 <\/span>Bibles<\/span> planned for distribution<\/span>, for a total cost <\/span>to Voice of the Martyrs Korea <\/span>of 47<\/span><\/span>,500,000 KRW<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The <\/span>ministry is collecting funds through the end of September. <\/span>Printing is being done 5,000 copies at a time, and distribution is scheduled for completion by the end of <\/span>2022.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>What IS tried to take away<\/span> from churches<\/span>, we will now put back into the homes of these <\/span>Christian <\/span>families<\/span>, in a more accessible language<\/span> and format<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Donations can be made until the end of September at\u202f<\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/en\/donation<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 or via electronic transfer to:\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\uad6d\ubbfc\uc740\ud589<\/span>\u202f(KB Bank) 463501-01-243303\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\uc608\uae08\uc8fc<\/span>\u202f(Account holder): (<\/span>\uc0ac<\/span>)<\/span>\uc21c\uad50\uc790\uc758\uc18c\ub9ac<\/span>\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please include the phrase \u201cBible\u201d on the donation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”43368″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea announced today a plan to place copies of the first-ever modern Chaldean dialect Bible in 30,000 Christian homes in Northern Iraq, through …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":43377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}