The Islamic State (IS, also know as ISIL and ISIS) continues its systematic genocide of Christians, Kurds and non-Sunni Muslims in Iraq. The United Nation reports,

Over the last 48 hours 200,000 civilians have fled the advance of ISIL, with at least 180,000 crossed into Dohuk district of the Kurdistan Region.  This  in addition to large numbers of civilians displaced as a result of the ISIL advance into Sinjar and Tal Afar districts of Ninewa Governorate that took place on 2-3 August, which resulted in up to 200,000 predominantly Yezidi civilians becoming trapped on Jabal Sinjar in territory now controlled by ISIL.  With the conflict ongoing, many more civilians are expected to flee the fighting.

Many of those displaced or directly affected by the violence belong to Iraq’s minority religious and ethnic communities – including Yezidi, Christians, Shabak, Turkomen and others.

Moreover, Gyorgy Busztin, the Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (DSRSG) for Iraq,  said,

The UN continues to receive reports that members of minority communities are being subjected to serious human rights violations by ISIL including murder, kidnappings, forced conversions, physical and sexual assault, and the looting and destruction of property and places of religious and cultural significance, in what appears to be a widespread and systematic policy aimed at cleansing non-Sunni ethnic and religious communities from areas under its control.

In an interview with CNN, Chaldean-American businessman Mark Arabo said,

There is a park in Mosul, where they [ISIS] actually beheaded children and put their heads on a stick and have them in the park.

More children are getting beheaded, mothers are getting raped and killed, and fathers are being hung.

Please pray for our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in Iraq.

 “We pray for all Your children who suffer persecution for the sake of Your Name and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Comfort them with Your Holy Spirit and deliver them from the hands of their enemies. Do not permit the memory of Your Name to be removed from the earth. Do not let the enemies of Your truth have occasion to dishonor and blaspheme Your Name. But if it is Your will that persecuted Christians by their death bear witness to the truth and glorify Your Name, comfort them in their sufferings. May they accept their trials as from Your fatherly hand and remain faithful in life and death to the honor of Your Name, to the edification of the church…” – A Prayer for All the Needs of Christendom