I was part of a Chaldean Community Foundation (CCF) delegation that recently visited Erbil and the Christian villages in the Nineveh Plain in the land of our ancestors, Iraq. The trip was wonderful and memorable with many occasions of joy, mixed with a lot of sadness and despair about the condition of our people’s villages.
Read MoreBuilt in 1814, Marth Mariam Cathedral is a Chaldean Syrian Church—the oldest church in Thrissur, a town in Kerala in southern India. This is where people from the Middle East settled long before St. Thomas arrived at its coast in 52 A.D. to spread the Gospel. They came because it was an international trade center. It was known for its natural resources, such as black pepper, which was highly in demand in the West because it was used as an antibiotic.
Read MoreSince 2003, the Christian population in Iraq has fallen by over 80 percent. More than 100,000 individuals fled their ancestral home in the Nineveh Plain after the 2014 ISIS attacks and many never returned, even after ISIS was defeated in 2017. Some extraordinary individuals, however, have risked their lives to help rebuild their towns in the hopes of making the region safe for people to return. But they face major challenges.
Read MoreThe Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce and affiliate Chaldean Community Foundation plan to take economic development and supportive services back to Iraq to help minority groups victimized by ISIS rebuild.
Read MoreThe Hungarian president Katalin Novák visited Iraq last month and made a point to visit St. George Chaldean Catholic Church in Telskuf. Novák, a Reformed Christian, supports the efforts to rebuild with Hungarian support.
Read MoreKurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani expressed his government’s support for the legitimate Christian demands in the areas outside the authority of Iraq’s Kurdistan regional government. Barzani’s remarks came during his meeting with a delegation of the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce and Chaldean Community Foundation in Erbil, according to a government statement.
Read MoreMasood Ayar is a third-generation sesame butter miller.
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