Dear family in Messiah,
My sixth visit to Iraqi Kurdistan was decided on at relatively short notice. You may be aware of the trial we are going though as a family due to my wife Marie Anne’s health. We value your prayers as we persevere in trusting the Lord. This short, two-week visit to Iraq was undertaken knowing that she was in a good place physically and mentally.
There was a significant amount of money in The Simon Initiative account. I could not sit by knowing we had these funds available and that there was a bitter and wet winter ahead for many widows, orphans and refugees.
After arriving in Erbil, we took the long drive up into the Zagros mountains. Soran feels like home now. After a customary meal at the home of my hosts, Xairolla and his wife Rehafza, we went off to a meeting. I knew virtually all the 24 who were present. It’s very difficult to express my feelings when meeting up with these Muslims who have left Islam. I tear up easily, always moved by their gracious and warm welcome. Many I cannot communicate with unless someone interprets, yet there is a spiritual connection which is supernaturally beautiful.
Teaching the Bible to a hungry Kurdish peopleXairolla spoke from 1 Corinthians 15 on Messiah’s resurrection and the need for our faith to be unwavering, not tossed to and fro. Among those attending was a mullah’s wife who has continued to fellowship since I first saw her in April. Incredibly her husband is happy with this arrangement, himself open to hearing more about the Bible.
Towards the end of my visit, in walked the mullah himself. Xairolla looked at me and said, “Braam, danger, danger, mullah!” but I detected a wry smile. The mullah came directly to me and greeted me in the customary Kurdish way, a kiss on both cheeks. He obviously had no problem with his wife leaving Islam. We in the West have little sense of the danger to a man in this predicament, who holds such a grave responsibility in Islam. Over 40 mullahs and their sons have taken Bibles these past few years; they are all in vulnerable positions.
Muslims Seeking Truth
I had spoken to a young Austrian on the flight who asked where I was going. “You going to a real hotspot”, he said. I shared how ISIS has caused Muslims to question Islam and that many were coming to Jesus, to peace. “Religion is not in my focus, to me they all the same”, was his understanding. “Hardly the same,” I answered. “If they were, why would anyone risk their life to leave for another? Muslims realise they have believed a lie; they are now seeking the truth.” He was a pleasant young guy and looked at me without replying. If this is the average man’s perception, it figures why Europe is being overrun. Surely Paul’s words to the Corinthians apply: “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving…” (2 Cor 4:3-4)
We had a stream of visitors to Rehafza’s home. The Kurds I’ve come to know exude hospitality. They show a singularly deep appreciation for those who take an interest in their nation’s plight. They are a rejected people, despised by their fellow Muslims. Six months ago I prayed for Kareem, Rehafza’s father. Wounds on his feet were oozing through the bandages. He had been taken in to hospital to have one foot amputated. Xairolla called me from hospital and asked me to pray again. So we prayed over the video call. Kareem was discharged seven days later, his foot healed. This is a Muslim man who has faith that our God can heal through our prayers. Are the mullahs called? No.
On my second evening he came visiting, accompanied by two other men, family members. He showered me with kisses and wanted more prayer, despite his feet looking healthy. The power of this type of testimony in the community cannot be underestimated or overstated, especially since they know we pray in Yeshua’s name.
Xairolla is from the Barzani tribe, the dominant one in Bashur, southern (Iraqi) Kurdistan, which holds political power. Of far greater significance, however, is the nature of this people. I have spent 25 years going regularly to that part of the world. I know the Islamic spirit and have seen it at its worst. The spirit of the Kurds I cannot reconcile with that of Islam; it is far closer to that of Israel.
The Gospel Transforms
Heating fuel for the Peshmerga widows
We have so many families to take care of, 400 scattered around this region alone. These include Peshmerga widows, Syrian refugees and the poor among Messiah’s Kurdish family. We bought 600 20-litre containers and then ordered the kerosene from a distributor. The truck arrived and the arduous work of filling each container began. We had ample and willing help from the young men in our believing community. After arranging for the heating fuel we set about going to wholesalers and ordering 400 parcels of food.
Distribution took place at the ‘ministry’ home where we have a seamstress employed to teach Peshmerga widows and other women how to make clothes. It has attracted some negative attention from the Islamic fraternity who have in turn set up two ‘rival’ homes, in an attempt to show the mullahs are doing something to help the community. They never cared before - this reflects the impact the ministry is having. We, though, have Bibles and the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. Please keep this special ministry in prayer - many women are coming to faith because of it.
Giving Bibles to those who ask for one. The man in the background is the one who took Bibles for the school. We visited the mountain village of Similan, close to the Iranian border, where we once again helped this secluded people with heating oil and food. The appreciation of the community is palpable. Each visit means an invitation to the home of a prominent family and a meal fit for a king. It is truly humbling knowing I am the first non-Kurd to be welcomed here and treated in this manner. At the distribution I was astounded to see one man take ten Bibles. They were to be the first Bibles ever put into the school library.
We spent time with other needy families, one a widow in Messiah who we have decided to build a home for. She has raised three sons to all follow Yeshua. Not only that, they are evangelising - two of them at university where they engage in much debate and hand out Bibles.
The message we have transforms people’s lives and circumstances. But I fear we in the West have become immunised, forgetting it is the power of God unto salvation. An untold number of Kurds are waiting to hear about the goodness of God, and many ‘Christians’ on the Nineveh Plains are waiting to hear the true gospel. Yet others, fleeing the ruins of Syria, are longing for hope. Your support is helping us to offer hope, and teach about the certain hope we can have in Messiah.
Unusual Encounters
My final night was at the church of Pastor Abu Fadi. “Preach the gospel”, he had messaged. The meeting was full of Syrian refugees. These people, although they are suffering, need to hear the message of the Cross, he stressed. We had a wonderful meeting, the Lord stirring the hearts of those present, as evidenced from the tears we saw flowing.
There was yet one final meeting to be had, later that same evening. I had received a message from a Facebook friend asking to please meet with him when I arrived in Kurdistan. I get numerous messages like this but I don’t get to meet each one. Shaban was persistent, unusually so, in taking me out for a meal. It was decided others would be with me when we met, as no-one knew him personally. But any doubt as to his intentions were soon allayed.
We were taken out to an expensive hotel restaurant. “You must have an important message for us,” he began, speaking through an interpreter. “No-one of your age would expend the time and energy coming to Kurdistan as often as you do if he didn’t. I have been following you for some time now on Facebook.”
“I am not so interested in religion, but I want to know about Israel. You seem to love the Jewish people, I want to know about this. I want to understand the outside world more, I want to discuss morals and ethics, I want to understand how to improve our situation in Kurdistan. My two sons are abroad in Canada studying. I want them to return with a mentality that will improve the lives of the Kurdish people.”
We had a fascinating evening, during which I invariably drew the conversation back to the morals and ethics of the Bible. He is a big businessman and also from the tribe of Barzan, an affluent and likely influential man. As I alluded earlier, these men are not Muslim in spirit; many are trying hard to shake off Islam without openly scorning it. I have been in regular contact since; Shaban is, I believe, on the road to Messiah.
Bittersweet Ministry
These four years of visiting the Kurds of Iraq and the broken Christians and Muslims of Nineveh have changed my life. I am no longer settled at home, living in comfort as we do. There is something hollow about living this lifestyle, one few are privileged to experience.
I cannot cast my mind off the trials and tribulations of those in Iraq/Kurdistan, or stop thinking about what they may soon experience. You all know your Scripture. So there is something bittersweet about this ministry. The gospel is being preached and the Lord is pouring out his Spirit on the Kurds. Please continue to participate in this ministry as you are able. I am so grateful for you, each and every one.
Blessings in Messiah, our soon-coming King.
Mark and Marie Anne van Niekerk
Ballito, South Africa
Mark van Niekerk is an evangelist who reaches out to the Kurds and those who live on the Nineveh Plains, under the umbrella of The Simon Initiative. You can donate online to the ministry by clicking here.
Read previous reports from his trips below.