Archbishop Justin Welby reflects on meeting Iraqi Christians in Jordan, on the first day of his visit to Jordan, Israel, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories:
One woman told me that she can endure persecution as a Christian because the Bible teaches that that is to be expected. What she did not expect was that the worldwide church would ignore their plight.
As we left I prayed for God’s protection over their community. And I prayed that we, the Western Church, would be stirred up to do something. We are human beings with our persecuted brothers and sisters. We must embrace them.
As well as supporting the communities in England that have already received migrants, we need to keep on welcoming those who are homeless.
We must also find ways of improving things in this region. We do not want a Middle East without Christians. Christians have a long history in the Middle East, they are still here, and they surely must be part of its future.
