Qaraqosh: A place to be concerned and praying for

Reports are flooding in regarding the conquest and expulsion of the residents of the  'entirely Christian town' of Qaraqosh (located between Mosul and Arbil) by IS and associated forces.

The town (population c.50,000) is testimony to the sad reality that the Iraqi government is unable to protect those members of minority communities (Christians, Yezidi and Shabak) and highlights the ethnic cleansing and other war crimes that are taking place (and yet whilst HAMAS and Israel dominate the news, this is allowed to slip almost quietly by).

The Christian nationals are being eradicated (by death or forced exile) and are part of an extremely grave humanitarian crisis.

Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk and Sulaimaniyah, Joseph Thomas, is quoted by AFP (Agence France-Presse) sources as saying, 'I now know that the towns of Qaraqosh, Tal Kayf, Bartella and Karamlesh have been emptied of their original population and are now under the control of the militants.'

Please pray

Please support those under threat (all faiths)

Please contact your political representative (wherever you live) and ask them what they are doing about this.

ISIS expel Christians from monastery

Reports are coming in that Islamist militants have seized the ancient 'mar behnam' monastery near Mosul and expelled the monks - allowing them to leave with nothing other than the clothes on their backs!

The monastery, dating back to the 4th Century, is an important Christian sacred space and a place of pilgrimage.

This expulsion shows the intolerance of the militants and demands some action from those who seek tolerance and peace as Mosul becomes a place where no Christians are to be found.

 Please pray - write to your MP and demand that our nation speaks up for those so sorely oppressed and threatened by the cancer that surely is ISIS.

Beauty: in the hand of the photoshop expert!

It's not often you'll find a topless woman on my blog but I came across this and thought it spoke volumes about the faux world we inhabit. A world where that which is valued, adored or desired exists, in the main, within an electronically manipulated or created reality.




'Vanity, vanity - all is vanity,' says the preacher in Ecclesiastes One.

We create desires (in sexual, fashion, product and self-perception) that can never be fulfilled and then invent ways to salve our sadness that mar God's image in us and make us uglier than we ever were :-(

Now who do you think wins with this situation (the good guy or the bad bloke)?