Resources
- Subscribe to our Newsletter
- SWIC Ethics: Guiding Humanitarian Principles (PDF)
- SWIC 2023–2024 Impact Statement (PDF)
- SWIC Documentation from The Episcopal Church, PA, and IRS (PDF)
- PA Charitable Organization Certificate 2023-2024
- SWIC Bylaws (PDF)
- 2022 Financial Statement of Activities
- Episcopal Church Resolution “Supporting Christians and Other Persecuted Minorities in Iraq” (PDF)
- Project Videos
Stand With Iraqi Christians in the News
- Holy Trinity, Manhattan, Explores Christianity in the Arabian Gulf, by Helen Goodkin in The Episcopal New Yorker, Spring 2022
- Iraqi Christians, chicken farmers rebuild their lived in the Nineveh Plains, Episcopal News Service, Jun 13, 2019
- Stand With Iraqi Christians: An Interview with the Rev. Chris Bishop, Global Partnerships of the Episcopal Church, May 30, 2018
- Anglican Chaplain in Baghdad honoured as one of Iraq’s Personalities of the Year, Anglican News Service, December 21, 2017
- Pennsylvania priest rallies support for displaced Iraqi Christians, Episcopal News Service, December 16, 2016
- St. Martin’s Episcopal priest raising funds to help Iraqi Christian refugees, Main Line Suburban Life, July 8, 2015
- Standing in solidarity with the world’s persecuted minorities, Episcopal News Service, April 9, 2015
Iraq in the News
Learning About Iraq: Education Materials and Suggestions
Pray for SWIC and for Mission: O gracious and loving God, you work everywhere reconciling, loving, and healing your people and your creation. In your Son and through the power of your Holy Spirit, you invite each of us to join you in your work. We, young and old, lay and ordained, ask you to form us more and more in your image and likeness, through our prayer and worship of you and through the study of your scripture, that our eyes will be fully opened to your mission in the world. Then, God, into our communities, our nation, and the world, send us to serve with Christ, taking risks to give life and hope to all people and all of your creation. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen
Source: GEMN.org
In preparation for a discussion, read through news sources, including ones listed above. One objective is to connect contemporary issues with the long and significant history of Iraq for Christians.
Ask a group what they know about Iraq now, or in the past. Use the journalists’ questions. For example,
—Where is Iraq? Use a topographic map online and note what countries surround Iraq.
—Why is this ancient land important to Christians? What about other faiths such as Islam and Judaism?
—Who lives there now and who lived there in the past?
—What is it like to live there? Search for the climate and seasons to better understand variations from southern Iraq to the northern parts of the country.
—What language or languages are spoken?
—What are ancient cities that are in the geographic area of Iraq? What civilizations mentioned in the Bible are within the borders of modern Iraq?
—When has Iraq been in the news?
—Look for images of people to see how people in the cities make a living and compare that with a city you know. How do people make a living in the country?
Share the Map of Iraq (below), showing SWIC project areas as well as places referenced in the Bible. Together we can build relationships with our Iraqi brothers and sisters. They are working to restore peace, rebuild society, and secure a future for their children. Challenges remain, but with love, friendship and support from those of us outside of Iraq, we can help achieve what Iraqis themselves want.