ICC Note:

Three churches from separate denominations in northern Iraq have joined forces in order to assemble the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee. The goal of this committee is to rebuild the devastated Nineveh Plains in an effort to restore hope to the displaced families and encourage them to return. The massive project is estimated to cost nearly $200 million, but the churches feel a great burden to strengthen Christian presence in the Middle East.

4/3/2017 Iraq (Premier) – The leaders of three Christian denominations in northern Iraq have united to embark on a big rebuilding programme following widespread damage caused by Islamic State.

Formed by the Syriac Catholic, Syriac Orthodox and Chaldean Catholic churches, the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee is trying to encourage thousands of Iraqi believers back to the Nineveh Plains.

Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Alshamany said: “Today we are truly a united Church – Syriac Orthodox, Chaldean and Syriac Catholic – united in the work of rebuilding these houses on the Nineveh Plains and in restoring hope to the hearts of the inhabitants of these villages and inviting those who have left them to return.”

Recently, Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) estimated 12,000 homes damaged by IS could need to be rebuilt – at a cost of more than £160 million.

Syriac Catholic Archbishop Mouche said: “I would like to invite the Christians of the Nineveh Plains to return to their homes and resume living in their villages, in order to bear witness to Christianity.

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