(Screen capture courtesy SAT-7KIDS)
Iraq (MNN/SAT7) — Mr. Know — a TV program host for SAT-7 KIDS program Why is That? — recently returned from Kirkuk, Iraq, and shares a message from refugee children that shows an uncanny depth.
He went to an evangelical church and asked a group of children, “When you pray to God, what do you say?”
Their responses were astounding because even with all that has happened to turn their lives upside down, there is no hate: only love and mercy. One girl, wearing a red poppy barrette in her hair, answered Mr. Know, “I ask Him to forgive those who sinned.”
(Screen capture courtesy SAT-7KIDS)
Mr. Know asked a girl name Vatica what she thanked God for. Her answer was immediate and confident. “For everything.”
For ISIS? For being chased out of their homes? Out of the schools? There’s a whole generation of displaced children who have been on the run for years. Some have never been to school, living the life of a refugee, unwanted, scorned, ignored, forced into poverty.
This is how generational war begins. Yazidi refugees have congregated in Dohuk. When ISIS attacked them, the eradication was absolute. Most fled. Those who stayed behind often died. It was such an affront that a U.S. lawmakers are asking President Barack Obama to label ISIS’ targeting of Christians and Yazidis in the Middle East a “genocide.”
Mr. Know asks a group of boys, “If you see one of them in front of you, would you forgive him?” The oldest promptly answers, “Of course I would forgive him.”
It’s easy to dismiss their answers as overly simplistic, naïv,e or coached for a camera, given the atrocities they’ve survived. Yet, this is where the Gospel comes in. With a heart transformed by Christ, there is forgiveness and hope where there would otherwise be anger and disillusionment.
Next, Mr. Know travelled to Dohuk to talk to the kids there. His first question was a big one: “If you have one thing to say to God now, what would it be?”
The group fidgets a little, before a girl answers. “We want to return to our homes.” It’s the reality these kids face, making the next comment even more down-to-earth in response to the question, “How can you forgive?” One boy says, “Our Father, Jesus, died on the cross and forgave all our sins.”
(Screen capture courtesy SAT-7KIDS)
God has used SAT-7, a Christian satellite television ministry to the Middle East and North Africa, to share God’s grace, love, and forgiveness in the lives of those who follow him, even little children. Pray for the innocent children still looking to Jesus for peace.
