Caring for the Kurdish People

• The Kurdish people are the largest ethnic group in the world without a country of their own.

• Approximately 25-30 million Kurds live in an area called Kurdistan, a mountainous area covering 200,000 miles from southeast Turkey, northeast Syria, north Iraq and west Iran.

Many have fled oppression and poverty in their homeland for a more prosperous life in Europe, North America, Australia, Central Asia and the Middle East.

In the homeland, Kurdish guerrillas call themselves pesh merga, "those who face death," and many have died in attempts to establish an independent homeland.

Some of the ties that bind Kurds are their common culture and history, expressed in Kurdish folklore and songs exalting heroism and self-sacrifice.

"The Kurds have no friends," is a Kurdish proverb stemming from centuries of oppression which continues to this day.

In Turkey, where the largest contingent

In Turkey, where the largest contingent (40 percent) of Kurds live, the Kurdish are seen as a threat by the Turkish government, which has continually sought to assimilate the Kurds into Turkish society through forced resettlement. Until recent years, it was a crime to speak Kurdish in public.

Iraq hasn't been any more hospitable, with poison gas raids, villages demolished, and many Kurds forcibly resettled or placed in detention camps. Not until 1991, when Saddam Hussein brutally attacked a Kurdish uprising did the world turn some attention on their woes.

• Ancient History - Kurds are believed to be descendants of the Medes, mentioned throughout the Old Testament and in Acts.– Ex: Daniel in a the Lions Den (King Darius was a Mede)

• For the most part the Kurds were left alone to live in peace in their homeland until the 20th Century.

Modern History

• Modern History Kurdish History Chronology on the Internet

– After World War I, the Ottoman Empire became past history: new states arose on its former territory.

– According to the Treaty of Sèvres, which was signed on 10 August 1920, the state of Kurdistan was also to be established in the region. But this intention was not subsequently implemented.

Under the leadership of Kemal ATATURK, the Turkish nationalists overturned the postwar settlement embodied in the Treaty of Sevres (1920) and established the Republic of Turkey, formally recognized by the Treaty of Lausanne.

Click the flag for Information on Turkey

• Modern History (cont.)

– In the Treaty of Lausanne, signed on 24 July 1923, that part of Kurdistan which had been part of the Ottoman Empire was carved up again. The largest part of Kurdistan remained within the state borders of the Republic of Turkey.

– Since 1923, there have been repeated struggles by the Kurds to establish an Independent Homeland.

– In the last decade of the 20st century, the Kurdish Peoples Party (PKK) fought to establish an independent Kurdistan, but thus far, this conflict with the Turkish army has resulted in nothing but a path of death and destruction.

• 30,000 Fatalities

• 3000 Villages Destroyed

• Displaced Families - Unprecedented Growth in Eastern Turkey’s Large City Slum Suburbs

• Large Diaspora Outside the Homeland

• Children Living on the Streets

Kurdistan & Kurdish Dialects

• Networking/Partnering with other Great Commission Christians who are working among the Kurds

•Media development and scripture distribution

•Humanitarian/Developmental Work

•Evangelism/Witnessing

•Prayer

CBF Ministry to the Kurds includes . . .

• Networking with other Great Commission Christians

• Partnering on projects that focus on the Kurds, I.e. scripture distribution, video development, prayer efforts, etc.

• Scripture/Literature distribution to the Turkish/Kurdish families in Germany

• Kurdish Unreached People Videos are available

• Join in a mission trip to distribute Bibles to the Turkish and Kurdish communities.

• English teachers or individuals with ESL background who could teach conversational English classes.

• Medical Mission Trips

• Medical Lectures and Teaching Exchange Programs

• Seed Projects providing training and employment for the internally displaced families who have lost their homes in the fifteen year conflict.

•Caring for the Mentally and Physically Handicapped

•Hunger Food Funds for Street Children

• Annual prayer walks in Kurdistan

• Join our internet prayer network and begin receiving regular updates how to pray for the Kurds

• Prayer Guide Available to share with your church family or Sunday School/Prayer group

• International Days of Prayer for Kurds during their New Years Celebration in March

• Pray for peace in the Kurdish homeland. Pray that the Kurds will come to know the true source of peace, Jesus Christ.

• Pray for the Kurds living in the Diaspora. Pray they will be befriended by Christians, led to Christ, discipled and called to return to the homeland with the good news of Jesus Christ.

• Pray for S, a Kurdish believer who is helping to develop radio programs in the Kurdish dialect that can be broadcast into the homeland.

• Pray for those working on scripture translation – for their physical health, stamina, and perseverance in difficult circumstances.

• Pray for the Lord of the Harvest to call out more workers for the harvest. Pray for secular work platforms that would allow missionaries to obtain visas in the Kurdish homeland.

• Pray for the missionaries working in the homeland. Pray for physical and spiritual protection, and renewed sense of God’s calling and presence with them in a land of spiritual darkness.

• Pray for volunteer teams needed to assist in scripture distribution among the Kurds and Turks in Germany. Pray God would provide the necessary volunteers and money for the New Testaments.

• Pray that God would call out people to prayer walk in the Kurdish homeland.

For information on participating in any project pertaining the Kurdish Unreached People Group, please write e-mail address 103671.360@CompuServe.com