For years, our Justice Rising team watched the crisis in Iraq unfold from afar. We remember reading reports of ISIS marching across the country, not realizing that these stories detailed the lives of the communities we would one day serve in Northern Iraq.
In 2016, we were introduced to Father Thabet, a Catholic Priest from a village less than 30 km east of Mosul. Today, he heads the Karemlash Redevelopment Committee.
Over a three-year period, the village of Karemlash was occupied by ISIS militants. In 2017, our team had the great privilege of visiting the region, and the opportunity to walk through the newly liberated town and visit their five schools.
Now in 2018, we are coming alongside the community in the rebuilding effort of their destroyed girls' secondary school. This school serves an important role in providing young women with higher education opportunities.