Joe at Mar Mattai, Mt. Maqlub, Iraq

Join us for Middle Eastern snacks as we learn about the situation of Christianity in Iraq, presented by parishioner Joe Lipuma, with stories and pictures from his visit to Iraq in May 2024.

Joe serves on the board of SWIC (Stand with Iraqi Christians). SWIC believes loving presence, and listening, are the first steps in creating lasting and fruitful friendships. Since 2015, SWIC has been growing just such relationships with Iraqi Christian communities in this process that Archbishop Michael Lewis has described as a Ministry of Presence. In this approach, we acknowledge that we are just as desperately in need of Iraqi Christians’ extraordinary sense of faith and resilience as they are in need of our material assistance to rebuild their war-torn communities.