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EXCLUSIVE: FAI RESPONDS TO CORONAVIRUS IN IRAQI KURDISTAN

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FAI Rawanduz Gateway Center leader Nathan James (far right) joins local mullahs in a joint prayer and training meeting to address the threat of coronavirus in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Wire is receiving encouraging reports from FAI field teams near Rawanduz, Iraqi Kurdistan this weekend, as FAI medical staff and gateway leaders have been engaging with patients and local communities around the Iranian frontier to address the threat of coronavirus across the border. FAI has maintained a presence in Rawanduz and the Soran Valley for over four years now, positioning the organization to be a reliable and trustworthy resource for Kurdish officials and residents.

Dr. Jessica is an FAI field team member who has been working directly with a group of over 200 patients who have been quarantined at different facilities in eastern Kurdistan after they crossed the border from Iran. She reports that, although many of the patients are presenting symptoms related to cold, flu and hypertension, there are no suspected cases of coronavirus so far. Nonetheless, FAI medical teams are taking full advantage of the opportunity to treat, encourage and pray with quarantine patients during an anguishing time of isolation, separated from their family and friends. FAI field team member David spoke with a young man who has been unable to sleep well for a year. After praying over the young man, Dr. David spoke a word of encouragement to him, promising that he would have a good night’s sleep. The young man reported the next morning that he had slept soundly for 12 hours, after which he serenaded FAI staff and fellow patients in the clinic with his violin.

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FAI field teams working in and around the Rawanduz Gateway Center (near the Iranian border in Iraqi Kurdistan) are providing training and treatment programs to quarantine patients and needy communities which are under-served and highly vulnerable to coronavirus. This is a critical and timely effort with unique opportunities. Will you partner with us?

FAI field team leader Nathan James has been working with Rawanduz-based staff to coordinate training initiatives in border communities that are threatened by coronavirus. In a video dispatch published yesterday, he describes the unprecedented opportunity he had to lead a joint-prayer and training session with 16-18 local mullahs. Muslim leaders have direct contact and influence with the people in their communities, and can pass along the training they receive to their congregants at Friday prayer meetings. Nathan requested and was granted the privilege of praying before the group with the aid of a translator, in which he prayed life and unity over the clerics gathered there. “Today was a very unique day”, Nathan said after the event, “I’ve never had this opportunity before. I’ve never heard of anyone having this opportunity before.” Nathan reported that some mullahs in the group approached him after the training to thank him for opening the meeting with prayer.

FAI will continue to seize every opportunity to assist local Kurdish communities with addressing the coronavirus outbreak in the region, including initiatives to train religious leaders, government officials, and even local police. These initiatives become even more critical as newly-confirmed cases of the deadly disease are being reported in nearby Kirkuk, which is presently controlled by the central Iraqi government. At least 8 cases have also been confirmed in the southern city of Najaf, as Iraq continues to experience the fallout of the coronavirus epidemic in neighboring Iran, where the disease was allowed to spread unchecked for several weeks due to malfeasance by the Iranian government.

EXCLUSIVE: UNDERGROUND CHURCH PLEADS FOR PRAYER AS CORONAVIRUS SPREADS IN IRAN

People walking in Tehran's Grand Bazaar wear protective masks to prevent contracting the virus (Credit: Nazanin Tabatabaee, WANA via Reuters)

For the third time in the past six months, Iranians are taking to the streets as news of a coronavirus outbreak was reported in the world press. What had previously been acknowledged by the regime as only a few confirmed infections has proven to be grossly under-reported, as the Iranian Ministry of Health now admits that there are at least 200 confirmed cases in over 50 Iranian cities, causing at least six deaths so far. The actual number of cases is estimated to be 800, or even into the thousands. Turkey, Pakistan, Armenia, Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan have all closed their border crossings with Iran in an attempt to contain the spread of the deadly disease.

The timing of the Iranian government’s admission of the spread of the virus inside its borders is highly suspect, coming only one day after nationwide elections were held. It is now clear that authorities in the Islamic Republic have been aware of the spread of the disease in Iran for many days, but chose to conceal that knowledge in order to increase voter turnout at the polls. In the interim, the human cost of their misinformation campaign has been massive, as the disease has potentially been transmitted to thousands of Iranians across the country during its incubation period. This is the second time that the regime has lied to the public about a deadly event, after previously claiming that a civilian airliner had been downed by mechanical failure on 8 January of this year. Four days later, it was proven by photographic evidence that the Iranian military accidentally shot down the plane, killing all 176 people aboard.

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Click here to learn more about FAI’s work with the underground church in Iran, and how you can engage them with us.

The Wire spoke with a representative of the Iranian underground church yesterday. Our source described a dire situation that is already having major ramifications for the Iranian public. “[The government] might cancel school and university until April. We're all wearing masks.”

Besides the general impact of the outbreak in Iran, our source also described its frustrating effect on the congregations they oversee in the disciple-making movement. “The teams stopped the house churches…everything is on stop until we figure out what's going on with the virus.”

The coronavirus is the latest in a string of monumental challenges for the Iranian church. Our source is pleading with the global Body of Christ to make intercession “We need your prayers right now…pray for protection…[It's] another wrench in the system…every time we try to move forward, something out of our hands happens…Pray for us, that we don't get discouraged.”

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BREAKING: ISRAEL STRIKES SYRIA AFTER BARRAGE FROM GAZA

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Rocket-fire from the Gaza Srip (via Reuters)

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) responded to a barrage of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip last night with airstrikes against terrorist positions in Gaza and Syria. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) claimed responsibility for over 20 rockets fired from Gaza which triggered alarms and red alerts across the “Gaza Envelope,” or the belt around the restive Palestinian territory which is vulnerable to short-range rocket fire. The Iron Dome missile defense system was deployed and successfully intercepted 13 rockets which directly threatened Israeli communities.

PIJ announced that the attacks were in response to the death of one of their fighters, who was killed earlier yesterday by Israeli forces as he planted explosives along the Gaza border fence. Besides its usual response against Hamas and PIJ targets in the Gaza Strip, the IAF also struck PIJ targets south of Damascus, Syria. An Israeli press release was unusually detailed regarding a Syrian strike, describing the targeted compound as a facility where weapons are developed and manufactured for use against Israeli targets from Gaza.

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The situation may continue to escalate further today as PIJ has threatened to increase the range of its rocket fire to the Israeli communities of Ashkelon and Beer Sheva. Israeli Home Command has ordered civilians in communities near Gaza to avoid congregating in large groups, in order to decrease the likelihood of a mass casualty incident in the event of further rocket fire.