{"id":4096,"date":"2022-08-20T17:09:01","date_gmt":"2022-08-20T17:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/"},"modified":"2022-08-20T17:09:01","modified_gmt":"2022-08-20T17:09:01","slug":"iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/","title":{"rendered":"IRAQ: The Love of Christ Was All I Had"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cJesus is here already; He\u2019s just waiting for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2014, just as ISIS was declaring an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, God called Jerry and Stacy to go to Iraq. \u201cIt was a clear word from the Lord,\u201d Stacy says. Others\u2014including their mission board\u2014told them NOT to go, that it wasn\u2019t safe or smart. But they obeyed God, landing in northern Iraq days later.<\/p>\n<p>Years before, they\u2019d answered God\u2019s call to Tanzania\u2014leaving behind an \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d life to serve in east Africa, where they saw the overwhelming need of the people and learned how to focus on serving the person in front of them. The hospitality of the African people, despite their overwhelming needs, and the sweet sound of Swahili hymns struck a chord in the hearts of Jerry and Stacy.<\/p>\n<p>Jerry and Stacy will challenge listeners to serve the Lord, not with busy work but with lives committed to prayer and fasting, seeking the Lord and His plan and will for each situation. Stacy, who had never read her Bible or finished a Bible study before moving to East Africa, reminds us that God qualifies those He calls. The couple saw God open doors for impactful ministry in Africa, and so they went to Iraq with complete trust in what He was going to do.<\/p>\n<p>Founders of <a href=\"https:\/\/lovefortheleast.org\/\">Love for the Least<\/a>, Jerry and Stacy help refugees in Iraq and serve them through providing education and job training. They provide trauma care for girls sold into ISIS slavery, young widows and children who have witnessed the dark side of Islam. To see a documentary about their work in Iraq, watch <a href= \"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Dont-Forget-Them-Jose-Polo\/dp\/B08NJNWV2J\">\u201cDon\u2019t Forget Them\u201d<\/a> on Amazon.<\/p>\n<p>Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! <a href= \"https:\/\/www.vomradio.net\/subscribe\">Subscribe to the Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vomradio.net\/episodes\/detail\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Listen to this episode on VOMRadio.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cJesus is here already; He\u2019s just waiting for us.\u201d In 2014, just as ISIS was declaring an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, God called Jerry and Stacy to go to Iraq. \u201cIt was a clear word from the Lord,\u201d Stacy says. Others\u2014including their mission board\u2014told them NOT to go, that it wasn\u2019t safe or smart. But they obeyed God, landing in northern Iraq days later. Years before, they\u2019d answered God\u2019s call to Tanzania\u2014leaving behind an \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d life to serve in east Africa, where they saw the overwhelming need of the people and learned how to focus on serving the person in front of them. The hospitality of the African people, despite their overwhelming needs, and the sweet sound of Swahili hymns struck a chord in the hearts of Jerry and Stacy. Jerry and Stacy will challenge listeners to serve the Lord, not with busy work but with lives committed to prayer and fasting, seeking the Lord and His plan and will for each situation. Stacy, who had never read her Bible or finished a Bible study before moving to East Africa, reminds us that God qualifies those He calls. The couple saw God open doors for impactful ministry in Africa, and so they went to Iraq with complete trust in what He was going to do. Founders of Love for the Least, Jerry and Stacy help refugees in Iraq and serve them through providing education and job training. They provide trauma care for girls sold into ISIS slavery, young widows and children who have witnessed the dark side of Islam. To see a documentary about their work in Iraq, watch \u201cDon\u2019t Forget Them\u201d on Amazon. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the Podcast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-4096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vom-radio","tag-iraq","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>IRAQ: The Love of Christ Was All I Had - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IRAQ: The Love of Christ Was All I Had - Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cJesus is here already; He\u2019s just waiting for us.\u201d In 2014, just as ISIS was declaring an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, God called Jerry and Stacy to go to Iraq. \u201cIt was a clear word from the Lord,\u201d Stacy says. Others\u2014including their mission board\u2014told them NOT to go, that it wasn\u2019t safe or smart. But they obeyed God, landing in northern Iraq days later. Years before, they\u2019d answered God\u2019s call to Tanzania\u2014leaving behind an \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d life to serve in east Africa, where they saw the overwhelming need of the people and learned how to focus on serving the person in front of them. The hospitality of the African people, despite their overwhelming needs, and the sweet sound of Swahili hymns struck a chord in the hearts of Jerry and Stacy. Jerry and Stacy will challenge listeners to serve the Lord, not with busy work but with lives committed to prayer and fasting, seeking the Lord and His plan and will for each situation. Stacy, who had never read her Bible or finished a Bible study before moving to East Africa, reminds us that God qualifies those He calls. The couple saw God open doors for impactful ministry in Africa, and so they went to Iraq with complete trust in what He was going to do. Founders of Love for the Least, Jerry and Stacy help refugees in Iraq and serve them through providing education and job training. They provide trauma care for girls sold into ISIS slavery, young widows and children who have witnessed the dark side of Islam. To see a documentary about their work in Iraq, watch \u201cDon\u2019t Forget Them\u201d on Amazon. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the Podcast.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-20T17:09:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"vomtechsupport\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216\"},\"headline\":\"IRAQ: The Love of Christ Was All I Had\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-20T17:09:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/\"},\"wordCount\":311,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Iraq\"],\"articleSection\":[\"VOM Radio\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/\",\"name\":\"IRAQ: The Love of Christ Was All I Had - Stories\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-20T17:09:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg\",\"width\":978,\"height\":640},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"IRAQ: The Love of Christ Was All I Had\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/\",\"name\":\"Stories\",\"description\":\"VOM\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216\",\"name\":\"vomtechsupport\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56abf41aaad92dceb4cfa25e0a29cb1f744b86aceb206be3435e6e45da62f65a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56abf41aaad92dceb4cfa25e0a29cb1f744b86aceb206be3435e6e45da62f65a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"vomtechsupport\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"IRAQ: The Love of Christ Was All I Had - Stories","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"IRAQ: The Love of Christ Was All I Had - Stories","og_description":"\u201cJesus is here already; He\u2019s just waiting for us.\u201d In 2014, just as ISIS was declaring an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, God called Jerry and Stacy to go to Iraq. \u201cIt was a clear word from the Lord,\u201d Stacy says. Others\u2014including their mission board\u2014told them NOT to go, that it wasn\u2019t safe or smart. But they obeyed God, landing in northern Iraq days later. Years before, they\u2019d answered God\u2019s call to Tanzania\u2014leaving behind an \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d life to serve in east Africa, where they saw the overwhelming need of the people and learned how to focus on serving the person in front of them. The hospitality of the African people, despite their overwhelming needs, and the sweet sound of Swahili hymns struck a chord in the hearts of Jerry and Stacy. Jerry and Stacy will challenge listeners to serve the Lord, not with busy work but with lives committed to prayer and fasting, seeking the Lord and His plan and will for each situation. Stacy, who had never read her Bible or finished a Bible study before moving to East Africa, reminds us that God qualifies those He calls. The couple saw God open doors for impactful ministry in Africa, and so they went to Iraq with complete trust in what He was going to do. Founders of Love for the Least, Jerry and Stacy help refugees in Iraq and serve them through providing education and job training. They provide trauma care for girls sold into ISIS slavery, young widows and children who have witnessed the dark side of Islam. To see a documentary about their work in Iraq, watch \u201cDon\u2019t Forget Them\u201d on Amazon. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the Podcast.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/","og_site_name":"Stories","article_published_time":"2022-08-20T17:09:01+00:00","author":"vomtechsupport","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"vomtechsupport","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/"},"author":{"name":"vomtechsupport","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216"},"headline":"IRAQ: The Love of Christ Was All I Had","datePublished":"2022-08-20T17:09:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/"},"wordCount":311,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg","keywords":["Iraq"],"articleSection":["VOM Radio"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/","url":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/","name":"IRAQ: The Love of Christ Was All I Had - Stories","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg","datePublished":"2022-08-20T17:09:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg","width":978,"height":640},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iraq-the-love-of-christ-was-all-i-had\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"IRAQ: The Love of Christ Was All I Had"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/","name":"Stories","description":"VOM","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216","name":"vomtechsupport","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56abf41aaad92dceb4cfa25e0a29cb1f744b86aceb206be3435e6e45da62f65a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56abf41aaad92dceb4cfa25e0a29cb1f744b86aceb206be3435e6e45da62f65a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"vomtechsupport"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}