Iraq, one of the world’s oldest civilizations—ancient Mesopotamia, the cradle of writing and early cities—has witnessed empires rise and fall, from Babylon and Assyria to Persia, Greece, and Islam. The land’s culture is richly woven with poetry, hospitality, strong family ties, and deep respect for elders. However, decades of dictatorship, war, sectarian violence, and foreign intervention have deeply scarred its people.

Christianity in Iraq goes all the way back to the Apostle Thomas’s disciples, Addai and Mari, brought the Gospel to Mesopotamia. The Church of the East, one of the world’s oldest, flourished for centuries, sending missionaries as far as China and India. Later, Christian leaders such as Saint Ephrem the Syrian and Patriarch Timothy I shaped the early Church’s theology and learning.

Today, Iraq’s Christian teenagers face immense hardship. In towns and villages, new converts to Christianity are often excluded by local authorities, expelled from families, and subjected to violent attempts to force them back to Islam. Many young Christian women endure bride kidnapping and forced marriages. In contrast, others face physical abuse or intimidation to abandon their faith.

The Church is under threat due to the lingering effects of war, religious extremism, economic collapse, and emigration, which have reduced Iraq’s Christian population from over 1.5 million to a fraction of that today. Amid fear and loss, the faith of Iraq’s Christians risks fading without a firm biblical grounding. To prevent the decline of Christianity, believers in Iraq must return to the roots of Acts 2 fellowship, prioritizing unity, discipleship, and endurance. They must forgive as Christ forgave, resist fear through the Spirit’s power, and rebuild their communities with love and courage, trusting God’s sovereignty even in suffering.