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Easter was extra special for one Christian community in Iraq this Easter as it opened for services for the first time since being desecrated by Islamic State militants eight years ago.
St. Kyriakos’ Chaldean Catholic Church, Batnaya, was attacked by IS in 2014. Militants decapitated statues, smashed the altar and used sacred images as target practice.
In the nearby Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, militants scrawled anti-Christian graffiti on the walls.
One example read, “O, you [expletive] slaves of the Cross, we will kill you all. … You dirty people, you do not belong here.”
According to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which has been supporting the community, the church was virtually “razed to the ground” by the time IS was pushed out of the town.
Batnaya was the most badly damaged among the dozen or so Christian towns and villages in the Nineveh Plains targeted by IS.
After the defeat of IS, ACN launched a major restoration and rebuilding program in Batnaya to help people return.
The church and Chapel of the Immaculate Conception received over $216,000 (€200,000) toward its restoration.Work is still ongoing but was temporarily paused during Holy Week to allow Easter services to be held — the first services to take place in the church since August 2014.Over 500 attended the Saturday Easter Vigil celebrating Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.Parish deacon the Rev. Basim told ACN: “We were all so happy to come to the church for the Easter services.”We had worked so hard to get to this stage and the place was so full there were people in the aisles.”It is hoped that restoration work at the church will be completed by July.In addition to the church, ACN is helping to restore two kindergartens, St. Oraha’s Dominican convent, the parish hall, library and priest’s house.
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Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker