Meet Lanah

Iraq Safe House Stories

16 year old “Lanah” came to the CRI Safe House withdrawn and sad.  Her beautiful smile was rarely seen and she often withdrew from activities, saying she did not feel well. When we took her to a doctor, it was discovered she had a sexually transmitted disease causing her a lot of pain. After a couple days on medication, and many prayers lifted from staff and other saints, she began to feel better and participate. Staff was able to share with her the identity God sees in her of a strong, bold, passionate, caring, loving, creative, compassionate woman. She graduated the program healthier in body, mind, heart and spirit and with continued prayers from the saints for her future.

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Testimonies from Our Work in Iraq

Safe House Ministry

16 year old “Lahasha’s” mom died when she was  born. She lived back and forth between 5 uncle’s homes along with their 40 children. When taken captive by ISIS, she was sold and imprisoned with several other girls in a single room. One of them had a cell phone and their guards were anxious to find it. For 2 days, she  used a bobby pin to dig out the grout around a floor tile where they hid the cell phone which eventually aided their rescue. Lahasha had loved school and speaks fluent Kurdish, Arabic and understood much English. She had learned to be a patient teacher with her 40 cousins. When staff at the CRI Safe House told her what a great help she was as a teacher and translator, her eyes lit up with awe and excitement that she was able to do such things! She has experienced  much trauma and grief, but has great potential for a bright future. After graduating this program, she now has the confidence to move forward with hope.

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Safe House Testimonies

15 year old “Lanaj”

15 year old “Lanaj” was in her Northern village of Sinjar when ISIS attacked. As her family was being torn apart, her father told her to act as if she were insane. For 10 months, she refused to wash her hair, pulling in over her face and playing with it all day long. She was set apart with others with various disabilities. ISIS knew that some of them were faking mental or physical disabilities, watching and testing them. With a couple other women, one night she escaped and walked for hours with a family member on a cell phone guiding them away from ISIS checkpoints. With big smiles, songs, cake and presents, we celebrated her 16th birthday together at the CRI Safe House. After enduring a year torn from her home and family, this incredibly brave, strong and smart girl left the program full of joy, confidence and a hope for a prosperous future.

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The Boats of Lesvos

By Debbie Rodriguez, CRI Team Leader Greece

Refugees approach and depart the shores of Lesvos, Greece by boat. As they arrive in search of shelter, food and basic living essentials, our hope and prayer is that during their time with us on this island we can show them something of God’s love that will become a burning ember in their heart, that others can breathe upon while these travelers are on their journey. Our prayer at CRI is that they will feel a burning desire to seek out that which makes us different. That our love would be a tangible demonstration of the goodness of God.

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.  And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Deuteronomy 10:18-19

For some, it is happening in their first moments with us. For others, you may be the one encounter or your neighbor, which will tip the ember from glow to flame.

A Special note from the safe house staff in Kurdistan.

It feels really strange to think that it is Thanksgiving Day in America. Memories bring thoughts of tradition, family, turkey and all that goes with it. Although our team misses home we are so blessed to be here in Kurdistan.

Here at the House of Hope we see many girls and women who are thankful today. They are thankful they survived a “genocide” of their people just last year. They express gratitude of being “rescued” from the horrors of Isis, the torture of memories of seeing family killed or the torture of not knowing if their children, husbands, sisters and brothers are alive and what they are going through.