Tulsa ministry aids Kurds fleeing from Syria
By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer on Sep 11, 2013, at 2:27 AM Updated on 9/11/13 at 6:48 AM
The Rev. Terry Law, founder of World Compassion, a Tulsa ministry, hands out food to Kurdish refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war. Courtesy
Religion
Yom Kippur service. 11 a.m. Saturday, at Iglesia Oste Asamblea De Dios, 3615 W. 51st St., the new meeting place of Holiness to the Lord Congregation (Kodesh L' Adonai Kahal).
Mikey Weinstein, a controversial figure who has been called a champion for religious freedom by some and a notorious anti-Christian zealot by others, will speak Sept. 21 at a Tulsa Interfaith Alliance awards reception.
A Tulsa minister returned Sunday night from the Kurdistan Region, a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq, where he handed out food and other aid to Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war in their homeland.
The Rev. Terry Law said he was invited by the Kurdistan Regional Government, which is being overwhelmed by the need in the refugee camps, to get U.S. churches involved in helping with the crisis.
The invitation came because Law developed a relationship with the Kurdistan Regional Government prime minister and with the minister of the interior earlier this year when he worked with them to gain the release of a Kurdish Christian pastor from prison.
World leaders Tuesday continued to seek an agreement to put the Syrian regime's chemical weapons under the control of the international community, but even if an agreement is reached, it is not expected to quickly resolve the refugee crisis.
Law said it was unusual for a Muslim region to solicit help from western Christian churches.
"This is a huge opportunity if we can marshal the churches," he said. "I'll take pastors over. I'll introduce them to officials."
He said the Kurdistan government provided him security, and will do the same for others bringing aid to refugees.
"It's the safest place for anyone to join us to reach out and help Syrian refugees," he said.
Law said Arab Syrian refugees in huge numbers fleeing into Jordan and Lebanon are receiving media attention, but the 250,000 Kurdish refugees entering Kurdistan are not.
"No one knows they're there," he said. "They're asking me to let the world know about their refugee crisis."
Over the past two years, Law's World Compassion ministry has handed out about $250,000 in food in Kurdistan.
He said churches that want to get involved can sponsor a family of four for $100 a month that will provide them food and clothing in the refugee camps. For more information go to
tulsaworld.com/worldcompassion.
Law said he will return to Kurdistan in October, accompanied by a medical team from In His Image in Tulsa.
Bill Sherman 918-581-8398
bill.sherman@tulsaworld.com
Religion
Yom Kippur service. 11 a.m. Saturday, at Iglesia Oste Asamblea De Dios, 3615 W. 51st St., the new meeting place of Holiness to the Lord Congregation (Kodesh L' Adonai Kahal).
Mikey Weinstein, a controversial figure who has been called a champion for religious freedom by some and a notorious anti-Christian zealot by others, will speak Sept. 21 at a Tulsa Interfaith Alliance awards reception.
