Abouna Khalil Jaar has created a safe home with his Messengers of Peace initiative in his parish in Marka, Jordan

When she was last in Amman, Margaret Waddingham, Chairman of CNT, visited two Iraqi Refugee Schools with lessons held in the afternoons in the LPJ schools at Marka and Hashemi after lessons for Jordanians had ended.

About 12,000 Iraqi Christians fled from ISIS to nearby Jordan in 2014. They are being sheltered in Jordanian parishes. As refugees, they are excluded from state education and health care and they are not allowed to work. They receive little international aid. Fluency in English helps with visa applications for better lives in Australia and Canada.

The LPJ schools offered their buildings to provide these most deserving Iraqi children with an education and a safe place in which to recover from the trauma of their flight from their homeland. Some of their teachers have attended CNT-funded training sessions and CNT promises to continue to help.

Fr Khalil, Bernard and Margaret join the afternoon assembly at Marka, Jordan

In March, CNT trustees, filled with admiration for the support Abouna Khalil has provided for these families, decided to donate to his projects the funds allocated to the cancelled Ramallah Project. We realised that COVID-19 would make the dire situation for these refugee children even worse. 

Abouna Khalil was overwhelmed when he was informed and said:

‘This donation from Cambridge Nazareth Trust for us is a sign from the LORD for HE IS TAKING CARE FOR HIS CHILDREN.’

The disruption caused by the pandemic delayed the delivery of this donation to Abouna Khalil. Paperwork for an International bank transfer did not get through and, eventually, an old-fashioned cheque for £5,500 was received by Fr Khalil. On 14th July, we received the following message by e-mail:

‘We received the cheque and we deposited it in our Bank account of the Messengers of Peace NGO. We hope that in a couple of days we can have the money.

Meanwhile, I would like to thank you so much for your attention and care to our needy families. Especially, in this time of COVID-19. Many families lost their jobs and their income during these sad days of Corona. Most of them are suffering and struggling to survive to cover their basic needs.

I promise you to use your help in the strictest conditions for the needy families and pupils and I will send you back a detailed financial report with photos.

On my behalf and on behalf of all our needy families, I thank you so much.

We keep you in our daily prayer.’

Fr. Khalil JAAR
Parish Priest
Marka Amman, Jordan

 

The photos below were sent to us from Fr Khalil, showing their latest distribution of food vouchers to refugees and vulnerable Jordanian families. He invited Bishop William Shomali, Bishop in Jordan, to assist at this distribution.  He was touched and very grateful to CNT, knowing that the people had suffered a lot during the pandemic. 

 Fr Khalil again thanked all the donors for their generosity and gave assurance of his continued daily prayers. 

 

Fr Khalil is back left and Bishop William has a mask

Distribution inside the church at Marka