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Christians by the tens of thousands are among the 2 million Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria. It is one of the great unintended consequences of the war in Iraq that the U.S., a Christian-majority nation, led its military forces to liberate a Muslim nation, leading to a dramatic drop in religious freedom for this nation's Christian minority.

How best can American evangelicals respond to this historic decline of Christianity? There is more we can do besides purchase an olive wood nativity made in Bethlehem by Christian woodcarvers, although that's not a bad place to start.

Partnerships with local churches, schools, and ministries in the Middle East are possible. Christians of the Middle East don't ask for us to resolve all of their political differences. But they do have a legitimate and deep longing to be better recognized by the global Christian community—especially evangelicals.

One immediate need is for principled advocacy for Iraq's Christian refugees, who, if they remain in the country, might literally be murdered. The U.S. can and should resettle many more Iraqi refugees here. After all, one of the few places on earth where Aramaic is still spoken is Iraq. Aramaic? That's the language Jesus spoke.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Christianity Today's coverage of the Middle East's traditional Christian communities includes:

What Iraq's Christians Need | Two strategies to build up the church in the war-weary nation. A Christianity Today editorial. (January 22, 2007)

Fleeing Nineveh | Threatened by persistent violence, Assyrian Christians in Iraq want to govern themselves. (December, 18, 2006)

Daring to Dream Again | Chaldean Christians connect with other believers. (August 1, 2003)

Reflections from a Messianic Jew in Israel | When questions are too hard to answer, we must still be about our Father's business. (August 31, 2006)

The Christian Message in Lebanon | Journalist Rami Khouri on how the church can foster peace in a troubled region. (August 24, 2007)

A Precarious Calm | A year after the July 2006 war, Lebanon's Christians face a murky future. (June 25, 2007)

The Colors of Lebanon | What would real peace mean? (February 7, 2007)

The 'Jesus Manifesto' for Lebanon | Rebuilding the soul of a shattered nation on the brink of civil war. (February 7, 2007)

Orthodox Unity … | Autonomous Orthodoxy isn't an oxymoron. It's the fulfillment of a different kind of American dream. (July 1, 2004)

Q&A: Karekin II | The leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II visited the U.S. in October to support a resolution condemning Turkey's 1915-1917 Armenian genocide. (November 26, 2007)

Death Watch | One of the world's earliest Christian cultures totters on the edge of extinction. (January 1, 2003)

Aikman's Global Prognosis columns are available on our site.

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December 2007, Vol. 51, No. 12