Father Gabriel Naddaf, one of the organizers of the new Emergency Mission for Christians in the Middle East, addresses Christian IDF soldiers in December 2014. Photo: Maor X via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org –  Israeli Christians leaders have a launched a new group called the Emergency Mission for Christians in the Middle East to take action on behalf of persecuted Christians in that region.

“It is a dark time in the Middle East… extreme Islamist ideology has taken hold in the Middle East and is on a mission to destroy our Christian history, culture and identity,” said Father Gabriel Naddaf, chairman of the Christian Empowerment Council and one of the new group’s organizers.

“We must act to help, showing our love and care for our Christian sisters and brothers in the Middle East,” Naddaf added.

According to Naddaf, the group is relying on donations to provide “immediate aid to persecuted and victimized Christians across the Middle East.”

This will include medical aid kits, humanitarian supplies, food, survival equipment, training for volunteers, summer camps for refugees’ children, and a medical care truck in Iraq.

The group will work together with the Israeli aid organization Rescuers Without Borders, which was founded in 2005 “to provide assistance to the local population in Israel and the Palestinian territories.” Rescuers Without Borders has since expanded to “save and improve” lives across the world utilizing hundreds of rescuers, EMTs, doctors, nurses, psychologists, and ophthalmologists across 12 international hubs.

“It’s our duty to help the survival of Christianity in such a dark time in the Middle East. Each donation counts, no matter how small, to help those who are suffering and to help save lives,” Naddaf said.