Yazidi Nobel Peace Prize winner speaks out: Please, hear our pain

How do you begin to tell the world about suffering and abuse so dark, so deeply shocking that they could never comprehend it? How do you make them understand the trauma and fear you have lived, when you cannot even understand it yourself? How do explain what it is like to lose 18 members of your family to execution or enslavement by ISIS? How do you open up the most private and terrifying details of your life? How does a woman raised to be modest, go about uncovering the sexual abuse and rape she has endured – especially to a global audience?

It seems impossible and yet Nadia Murad decided she must … so that the atrocities the Yazidi people suffered would come to an end. She believed if her story was told on the world stage, there would be a response. Help would come. Healing might happen. The torture may stop. Nadia tells her story,

“so that one day we can look our abusers in the eye in a court … and tell the world what they have done to us. So my community can heal. So I can be the last girl to come before you.”

For her courage and determination to be a voice, Nadia has been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. This award acknowledges her bravery in the face of unthinkable abuse and hardship, but it does so much more than that. This Nobel Peace Prize speaks to all the Yazidi people who have suffered; it says, we see your trials, we recognise your great travail, we bear witness to what has happened to you.

Nadia was captured in August 2014 when ISIS attacked the Sinjar region. She was subjected to months of abuse as a sex slave before she escaped her torturers. On that day in August life changed forever for the Yazidi people living in her hometown of Kocho. Over 300 men were taken behind the local school and executed; the boys were taken away to be indoctrinated. Older women were also killed; young women and girls sold at slave markets. Four years later, thousands of Yazidi women and children are still missing.

Nadia suffered beyond what most human hearts and minds can bear. She was beaten, raped and imprisoned. She tried to escape and failed. For this she was savagely beaten and gang-raped by six militants until she became unconscious. “Every strand of hair on my head, every part of my body got old. I got worn out by what they did to me, and now I am totally different in every way. I never imagined that these things could happen, and I can’t really describe them in a way to make you understand,” she said.

Like many Yazidi people, she didn’t know what her fate would be from one moment to the next. She describes the waiting, the not-knowing: “Our hearts were constantly full of fear as we had no idea when they could come for us.”

Nadia escaped from ISIS but she continues to work to end rape and sexual assault in warfare.

“I will go back to my life when women in captivity go back to their lives, when my community has a place, when I see people accountable for their crimes,” she says.

In Toowoomba, Australia, a community of Yazidi people are endeavouring to rebuild their lives, trying to heal from the horror of the attacks against them and their safety. They work at making a new life in a new country where they are not always understood. Each day is a challenge as they seek to move past what has happened to them. But like Nadia, they are full of courage and hope that they can salvage their destinies from the ruins; they are determined to take back their dignity and their right to live in freedom and safety. We honour them.

Written by Tracey Heers

A Father's Worst Nightmare

It was bright and early when I got the phone call that the expansion to our Yezidi refugee camp in Rwandz was ready for the tents. We had a team staying with us from New York City - good friends from Times Square Church - and it didn't take much convincing to get the guys pumped for a bit of good ole' brute labor. 

Assembling the tents with the New York team

Buzzing from our morning coffee, the five of us loaded into the car and headed out to the camp - I had the feeling that today was going to be a good day!

We rolled into the camp around 9am with the sun already beating down on us with ferocious heat. Thankfully the heavy tent bags were already laid out on the ground evenly spaced in front of the concrete bathroom and kitchen facilities that had just been completed. A few minutes later a truck-load of Yezidi men and young boys showed up to lend a helping hand in putting up their new dwellings. This small camp was built to accommodate an additional ten larger Yezidi families that were not going to fit at our existing Yezidi camp in Rwandz. 

It didn't take long for a little cross-cultural confusion to ensue surrounding how best to put up the tents. The main culprit being the fact that we spoke hardly any of the unique Kurdish dialect that Yezidis use, and their English was practically non-existent. You could safely say that it was a great learning experience for the team of guys from New York. I like to see these situations as a wonderful opportunity to hone my "charades" skills and develop a little more patience. 

Much to our surprise things seemed to be going swimmingly when the Yezidi workforce took full control of the the tent assembly, leaving us with the opportunity to play a little soccer with the kids and take in the incredible scenery surrounding this camp. 

Tents going up the Rwandz Camp extension #RwandzCampExpansion

I decided to wander over to one of the older Yezidi men who seemed to be visibly upset - his eyes peering off into the nearby mountains, welling up with tears. I was not quite sure what to do and I knew I didn't have the vocabulary to really ask what was on his mind. So I did all that I could do, I stood there beside him and placed my arm around his shoulders and silently looked up towards the same mountains.

The first tears began to roll down his cheek and it took everything within me to keep from choking up. Suddenly, he steps back and starts pulling at his chest and waving his hands across his neck, motioning a slit throat that could only mean one thing in this part of the world. I could barely process the amount of heartache he was trying to express to me. All I could say was "I'm so sorry" in my broken Kurdish. 

Soon after, the work was complete. Ten new tents had been successfully put up, and the five of us had barely worked up a sweat - aside from the two guys that went off to play soccer with the Yezidi boys.

As we were saying our goodbyes I noticed that the elderly man was in our circle of conversation and so I asked my Kurdish friend to translate for me what the man was trying to convey to me just 30 minutes earlier.

The pain seemed to quickly reappear across the man's face as he explained again how ISIS had kidnapped more than a dozen women and young girls from their group whilst they were still at their home on Sinjar Mountain - wives, sisters, cousins and daughters. Just yesterday he got a call from the Iraqi city of Fallujah where a man belonging to ISIS offered the return of his daughter if he paid a ransom of $10,000. Again, his dramatic hand motions seemed to express more than his words ever could. It was a father's worse nightmare. 

What if he did come up with money, could he even be sure he would get his daughter back? And wasn't paying ransoms just another way of funding more terrorism and enabling ISIS to kidnap more women and children. I could barely even imagine what condition she would be in if he were to ever get his daughter back in his arms again. The stories of suicide, shame and mutilation of those who have managed to win their freedom from the hands of ISIS are enough to make your stomach churn. 

And as I stood there paralyzed in thought and emotion, my mind suddenly raced towards my own wife and children. What if it were my daughter, what would I, could I do to get her back. What shape would I be in emotional, physically, mentally. Something within me broke and I was overwhelmed with a sense of fear - as though I had just woken up from a nightmare, and yet I knew my family was at our home... safe. But for these Yezidi fathers, it was reality - the worst kind. 

I just couldn't look at these men the same anymore, these men who had just spent a few hours putting up a bunch of tents for their new home.

Now, almost a year later these Yezidi families are still in great need - broken apart and broken-hearted, hundreds of miles from their homeland. 

Opening Day at our new Refugee Camp for 40+ Yezidi families #RwandzCamp

Thankfully here in Rwandz Camp they are in a safe place, sheltered by the mountains that surround the ancient town of Rwandz, the once capital of the Soran Empire.

Through the efforts of The Refuge Initiative we have been able to provide 70+ Yezidi families with shelter, food, medicine, electricity and water. But we desire to give them so much more. Our goal is to provide these families with the care they need to bring healing into their lives and restore hope for a brighter, independent future. 

We all can make a difference, one family at a time. Just yesterday we began work an another small camp to accommodate a further 9 Yezidi families that are in desperate need of a place to live. Will you join us in praying for and supporting these Yezidi families? You can follow our efforts at The Refuge Initiative's Facebook page and make donations to the Iraq Emergency Fund here that directly funds our efforts to care for refugees and IDP's fleeing persecution. 

Tim & Sarah Buxton (Elliana, Charlie & Lily)

Kurdistan, Iraq

Beautiful, smiling girls at our first Yezidi camp in the Akoyan Valley #ProjectAkoyan

Want to Learn More about the Kurds and Kurdistan?

PHOTO: Iraqi Kurdistan is home for six million ethnic Kurds. (AFP: Safin Hamed)

Today, the eyes of the entire world are now looking at the semi-autonomous region known as Kurdistan. The Kurds here have long sought independence from Iraq and over the last few decades - and with a little help from the US and the West - they have proven that they are more than capable of managing their own affairs.

Their determination to become a self-governing, peaceful, prosperous and tolerant democracy is a reality that is garnering well deserved international attention. Their fight against the infamous IS terrorist advance is also proving to the world the courage of the Peshmerga (Kurdish Army) forces despite being out-gunned and under-resourced.

PHOTO: The modern Peshmerga evolved from the Kurdish guerrilla forces that spent decades fighting Saddam Hussein.(AFP: Karim Sahib)

Thankfully the US military is providing the Peshmerga with air-suport and intelligence giving them a fighting chance to secure and reinforce the Kurdistan region and remain the beacon of hope and freedom that seems all too rare here in the Middle East.

I stumbled across this article online from ABC News Australia... and I thought it was worth a read if you are interested in learning more about Kurdistan and the Iraqi Kurds.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-12/iraq-crisis-who-are-the-kurds/

Join with me in praying for the humanitarian crisis in Northern Iraq. Pray also for the Peshmerga as they battle the IS terrorists head on... they are truly critical to ensuring a secure Kurdistan region that can tend to the desperate needs of the millions of refugees/IDP's fleeing the violence.

Thanks for Journeying with us - Tim Buxton

The Early Morning Dash to Turkey

Crossing the Tigris River

Just want to update ya'll... we have made it safely to Turkey where we will be spending a few days. It was quite the mad dash to the border (over the Tigris River) by taxi... left at 3am and have now made it to our destination over 12hours later. We are exhausted but doing great. Just want to say thanks to everyone who has been praying for us and for the situation in Northern Iraq. Will update more in the coming days of our future plans/movements. Let's keep praying and do all we can to see things change in a big way.. especially for those in desperate need.

Love from Sarah, myself and the kiddies xoxox

This way to Turkey

Finally... a chance to get out of the car and stretch a little!

ISIS, IRAQ & IRBIL - An Update from the Buxton Family

Greetings to all our friends and family around the world...

Since waking up we have been inundated by emails and messages of concern surrounding the terrible situation taking place here in Northern Iraq. We are so grateful for all of you that care deeply about our safety and are praying for us and the ISIS threat.

As we read and watch the news today we are - and have been ever since our arrival - profoundly saddened by the suffering, persecution and brutality that ISIS have been inflicting on innocent civilians here in Northern Iraq.

We are heartened by the news that today the United States will be taking humanitarian action now, in addition to military air strikes against ISIS should they continue an advance towards the city of Erbil. 

This threat from ISIS is by no means a recent threat, it has been growing for quite some time now. Since controlling almost a third of Syria through their brutal jihadist campaign of killing and fear mongering they have now made significant gains in Iraq. 

As of today they have taken control of the key cities of Fallujah, Tikrit & Mosul. In the process, millions of Iraqi & Syrian civilians have fled from their advance, the vast majority have taken refuge in the Kurdistan region of Iraq where we live. 

Today ISIS and their absolute barbaric assault on Christian and Yezhidi minorities is making headlines. Their strict enforcement of Sharia law and the forced conversion of non-Muslims - or face certain death by execution - is filling up my Facebook feed, and quite possibly yours too.

It is just sickening to read all the reports, we just want ISIS and their jihadist advance to end. What is happening right now is nothing short of evil in every sense of the word.

As a family we have been watching things closely ever since we arrived here in Northern Iraq. In fact, we landed the very same day that Mosul fell to ISIS fighters, just 30 miles from the city of Erbil. 

We live in the North-eastern town of Soran, which is a 2+ hour drive from Erbil. Their are three mountain ranges and several army checkpoints that separate us from Erbil city. 

We feel safe here in Soran, but I must say we do have concerns about traveling to Erbil until we get a better idea on what things are really like from a security standpoint.

In fact we were in Erbil just 2 days ago buying food and supplies, but didn't really notice anything abnormal.. no obvious panic, but we being foreigners probably wouldn't be the first to pick up on anything. 

We have been in constant communication with our co-oworkers about possible evacuation paths, most likely through Turkey. We are assuming that flights from Erbil - which have been on & off lately - would not be a safe or an easy option as any threat would most likely come from the Erbil direction.

We certainly have our finger on the pulse here and are getting ready to do whatever is necessary should things get worse. We have been following news stories and get daily reports and inside information from our Kurdish friends who have family members fighting with the Kurdish Army (Peshmerga). 

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Kurdish Army with President of Kurdistan - Barzani

Advance into Kurdistan by ISIS would be a potential game changer, as the Peshmerga has provided the only real opposition towards the ISIS fighters. The Peshmerga are a considerably large and brave army, but they still lack important weapons and resources and do not have an air force. Support from the US is therefore critical in enabling the Kurdish Army to hold back and defeat ISIS.

Like you, we are waiting to see what impact the US & Kurdish forces are able to have on this terrorizing ISIS advance. Whilst we will be making necessary decisions to evacuate should we feel in any way threatened by ISIS, right now we are considering ways that we can respond to the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding.  

Because of the relative distance & difficulty in getting to our town, Soran, we have only seen a small number of refugees here, but, many more are sure to make their way here. There are also hundreds of Kurdish families welcoming relatives into their homes here, having fled from Mosul and surrounding areas. 

Until we feel that it is unsafe for us to remain here in Northern Iraq we are looking and seeking God for ways that we can help. 

• Please pray for the displaced, persecuted and suffering people of Iraq & Syria.
• Please pray that we would be able to provide meaningful support and care for those that have been displaced by ISIS. 
• Pray also for the brave Kurdish Army, many of whom are our neighbors, retired and elderly Peshmerga or just ordinary civilians taking up arms. I’ll never forget driving down the road and seeing the kind man who had installed our window screens just days earlier, now dressed in army clothing and waiting to get picked up and taken to the front lines to fight.
• Pray for the world leaders to take the necessary action to avert continued suffering and mass killings. Entire people groups (both religious and cultural minorities) and the lives of innocent people are at risk right now. I can’t think of a more effective way forward than for US and other world powers to support the Kurdish government and their efforts. 

We firmly believe that God deeply cares and that He has all sovereign power to bring peace and justice. We ultimately look for Him to intervene. 

Would you join us as we pray and respond? 

Tim & Sarah Buxton

But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.  (Amos 5:24)