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From Iraq: The Last Christian in Town

The New York Times told the story of an Iraqi town where its last Christian still cares for the abandoned church building each morning. The man, Romel Hawal, was born nearly 50 years ago when his town in Anbar Province was still predominantly Christian, but today his 11-year-old son does not remember attending a church service. Christians and Muslims once lived in harmony in the neighborhood, with the air ringing with church bells every morning and other bells reminding Muslims to pray five times per day. As the province has become a stronghold for Al Qaeda and other Sunni extremists, Christians have already left Iraq and the Middle East because of terrorist threats against them and their churches. But even the newest Shiite mosques cannot find an imam because of similar threats against Shiites, including a bombing that destroyed a mosque in the neighborhood five years ago. Hawal now laments the loss of his former neighbors, the church services at the holidays, and the beautiful gardens next to the churches, now replaced with mounds of garbage. “I can still smell my friends and family here. Many friends now say I should leave…but I can’t leave the church.” Speaking of his son, Hawal says, “Whenever I look at him, my heart breaks. I just want him to live a normal life where he can practice the Christian traditions.” The mayor of the decimated town mourned, “I would give my life for the life that used to be here to come back.”