Tears were shed at a small church in Iraq as a group of Chaldean catholics returned to their Parish sunday church to find it destroyed. The statue of the Virgin Mary had been decapitated by the Islamic State Militants. The pray benches were burnt to a crisp. As They tried to preach in the shambles, glass shattered underneath their feet. Keramlis, a christian town on Nineveh plains in northern Iraq, fell is IS in August 2014, two months after the extremist group took over the city Mosul. The city was liberated three weeks ago, only to find homes have been destroyed. Many residents of Keramlis are living in camps in Iraq’s Kurdish region. Hundreds of others are fleeing to other countries in hopes for a normal life. This is these people’s everyday life. While the students of Holt were off having a fun filled four day weekend, people of the middle east fled the country just to survive. Next time life is going good, remember the people of the middle east and send a prayer, or a good thought. There is so much struggle in the world, yet there are plenty of ways you can help those in need. Here are some of the few that can help the Iraq crisis:

Convoy of Hope- https://www.convoyofhope.org/

American Red Cross- http://www.redcross.org/

American Refugee Committee-http://arcrelief.org/

International Rescue Committee-https://www.rescue.org/