Friday, November 21, Evangelical relief agencies said they will stay despite ongoing violence that already saw a reduction of Red Cross and United Nations staff.
The announcement came on a day that 8 rockets fired from donkey carts hit the Ministry while soon after six other rockets slammed into the Sheraton and Palestine hotels, where many foreign journalists and diplomats used to stay.
There were reports of only a few injuries as most people did not yet visited the nearby breakfast facilities in the hotel. Coalition forces raided the Sheraton and other locations in search for the attackers and apparently carried one wounded suspect with them, television footage showed.
Separately, the U.S. military reported that another American soldier from the 4th Infantry Division had been killed in an explosion north of Baghdad on Thursday, Nov 20, but details of the incident were not immediately released, news reports said.
COMBAT ACTIVITY
But an official of the Evangelical relief organization Food for the Hungry said the recent combat activity will not stop their projects. "Food for the Hungry is known for going to the hard places. And, as long as we are assured that our staff or our partners will be safe we will continue to go to these places," said representative Tamara Dutch in an interview with Mission Network News (MNN), a Christian broadcaster.
Dutch added that working with local churches gives believers credibility, opening doors to share their faith. "We have distributed to families in both Baghdad and Mosul. (In) Baghdad Food for the Hungry and its partners have helped a little over 1,000 families (and) 1,000 families also in Mosul," the troubled northern Iraqi town.
Baptist and other organizations have also made clear they will continue with relief efforts at a time when church leaders report a hunger for both the Gospel of Christ and aid in the war town nation.
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Donations for Food for the Hungry can be made on website: http://www.fh.org or in the U.S. call 800-2-hunger.