Brutal Winter Looms for Iraq Refugees, Until...

IRAQI KURDISTAN -- Unlike last Christmas, many Iraqi Christians say they're finding little to celebrate this year.

Despite recent military gains against the Islamic State, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi believers, ethnic Yazidis and others are still residing in temporary shelters since fleeing ISIS atrocities last summer.

Many are now receiving food and clothing, but their needs are changing as winter sets in.

"This last summer when we were here in August and September, we were really looking at providing water. Most importantly it was to keep people hydrated because it was hot, days of 120 degrees," CBN Disaster Relief staffer Brian Scott said.

How You Can Help
Give to CBN Disaster Relief

"The real big challenge is having physical comfort," he continued. "Our goal here is to provide ample winterization products that they need."

So what better time than Christmas to come bearing gifts.

"Hello! We are so happy to be here with you," CBN Director Ron Oates told a group of refugees. "We are Christians from the United States and we have just come to show you God's love."

Not only are Iraqi Christians and Yazidis in desperate need of help this Christmas, but Syrian refugees from the city of Kobani need help as well. The women say their husbands are away fighting a life and death struggle against ISIS.

These women recently arrived in Erbil with their children. One 24-year-old asked CBN to pray for her husband, who stayed behind in Kobani to fight the Islamic terrorists.

"Please pray for him so he'll come and join his family," she said.

To keep them warm, CBN provided the Kobani families with carpets to cover cold and drafty floors. Their children received gloves and heavy woolen blankets and pillows.

Each family was also given a gas tank and heater, along with a portable cooking stove.

"Thank you so very, very much," one Kurdish man and his wife said. "No one has done anything for us. You are the first."

Some displaced Iraqis told us they needed powdered milk and diapers for their children. CBN provided those necessities in partnership with the Barzani Charitable Trust Foundation.

"Just because the fighting is not presently close to this area doesn't mean that people aren't fighting for their lives. They are fighting for their lives for warmth, they're fighting for their lives for sustenance, they're fighting for their lives with medical needs on a daily basis. CBN is here for the long haul," Scott said.

"CBN is not just here to take care of the physical needs of the people, although that's very important. We're here to take care of the spiritual needs," Oates added.

The Yazidis warmly welcomed Oates.

"They were willing to listen to us -- our personal witnessing and our personal testimony, and we felt they were open to listening to the Gospel," Oates said. "We want to foretell the Word of God and demonstrate in tangible ways how God can meet the needs of people."

CBN is meeting the material needs of thousands of beleaguered Iraqis, Yazidis, and Syrians, but it is also bringing them the greatest Christmas gift. The reason for the season -- word of a baby born in a manger, a loving Messiah who offers them eternal hope and life.