Young Iraqi Christians organize markets to pay for WYD trip
Baghdad, 04 May 2013: The do-it-yourself market organized by young Iraqi Christians
at the Chaldean Church of St. Joseph in Baghdad, was inaugurated this week to raise
funds to support the expenses of the trip to Rio de Janeiro, where they themselves
will attend at the end of July to participate in the next World Youth Day. The original
fund-raising initiative lasts for a few days and could represent a pilot project to
be re-launched in other churches scattered throughout the Country. On the pavilions
of the small fair, which saw right from the beginning a strong turnout of buyers,
one can find groceries, clothes, electronic products. Economic difficulties, hardships
and sufferings that mark the life of the Christian communities in Iraq make the desire
of young people baptized concrete and live a joyful experience of prayer and encounter
with Pope Francis and with new friends from all over the world. Raising funds through
the market has seen the involvement and participation of young Christians belonging
to different denominations, who thus have testified in a simple and concrete manner
their unity as disciples of Jesus Christ. According to the data supplied by Ankawa,
it is expected that the World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro will be attended by at least
170 young Iraqi Christians from the provinces of Baghdad, Kirkuk and Dohuk. Source:
Zenit