Kurdish Christians - Contemporary Kurdish Christians

Contemporary Kurdish Christians

In recent years many Kurds from Muslim background have converted to Christianity. After the Gulf War in 1991, Christian agencies offered help to Kurdish refugees, who were amazed that the assistance came from Christians.

The Kurdish-Speaking Church of Christ (The Kurdzman Church of Christ) was established in Hewlêr (Arbil) by the end of 2000, and has branches in the Silêmanî, Duhok governorates. This is the first evangelical Kurdish church in Iraq. Its logo is formed of a yellow sun and a cross rising up behind a mountain range. Kurdzman Church of Christ held its first three-day conference in Ainkawa north of Arbil in 2005 with the participation of 300 new Kurdish converts.

In Turkey, Christianity has attracted a number of converts both among Kurds and Turks in the past decade. In Iraqi Kurdistan, several evangelical groups have been formed. While in some cases they have faced intolerance by extremist Muslims, their activities are largely tolerated by the Regional Government of Kurdistan (KRG) out of a desire to remain democratic. Since 2001, Servant Group International has established three English-language Christian schools titled Classical School of the Medes in Iraqi Kurdistan. By 2005 three campuses in Sulaimaniya, Irbil and Dohuk with a total enrolment of 700 students, were operational. Kurdistan Regional Government has recently awarded legal status and an official permit to the Bible Society to open a branch in the region. Kurdish converts to Christianity began to discuss petitioning KRG for the right to change the religious status on their ID cards in 2007.