On Dec. 6, Colorado Christian University premiered a documentary film called Our Last Stand, which recounts the journey of Helma Adde and other Syrian-American women who traveled to Iraq and Syria to spread the news of the dire situation in the Middle Eastern Christian communities, which are threatened daily by the civil war of ISIS.
The screening coincided with the launch of the Denver chapter of In Defense of Christians (IDC), an advocacy group based in Washington D.C. that works to raise awareness and build support for the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
The film opens with Helma visiting some of the refugee camps where Christians flock to, forced to flee from their homes due to the attacks of ISIS.
During the film, the different stories portrayed move the viewer and give inspiration and hope—such as that of the members of the local military forces that help to defend and take back the villages located in the plains of Niniveh, Hasaka, Siria, and Qamishli in north of Syria.
The main purpose of the documentary is to “educate the Christians and non-Christians – especially in United States – to learn more about the Christian communities in that part of the world, to let them know how they live and the role that they play in those communities and being a voice to the persecuted Christians,” Our Last Stand director Jordan Allot said.
Many college students turned up to see the film. After watching the documentary, many said they feel motivated to contribute in one way or another to the aid of persecuted Christians.
“This documentary film has a lot of power. I knew this happened [in the Middle East], but I did not know this situation thoroughly,” said Lexi Gray, a freshman in college. “The power to be well-informed will lead us to the correct way to help those people.”
Another college freshman, Resee Simpson, said, “We, as Christians and human beings in general, should be worried about these things, no matter their religion. They have the right to live without oppression by other human beings.”
Kirsten Evans, executive director of In Defense of Christians, spoke about different ways in which ordinary people could take part of this fight. She broke it down into four main steps.
“Educate ourselves, educate others about the situation of the persecuted Christians, plead for them, build projects to show solidarity with the cause, and if it is possible, contact your state representatives to see what they are doing about it,” Evans said.
Our Last Stand
For more information about the documentary, visit ourlaststandfilm.com
In Defense of Christians (IDC)
IDC was founded in 2014 in Washington D.C. with the mission to ensure the protection and preservation of Christianity and Christian culture in the Middle East. IDC pursues a grassroots mobilization of the Diaspora communities around the world in unity with other concerned Christian communities and all people of good will toward this end. They work to foster global awareness of the on-going plight of Middle Eastern Christians, encourage political advocacy in order to educate national and international policy makers so as to act toward this goal, and promote programs of humanitarian aid in solidarity with suffering Christian communities in the Middle East. IDC is an American-based 501c3 non-profit organization. For more information, visit indefenseofchristians.org.
