Left to right: Lawrie Kyle, Ken Fanstone, Five Members of the Yazidi Community, Brenda Tjaden and Laurie Peper (photo taken by Hans Peper)
The Yazidi people are an ethnic and religious minority in the Middle East, with their largest population concentrated in Northern Iraq. Yazidis are Kurmanji-speaking and practice a monotheistic religion that reflects a spectrum of teachings and beliefs from various other religions including Gnostic Christianity, Judaism, Sufi Islam, and Zoroastrianism. Yazidism is considered by its adherents to be the oldest religion in the world and the first true monotheistic faith. The Yazidi calendar goes back 7000 years.
They believe that they descended solely from Adam, that angels guard the world, that reincarnation is possible, and that there is no distinction between heaven and hell. Because these beliefs vary significantly from other religions, the Yazidis have been targeted throughout history and persecuted by Muslim rulers in the region who demanded that they convert to Islam.
Yazidis have been labelled “devil worshipers” and “infidels”. These labels have, for centuries, served as the foundation of efforts to destroy Yazidi communities. Over the course of their history, the Yazidis have suffered and survived 74 separate and identified genocidal attacks.
The latest genocide was committed under the recent period of terror by the Islamic State, or Isis, from 2014 to 2019. Relentless brutal killings of men, the elderly and children took place, and abductions of the girls and women.
Today it is estimated that there are 1-1.5 million people left of this faith, with close to half of them living outside their traditional middle Eastern territory, spread all over the world, forced so by them fleeing for safety.
Operation Ezra was launched in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in March 2015. Initially formed between Winnipeg’s Jewish and Yazidi communities but quickly transformed into a Jewish Community-led coalition of multifaith organizations, charities and businesses.
Through the advocacy efforts of Operation Ezra and other organizations the Canadian government agreed in 2017 to resettle 1,200 Yazidi refugees. A large percentage of those who escaped Iraq and arrived in Winnipeg are single women, many of them young and with multiple children to care for.
Special programs were started in Winnipeg to help settle and heal this new community of approx. 400 people. A Healing Farm of 10 acres was established in 2018 through donations of volunteers, with produce helping to feed the Yazidi community, and to be sold on farmers’ markets.
Here is where our OBUC member Brenda Tjaden met and developed a relationship with their community. Recent new developments include feeding the local Yazidi community with their traditional goat meat, ritually butchered by their own butchers.
As there is a shortage of meat like this, Brenda approached Laurie Peper of OBUC, and together they requested OBUC to donate some goats to the Yazidi community.
With the approval 10 days ago of the OBUC Board to donate $650 from the Vision Fund, two goats have been donated. The meat has already been processed and distributed amongst the local Winnipeg community.
They are extremely thankful for this donation and the general support that our congregation has shown to them.
Another moment to be very proud of our mission that we live out at Oak Bank United Church.