Stream readers know that Christians in the Middle East are the victims of the worst religious persecution on earth. As Jonathan Witt documented here, the UN’s failure to make refugee camps safe is allowing intolerant Sunni Muslims — who share a creed with ISIS — to violently “cleanse” such camps of Christians. These helpless, unarmed survivors of ISIS’s murder squads cannot even reach the “first safe” countries that could welcome them, and instead live in windblown tents and unheated metal storage containers in places like Mt. Sinjar, just miles away from ISIS-controlled territory. More than a million Christians were driven at gunpoint from Iraq during the U.S. occupation of that country, and now the Obama administration is banning Iraqi Christians from even visiting America, and explicitly excluding Christians as  victims of ISIS’s genocide.

But we as private citizens and fellow believers have the right, and the call, to help these abandoned Christians. There are non-profit organizations funneling aid to Middle Eastern Christians, and advocating on their behalf. I asked Juliana Taimaroozy, President of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council (and Stream contributor) for guidance about where and how to give. Her organization has created a beautiful Advent Calendar that goes through the days leading up to Christmas, each day highlighting a group of Christians in need, an incident of anti-Christian violence, or an activist who is helping them. There is one for each day up through Christmas Eve. Here is a list of groups which are making a difference on the ground for Middle Eastern Christians, along with descriptions of their missions adapted from their websites:

• The Iraqi Christian Relief Council helps Christians from Iraq, Syria and other parts of the Middle East. Founded by Juliana Taimaroozy, it exists to support and protect the indigenous people of Iraq, the Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs), by providing emergency humanitarian aid, prayer support, advocacy and education. ICRC has helped thousands of displaced Christians throughout Iraq with food, shelter and medicine. Today, through its activism and media appearances on FoxNews, NewsMax and several Christian radio programs, ICRC tirelessly promotes the cause of Assyrian Christians throughout the world. Current projects include a drive to provide electric heaters, cooking oil and modest Christmas presents to the abandoned Christians of Iraq and Syria.
• Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Over 3.2 million Iraqis have been displaced since January 2014 — the majority were forced to flee in the wake of ISIS advances. Many escaped with little but the clothes on their backs. As ISIS fighters remain in control of large swaths of their country, families are seeking refuge in tent camps and unfinished buildings, relying on the generosity and hospitality of local Christian hosts and international support. Samaritan’s Purse staff in northern Iraq have been helping these suffering families for over a year by supplying food, shelter, clean water, winter clothes, and more. It also supports local ministry partners throughout the region as they provide physical relief in Jesus’ Name.
• Aid to the Church in Need was born out of the ashes of World War II in 1947 when a young Norbertine priest named Father Werenfried van Straaten — whose name means “Warrior for Peace” — set out to meet the material and spiritual needs of homeless and dispossessed victims of the war. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, as Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe collapsed, ACN worked to bring relief to the suffering in Eastern Europe. In the early years of strife in the 21^st century, ACN outreach has extended to the victims of conflict in Rwanda, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African nations. Since 2008, in the Middle East, ACN has worked to counter the persecution and killing of Catholics (especially clergy and nuns) by Islamic fundamentalists, and is reaching out to the millions of displaced persons in Iraq, and other countries in the region.
• The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, was founded by Anglican Canon Andrew White, who was dubbed by media the “Vicar of Baghdad” for his years of courageous service as a pastor and leader to the besieged Christians of that city. In just one of its projects, the Foundation has helped turn a former British military base into a new home for internally displaced Iraqi Christians. Tents that were once used by the British Army at Camp Bastian in Afghanistan will now provide winter shelter for approximately 600 Iraqi men, women and children, many of whom were forced to flee their homes by Islamic State militants. It is estimated that approximately 200,000 Iraqi Christians fled their homes last summer, escaping to the relative safety of north east Iraq. However, the vast majority have no proper shelter, regular food, or access to medical care. FRRME’s team on the ground, led by Dr Sarah Ahmed, has been providing vital relief for many of these people. The new camp, which is near Semele in the Dohuk region of Iraq, has been named ‘Sawra Village’ (Sawra means ‘Hope’ in Assyrian) and will comprise of 26 heated tents, three diesel generators, washing machines, showers, toilets, and a tent which will be used as a church.