Keith & Gloria Brooks

Keith & Gloria Brooks

Hey there, thanks for taking the time to read this. If you want the whole story just keep reading. If you want the just the details on financial support skip down to that heading.

Three words that hardly ever go together: Syrian. Kurdish. Christian. Gloria is a bit of a unicorn. Rare and endangered. Syrian Kurds have no country. No flag. No government. No embassy. No representation. No president or senator. No Land. The region Kurds live in is split between multiple countries who all resent or despise them and are actively killing them. Now imagine adding on to this hatred her faith as a Christian and the level of persecution is only amplified. For Gloria to be deported or forced to go back to Syria is the greatest threat of all. This above all cannot happen because she may not ever get out.

Their love story is a great one but has to wait for another day to be told. But suffice to say that they have more fun news because Gloria is now pregnant. That's all fun news. But where the story takes a turn for the worse is that Turkey just decided in August to agressively start rounding up Syrian Kurds and exporting them back to Syria. Syrian Kurds are now hiding in their apartments afraid to go out because they might get arrested and deported. It's a desperate situation. On top of that Keith's visa in Turkey required him to leave mid-September. The number one priority was not to leave Gloria alone especially with the threat of being deported. That priority forced their hand. They had to leave Turkey.

But that priority to leave has thrown their lives up in the air. Turkey has told Gloria she is no longer welcome back. She has a Syrian passport. Syrian Kurds are not welcomed in most of the world. In fact they have to just get a visa even to be in an airport and get off the plane (transit visa - it's a thing). So they tried to go to England and bought airline tickets then were forced to cancel but didn't get refunded. Then they bought tickets to go to Bolivia because the government website and other agencies said they accept Syrian passports. They got to Bolivia only to have Bolivia customs say "We don't accept Syrians." So they were forced essentially at gunpoint to fly all the way back to Dubai. They lost all that money spent on airline tickets and also all that time off of work. They were forced to even pay for the tickets to return back to Dubai even though Boliva was in the wrong, which multiple agencies confirmed that it was not Keith and Gloria's fault (such is the life of a refugee).

Right now, thanks to Ty Masterson from Kansas, his office got us hooked with a gal who works with refugees and they have filed for emergency refugee status. That could happen quickly but at this point we're not making plans based on that. They have ruled out S. Africa and Dominica to stay. They have been looking at possibly staying in Dubai or the possibility of Barbados. What we're finding is how critical it is to get legal help (it's all about what you know and working the system) or political help(it's not what you know but who you know).

So here's what they need. First. pray. Lots and lots of prayer. This is "Act of God" kind of prayer to just open doors.

FINANCIAL HELP

Second, financial help. Keith can work online but working, as we all know, is incredibly difficult when our entire life is in chaos. So the income has been tight and minimal over the past month. On top of that they have lost quite a bit of money in airline tickets and fees and living out of suitcases. They still face future travel bills, legal bills, and then medical bills as she can't qualify for insurance because of her status as a Syrian Kurd and most providers don't care if they have a marriage certificate or not. This whole endeavor could hit $40,000. And this could all hit in less than 6 months. Any help you all could offer to Keith and Gloria would be a huge gift of encouragement. All funds will go towards their expenses.

It's been a pretty crushing journey but even in the worst moments they keep living by faith. Choosing to love and not hate. Choosing grace not revenge. So while they are hard pressed on every side, they're not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. In each of these moments Jesus is giving them life and grace.