Without food, clean water or shelter, some, including children, die of exhaustion and hunger. When one family fled a village during a shelling, the children watched as their aged grandparents, unable to flee, were left behind to perish. One father, escaping through the mountains at night while carrying his two children, stumbled in the darkness and dropped one child down a cliff to his death. But the father had to keep moving. There was no time for him to stop and recover his son's body.
Eyewitnesses report the maiming of children.
Gouging out their eyes and cutting off limbs is a means of intimidating families to vacate their homes and villages. As Christians, we feel a deep sense of responsibility to minister to these hurting people, all of whom are Muslim. We must show them that God is not a God of cruelty, evil and hatred, but of love, compassion and mercy. Missionaries are helping refugee families by supplying food, clothing, bedding and basic household items. Many have only the clothes on their backs.