In the 6th century AD a great plague hits the Assyrians in north Mesopotamia (present day north Iraq). Assyrians are Christians at this time, and have been so since 33 AD, when Thomas converted them only four months after the Crucifixion. Assyrians were the first converts to Christianity outside of the Apostles and Disciples.

Prayers are offered to God to help with the plague. The Assyrian church, recalling Jonah's visit to Assyria almost exactly 1000 years earlier, asks Assyrians to hold a fast for salvation, and the Assyrian do, and the plague subsides. Thus began Jonah's fast.

The Rogation of the Ninevites, as it is known, is observed by all Assyrian church denominations as well as most other Eastern churches (Maronite, Ethiopian, Coptic, Eritrean). It is a three day fast, from February 14 to 16, where no food or drink is consumed. In Assyrian tradition, on the third night, just before going to sleep, young men and woman eat a handful of parched barley and salt (called pokhoon). If the man or woman dreams of a person offering them water that will be the person they may possibly marry.

In the 21st century a different kind of plague has hit the Assyrians: genocide -- a relentless campaign to exterminate the Assyrians (report), and all other Christians, from the Middle East. It has recently begun again in Iraq with the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, but it has been ongoing since the advent of Islam in 630 AD.

Thirty genocides, large and small, have been committed against Assyrians by Muslims since 630 AD (see here). The Turkish genocide of Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks in World War One claimed the lives of 750,000 Assyrians (75%), as well as 1.5 million Armenians and 500,000 Greeks.

We can calculate the average time between genocides committed against Assyrians in the interval 661 AD to 1992 AD, and that is (1992-661)/30=45 years. Every 45 years on average there has been genocide against Assyrians by Muslims. It is even worse in the modern period. From 1842 to 1992 there were 13 genocides; the average interval for that period is (1992-1842)/13=11.5 years.

What should Christians do about this continuing holocaust? How should the Christian world address the immediate problem of Assyrians in Iraq today?

58 Catholic Assyrians were massacred On October 31 in Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac Catholic church in Baghdad. This was the latest incident. A genocide has been ongoing in Iraq since June 26, 2004, when the first church was bombed. 66 churches have been bombed since then, and thousands of Assyrians killed. Nearly 50% of Assyrians have fled to Syria and Jordan (report).