It is expected that most Christians will wait for the Nineveh plain to be safe and 'IS-free' before returning. This now seems likely to be a matter of months, not weeks. Mission agencies are monitoring the situation and are planning how to support displaced people to return home once it is safe. The following is the prayer of Martin, from the Nineveh plains: ‘O Lord, we trust You, who calmed the storm. We pray and demand - liberate Mosul, liberate Nineveh plain. We want to go back.’ Prayer requests from Iraq are for the forces of darkness to be defeated and for justice to be done, for Christian soldiers joining the battle, for the protection of Christians known to be living secretly in IS-held territories, and for pastors and church leaders in Iraq to be living examples of Christ's presence among His people. Stop press: 50,000 Iraqi Christians will pray and commit their nation to God at a major gathering in Erbil tomorrow. See