Mosul, the capital of Ninawa Governorate, is Iraq’s secondlargest city. The population has traditionally consisted of Kurds and a significant minority of Christian Arabs. After much ethnic conflict, the city fell to the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in June 2014. In 2017, Iraqi and Kurdish forces finally pushed out the Sunni insurgents. Since then, efforts have been made to restore the war-torn region.
Tradition says that the prophet Jonah established a church in what is now Mosul, though this is just speculation. Nineveh was on the east bank of the Tigris river in ancient Assyria, and Mosul is on the west bank. Nebi Yunis is revered as the traditional tomb of Jonah, but it was destroyed by ISIL in July 2014.
Today only a few dozen Christian families have returned to Mosul since it was recaptured in 2017. New teams of Jesusfollowing church planters from other parts of the Middle East are now entering Mosul and sharing the good news with this recovering city.