"Son of God" creators Mark Burnett and Roma Downey are taking bold steps to help Iraqi and Syrian Christians persecuted by the Islamic State.
The couple recently announced that they have partnered with the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) to launch the Cradle of Christianity Fund – an organization that assists in the "rescue, restoration and return of displaced and endangered Christian communities in the Middle East."
The fund seeks to raise $25 million for displaced Christians and "other threatened peoples" in Iraq and Syria, and will utilize a network of church communities to distribute the funds.
Burnett and Downey's chief of staff, Johnnie Moore, traveled to Kurdistan and Jordan to witness the dire conditions of the persecuted citizens firsthand.
"Having fled their home with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and having seen unspeakable things, these brothers and sisters in Christ are severely traumatized, mostly without shelter, and winter is coming," Moore wrote in an IGE blog post. "Their suffering is immense."
IGE President Dr. Chris Seiple further described the plight of the persecuted Christians.
"While the numbers continue to climb rapidly, at present there are more than 800,000 [internally displaced people] in Northern Iraq alone (Iraqi Kurdistan) many of whom are living on the streets, in churches, or in abandoned buildings," he wrote in a report.
"To lose the presence of Christians in the birthplace of Christianity is to accelerate instability, while losing precious insight about how best to work in the region," Seiple added in a blog post. "With the region on the brink, a strategy to rescue, restore, and return fleeing Christians is not only the right thing to do, it is in everyone's interest to do so."
Burnett and Downey have spearheaded the newfound Hollywood fascination with biblical films and television series.
After creating and leading "Survivor," "The Apprentice," "Shark Tank," "The Voice," and many other hit shows, Burnett and Downey developed "The Bible" miniseries for the History Channel in 2013.
The ten-episode airing at times beat out "The Walking Dead" and "Game of Thrones," and attracted more than 10 million viewers per episode on average.
The couple used footage from the Jesus portion of "The Bible" miniseries and turned it into a feature-length film called "Son of God." The February 2014 release grossed $60 million domestically.
In January, MGM announced that it was remaking the epic film "Ben-Hur." The 2015 version will focus more on Jesus in a parallel storyline, the A.V. Club reported. Burnett and Downey have signed on as producers.
Another Burnett and Downey project, "A.D.: Beyond the Bible," will premiere on Easter Sunday. The NBC television series begins after the resurrection of Christ, and follows the lives of King Herod's family, Roman politicians, temple priests, and the disciples.
