Makeshift camps have formed close to the border in Mexico, where people wait their turn for a hearing on U.S. soil

The aid reached families in Berdale, a small town center of 50,000 people, including 6,000 people displaced from their homes.

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This is only the latest wave of Syrian refugees and internally displaced people from Iraq to seek safety in Iraqi-Kurdistan, which already hosts 38 camps. So far 12,000 Syrian civilians have taken refuge across the border.

The convent lost power and generators were put into place as backup. A fire department captain told local media that the sisters, some of whom were on oxygen, were scared but in good spirits. “We joked with them a little bit.... They are a great bunch of ladies.”

As tensions rise again with the approach of a Nov. 12 deadline for the creation of a unity government, Bishop Kussala has a message for the conflict-weary people of South Sudan. “The church is here to stay,” he said. “We serve the people; we don’t run away.”