Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – Understanding and Witnessing as a Christian in Baghdad
Despite these restrictions, there is ample opportunity to show and share the good news of Jesus. The prime way is through love and prayer. I have seen people come to faith in Jesus. I have baptised people and then sought to find protection for them as the death threats grew. One little girl whose mother became a Christian started telling friends that every night her mother talked to Jesus. It was not long before they also were forced to flee. I have wept when people I have loved had come to faith and then been killed. Here it is a matter of life and death.
Here, it really is a matter of taking up your cross and following Jesus. Shortly after the war began, a large number of missionaries came here. Fortunately, they have all left. It became far too dangerous for them. Very few of those who arrived understood the first thing about the context they were trying to minister in. When foreigners come to Iraq, they often have no understanding of this culture. Often they do not even know of the amazing history of Christianity and continually do things that endanger local Christians.
The whole notion of evangelism must be treated different in this context. There is no preaching on the streets or encouraging your congregation to convert the masses.
Added to this, most of the foreigners and missionaries who came to Baghdad did not speak any Arabic. Their Christian translators were seriously put at risk; most have had to flee the country.
It is important to remember that even what people say and do in their own countries and contexts can have serious consequences for Christians in Iraq. With mass media, what is said in the West can seriously effect what happens here. Radical liberalism may be safe in the West; however, here it simply kills people. Because of this, I have recently become more conservative in my speech. I love my people and they are suffering enough already. I want no further harm to come to them.
Coming Alongside the Church in Baghdad
Despite the difficulties of serving Jesus in Baghdad, there are several things we, as God’s Church, must and can do.
1. Love
Jesus taught us to love our enemies. Although it is not easy to love bad people, God can give us the grace to do it. Throughout my life I have listened to countless sermons, telling us we do not have to like our enemies—we just have to love them. Love is reduced to not pursuing the negative of hate.
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The Rev’d Cannon Andrew White is president and CEO of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, chaplain of St. Georges Church Baghdad, Anglican/Episcopal chaplain of the International Zone Baghdad and senior advisor in Inter Religious Affairs to the Prime Minister of Iraq. Over the past few years he has acted as a negotiator in many conflict situations, including the siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the riots between Muslims and Christians in Northern Nigeria. In recent years, he has been awarded several significant prizes for his peace work, including the US Cross of Valor, the Tanenbaum Peace Maker in Action Prize, the International Sternberg Prize and The ICCJ Prize for Sustained Intellectual Contribution to Jewish Christian Relations and in 2003 the Three Faith’s Forum Prize for Inter-Faith Relations. |