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Following World War II, missionary activity exploded in Japan and in other places where GIs had seen desperate physical and spiritual conditions. General Douglas MacArthur appealed for missionaries and Bibles to saturate what had been enemy territory. Among the many agencies that responded was SEND International, newly established as the Far Eastern Gospel Crusade after the war by former US military personnel, including Philip E. Armstrong.

The conflict also ignited renewed missionary vision for Western Europe, thanks to what some Christians in the military saw there. Beyond the ruined cities and hundreds of thousands of refugees stood disillusioned millions. Robert Evans, who founded Greater Europe Mission, was one who seized Europe’s spiritual plight as a call to action.

Will we see a similar outcome in the Middle East as a result of the American military presence there? Christian women and men, who perhaps had not realized the dearth of Christian worship and evangelistic outposts in the Middle East, may hear God’s voice like Armstrong and Evans did. That is the basis of much prayer by American Christians.

Many Christians fervently intercede for a breakthrough in the Middle East that will shatter the bonds of spiritual darkness, fanaticism and even violence in some quarters. They know that this may be a unique open door for the people of Iraq and other countries. They know that nation rebuilding depends not only on getting government, businesses, schools and hospitals running again, but also on providing a strong foundation for the free exercise of Christian worship, evangelism and church planting.

Iraq also may be the key to prying open barriers of resistance to the gospel in many other parts of the Muslim world. If some Christians who get to know the Iraqis, their history, and their hopes and fears can return with a strong outpouring of love, service and witness, who knows what God might do?

The battle for Iraq’s soul will be more fiercely contested than the battle for its resources and political power bases. It will be difficult because some politicians will see the injection of religion as a needless diversion from the main task. Some newspaper columnists in the US have already warned of using relief as a cloak for proselytizing.

President Bush could be the key to making sure that Iraq is kept free from a tyrannical regime that will harass Iraqi Christians and make it impossible for new avenues of evangelism to open.

Churches have existed in Iraq for a long time and believers have suffered courageously for their faith. These people need the encouragement and practical help that could be provided by a fresh infusion of Christian work of many different kinds. In recent years such help has come from Christians in Jordan. Their experience could be extremely valuable to anyone seeking to establish Christian bases in Iraq.

Pressures mount daily for a quick departure of US military forces. Iraq will be the scene of serious and confusing confrontations in the days ahead. But this could be the time that some Christians now serving in our military forces will discover God’s plan for their future back in Iraq after things settle down. Among them may be another Phil Armstrong and Bob Evans. Great breakthroughs in the past have resulted from what appeared to be disasters. The history of missions is replete with such stories. God’s people have seized new opportunities and built new churches on the ashes of war.

America’s church and mission leaders must look beyond the present conflict and consider the strategic opportunities in the Middle East. We must not set the scene as a Muslim-Christian conflict, but rather as an open door to bring the love and nourishment of Christ to thousands of suffering people. We would do well to begin by seeking in prayer a special work of the Holy Spirit in the Middle East.

May 30, 2003