Christianity has long been associated with the Western world, especially the United States. Islam, in turn, is quickly associated with the Arab world.
These two identifications leave Arab Christians in uncertain territory, said Jordanian Baptist leader Nabeeh Abbassi.
Islam did not exist before the Arab world, said Abbassi, president of the Jordan Baptist Convention. “Arabs gave birth to Islam, but not all Arabs are Muslims. You can be Arab and be a Christian.”
Visiting Samford University in July as part of Samford’s partnership with Jordan’s Baptist School of Amman, Abbassi discussed Baptist life in Jordan with The Alabama Baptist. He encouraged American Christians to avoid stereotyping all Arabs as terrorists. “Many are victims,” he explained. “They deserve to hear the gospel. Pray for them. Try to understand them.”
Abbassi said Baptists in the United States greatly affect Baptists in Jordan. And the United States’ relationship with Israel also impacts Jordanian Christians.
“We have to be fair to the Word of God and love Arabs and Jews alike,” he said. “We, as Baptists, have to be respectful of human rights. Both deserve to be blessed.”
When Baptists in the United States make public statements against Islam, they are misrepresented in the Arab world, he explained.
“We have to say … ‘We as Jordanian Baptists do not agree with the U.S. Baptists’ when this happens,” he said, noting his sensitivity to religious and governmental relationships.
The United States’ support of Israel also causes suspicion, again because all Christians and all Baptists are deemed to be one and the same, he explained. “We have been accused of being involved with the Zionist movement,” Abbassi said. This movement, which is a pro-Israel lobbying effort in the United States, is worrisome to Arabs because it is pro-Jew, he explained.
And while there are messianic Christians in Israel, Baptists in Jordan could never publicly partner with them because of the perception, Abbassi added. “We can’t partner because it would be seen as support.”
The war in Iraq has also rippled the water in the Arab world, Abbassi noted. “Arabs usually associate the West with evangelicals. U.S. troops mean evangelical churches.” While this is a cause for concern for Muslims, the war hasn’t been all bad news for Baptist churches, he added. “We are seeing more evangelical churches (in Iraq) with the war,” he said. As far as Baptist churches go, there are currently two churches in Baghdad, Iraq, one house group in Baghdad and six churches in the process of starting in Northern Iraq, he said.
With the half million Iraqi refugees currently in Jordan, opportunities for evangelism also exist there. A Christian school was established in Jordan specifically for poor refugees who can’t afford public school, said Abbassi, who serves as pastor of Husn Baptist Church, one of 20 Baptist churches in Jordan.
Baptist work in Jordan began in 1951 through efforts of the Southern Baptist Convention. A hospital was opened in the town of Ajloun, followed by the first Baptist church in the country and then other churches. “Seven of the Baptist churches were started by Southern Baptists,” Abbassi said, noting the other 13 were church plants coming out of the first seven. All 20 churches are now led by Jordanian Baptists. There are 1,500 Baptists in Jordan and another 3,000 people who attend Baptist churches, Abbassi said, noting that 8,000 to 10,000 people in Jordan attend evangelical churches.
While the International Mission Board (IMB) sold the Baptist hospital to the Jordanian government in 1987, Abbassi and the Jordan Baptist Convention continue to have a strong alliance with Southern Baptists and the IMB, as well as the European Baptist Federation and Baptist World Alliance.
Two Baptist schools, a Baptist bookstore and a Baptist conference center also exist in Jordan. Half of the teachers at the Baptist School of Amman are believers, Abbassi noted, adding that 40 percent of the students are Muslim. Members of the country’s royal family have even graduated from the school.
During the school year, the gospel is presented through prayer, Scripture readings and the personal lives of the teachers, Abassi said. And the Baptist bookstore, while not making money, is a fertile ground for evangelism. “They are seeing people come to Christ.”
It is the Baptist institutions such as the schools and the bookstore that provide the atmosphere for evangelism to be done in a nonthreatening way, Abbassi said, noting the nonthreatening method is vital to continued positive relationships within the country.
Baptists in Jordan “are growing,” Abassi said. “We have a good image as Baptists.”
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