Beneath the rubble of news about bombings, hostage-taking and political wrangling in Iraq lies a more positive picture of fledgling evangelical churches.
In the Northeast, Iraqi Kurdistan offers a haven for Christian activity as the two rival Kurdish governments become more tolerant of Muslims becoming Christians. In the South, the evangelical church is growing rapidly.
In Baghdad, Iraq, 15 evangelical congregations have started since the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime in April 2003. Officially only two evangelical churches — both Presbyterian and led by Egyptian nationals — existed in the capital during Hussein’s rule.
Now there are Baptists, Methodists and Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) congregations, all led by local Iraqi pastors.
“The people are open like never before,” said Ghassan Thomas, pastor of a C&MA church in Baghdad, Iraq. “It is because we have no peace. This is how we connect our message to the nation: I preach on the topic, ‘How do we get peace?’ and everyone listens, especially when I talk about the deeper peace that Christ brings.
“Muslims too want peace,” Thomas continued. “Many of them are frightened. When the hostages are killed, often a Quranic verse is used to justify it. So many Muslims are scared of their own God. When we preach that God is love, it is so liberating to them.”
Southern Iraq is deemed too dangerous for foreign Christian workers, so most have pulled back to the more stable Iraqi Kurdistan. More than 4 million Kurds reside in this Northern mountainous region, which has enjoyed autonomy since the first Gulf War in 1991.
Two Kurdish political factions control the area. Arbil is the main city of the domain of Massoud Barzani’s Kurdish Democratic Party, and Sulemaniya is the power center of newly elected Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
According to Yousif Matty, a leading pastor of the Kurdish Evangelical Church, a denomination in the North comprising Kurdish and Arabic Christians, “The last 10 years have been a golden time here, and it is set to continue with Talabani becoming president. He has been very strong on emphasizing the rule of law. Also, the Kurds have suffered at the hands of Islamists and have no love for them.”
Reaching out
The other evangelical denomination in the North is the Kurdish Language Evangelical Church, which is exclusively Kurdish-speaking and made up primarily of Kurds.
“There is always persecution from the family when a Muslim becomes a Christian,” said one Kurdish pastor. “That will not change any time soon, but it used to be that the new convert would face persecution from the state also.”
An American Christian in Iraq agreed that persecution in the North comes primarily from the family, which can be extremely difficult in that culture. “Your family is your life in that part of the world. Even if you are a 35-year-old man, you don’t even buy a car without talking it over and approving it with your family. You can imagine what it is like when you become a Christian without their approval,” she said.
But despite the persecution from the family and occasionally from outsiders, she added that the church does tend to grow when it’s persecuted. “They (Christians) are very proud of the fact that they are running the church by Kurds for Kurds, and they are reaching out to their community.”
But even with all the positive news, Iraq remains a country in crisis. At a recent conference for 70 Iraqi pastors, all had to travel early in the morning to avoid trouble on the roads. And although they stressed that the streets gradually have become safer since the beginning of the year, church meetings throughout the South are held at 4:30 p.m. — with everyone at home behind locked doors by 7:30 for fear of insurgent and looting activity.
Law and order still has not been adequately restored, and patience has run out with U.S. and British forces’ failure to restore stability after two years in the country.
Middle-class Christians are also continuing to emigrate in alarming numbers, as those in key professions such as medicine are targets for kidnapping and extortion. Some newer evangelical churches have been decimated by this exodus.
But despite challenges, the mood among 70 evangelical pastors meeting in April was guardedly optimistic. Even with some sharp conflict present, there are hopeful signs.
Thomas tells of an incident that occurred when he received death threats written on cardboard after erecting a sign outside his church that said, “Jesus is the Light of the World.” On the cardboard was scrawled, “Jesus is not the light of the world. Allah is, and you have been warned.” It was signed, “the Islamic Shiite Party.”
Thomas loaded up a van full of children’s gifts from a Christian relief agency, together with some Bibles and medicines, and drove to the headquarters of the Islamic Shiite Party.
When he came to the compound, he demanded to “see the big sheikh, I have gifts for him.” He was taken to meet the leader, and he introduced himself as a pastor.
“We respect you,” the sheikh said.
Thomas said, “Christians have love for you, because God is love, our God is a God of love.”
Again the sheikh replied, “We respect your God. We respect Jesus.”
This was the opening Thomas had been praying for. He said, “If you respect Jesus, would you let me read you His words?” He took out his Bible and read the words of Jesus from John’s gospel, “I am the light of the world.” Then he brought out the cardboard with the death threat.
The sheikh read it and looked ashamed. He said, after a moment’s pause, “We are sorry. This will not happen again. You are my brother. If anyone comes to kill you, it will be my neck first.”
The sheikh even attended Thomas’s ordination as the pastor.
Thomas concluded, “No one is expecting the situation to improve for the better quickly, but we believe that God is moving in these times, and that the future will be more peaceful, especially if Christians will befriend good Muslims and work together.” (CD)
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