Under Saddam Hussein the Presbyterian church was the only allowed Protestant church. Now, nearly a year after U.S. troops began liberating Iraq, evangelicals in the fragile country are emerging with new boldness to take advantage of the newly granted religious freedom they lived so long without.
The first Baptist church ever established in Iraq was dedicated in January with more than 700 people in attendance. Leaders say the church, called the National Evangelical Baptist Church in Baghdad, is the cornerstone upon which future Baptist work in Iraq will be built.
Teams of Baptist volunteers have also worked in various regions of Iraq, distributing food and Bibles and sowing seeds of interest in what God wants to do in the nation. And the Baptist Union of Iraq (BUI) was founded in October with five member churches. Muthafar Yacoub, moderator of the BUI, said the response at the Jan. 16 dedication ceremony of the Baptist church exceeded expectations and was the first time in decades that Christians from a broad scope of evangelical backgrounds gathered openly in Iraq for a church service.
“We anticipated and originally planned for around 550 persons, figuring that this would show our Lord that we were serious about being a bold witness for Christ though we really didn’t expect that many people to attend,” Yacoub said. “About 15 minutes before the service started, all the chairs under the tent were taken, so we went next door to the headquarters of a local political party and asked to borrow more chairs.
“We took all 100 chairs they had and placed them in the back of the tent and around the sides,” Yacoub said. “[When the service started] these chairs were also full. We counted more than 50 adults standing in the back of the tent during the service, not including any of the children.”
Baptist leaders from Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon spoke during the dedication service, including Brian Barlow, general director of the Baptist School of Amman and special adviser to the Baptist Union of Iraq, who read letters of greetings from Baptists around the world.
More than 20 ordained pastors and deacons from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and the United States prayed over Nabil Sara, pastor of the new church.
While preaching from 2 Chronicles 7:1–11 on Solomon’s dedication of the temple, Iraq-Jordan Task Force chairman Nabeeh Abbassi noted how God worked patiently through a war in Iraq to bring about the progress they celebrated that day.
One church in Baghdad has nearly completed the construction of its 450-seat building, but already this is too small for its growing congragation.
And representatives of several Protestant churches are discussing forming an evangelical alliance, like those in other countries, to facilitate working together in unity. (BP, Middle East Concern)
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