In the second part of this three part blog on our recent trip to Baghdad I want to concentrate on the Church we spent most of our time filming and the incredible believers we met while we were in Baghdad.
St. Georges is in the Red Zone in Baghdad – about a 5 minute drive from the Green Zone. I have to say I had no sense of Geography while we were there, I couldn’t tell you where in relation to “downtown” Baghdad the Church is located – in fact I couldn’t even say if Baghdad has a downtown. I do know however that the Church is in an area mainly surrounded by Government buildings which means 2 things, one, it has more protection around it (probably) than it would if it wasn’t and two it also means its more in the firing line than it would be otherwise. A couple of years ago there was a bomb attack just outside the walls of the church compound, blowing out all the windows of the church (including the original stained glass ones) and causing considerable damage both to the church and the clinic next door – in fact it pretty well wrecked the clinic. I don’t know if the bomb was targeted at the church OR the government offices – but either way it was not good for St Georges.
Just to give a little flavour of how difficult things have become for Believers in Iraq, you have to look back a little. Up to the fall of Saddam, being a Christian was relatively easy. Saddam even had a number of Christians in his cabinet (because he could trust them not to stab him in the back) and because Saddam himself came from a “minority” group he made a point to protect the other minorities in the country – including the Christians. However all this changed when he was overthrown. It is now MUCH harder being a Christian in the country and indeed, MANY Christians have fled the country or moved to the north where things are easier for them. Since the fall of Saddam, there have been frequent attacks on Christians and Churches culminating in the attack on the Assyrian Church in Baghdad last October when over 50 Christians were callously gunned down or blown to pieces when they went to their Sunday service. The one good thing to come out of that however was that it did force the religious groups (Muslims and Christians) to get together and issue a joint “Fatwah” declaring that attacks on Christians (and indeed all minorities) were to stop – and generally this has made the situation easier – though still far from easy!!
So, that’s how life is generally for Christians – and yet, life for them goes on. Now for a little background on St Georges and Andrew’s work there. Generally speaking, it operates in a way that would be recognisable in most Anglican churches throughout the world – in fact one of the things Andrew is keen on emphasising is that this is a “normal” church – it has prayer meetings, youth meetings, conducts weddings, baptisms etc. and sits under the auspices of the Bishop of Cyprus – who also (I was pleased to find out) visits on occasions. However there is generally where the similarities with Western churches end. This is NOT Church as we know it. The cost of keeping St Georges running is around $177,000 per MONTH!! (this went up $2,000 in the time we were there – due to demands for more medicine for the clinic). Why so expensive you may ask? Well there are a number of reasons – for instance the cost of security. The Church compound is surrounded by high walls, barbed wire and has armed guards stationed on the gateway into the complex 24/7 – to get in to the church you have to go through their checkpoint and have your vehicles checked for bombs etc. Also, the church operates a free clinic to all comers – included in this service is a dentists, 2 doctors, pharmacy and also a laboratory – where they can do all their own blood tests, develop new treatments etc. and as I said it is all FREE to anyone who needs it – as there is little else for the Baghdad population. In fact it is the largest clinic in Baghdad treating hundreds of people every week – quite an achievement and a major part of their outreach in the community. Also, they have a comprehensive feeding programme, providing food for over 4000 people a week who cannot afford basic necessities – this isn’t just for the Church members and Christians but also many Muslims who are not being taken care of by their own “religious” leaders – again this is a major outreach to the community – and you often see many of the Muslims in the Church during the service. They are also in the process of building a school – which they plan to have opened later in summer – this will be a tremendous addition to the work they are doing in the community as there are MANY kids around. All of this however takes lots and lots of cash – and that is one of Andrew’s biggest frustrations – he has to leave the church frequently to travel to other parts of the world to raise the support he needs to continue the work at St Georges – he would much rather not have to do that PLUS when you think he has Multiple Sclerosis travelling for him is no fun at all – but it is necessary or most of the crucial work would stop due to a lack of finance.
As hopefully you can appreciate from the above being a Believer in Baghdad is NOT easy – and yet the church is usually filled every service with overflow rooms operating, a very busy Sunday school and women’s meetings (the Mothers Union) also well attended. When you consider that in order to GET to church these people have to travel some very dangerous roads, have their vehicles checked and be searched on the way into the church compound – attending services is not an easy process. Even the 18 buses the church use to collect and transport people to church are subject to the same treatment. I often think I’ve done well to arrive at Church before the end of the first song – these people have to aim to be there anything up to 2 hours prior just to ensure they get a seat AFTER going through all the security checks!! There is a real commitment and love for their church.
The other couple of things that become obvious about the Believers here are that everyone has a story to tell of how their lives have been impacted by the trouble in their country. We spoke to many people who had either lost loved ones who had been killed, or who had to move due to threats of violence against them – the troubles in Iraq have not left many people unscathed, one of the most touching was meeting a guy who carries around in his wallet pictures of his 2 children (not unusual for a father you might think) until you see the photos and realise they are pictures of his children lying in pools of blood with a bullet hole in their heads – dead. It is VERY sobering and truly makes you realise just what being a Christian in Iraq can cost. The other thing you notice very quickly is that there are MANY MANY more women and children than men – the simple fact is that most of the men have been killed!! I’ll tell you the stories are simply heartbreaking.
BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT and I really cannot stress this ENOUGH – the incredible, amazing, awesome thing is that there is so much JOY and LIFE in the Believers – their eyes physically sparkle and their faces shine as they tell you about their Jesus, who He is to them, the life He gives them, the hope they have in Him – they really are radiant. It is the most wonderful thing – these people LOVE God with all their hearts DESPITE the challenges they have they literally glow when they tell you what being a Christian means to them – it was so incredibly humbling for all of us to see this and realise just how lack lustre our Faith is in comparison. They also have many stories to tell of Jesus talking to them, warning them, guiding them etc. To encourage you, let me just quickly share two of them. One was told us by a guy who works in the clinic. He told us of the time when he was studying at University and this particular morning was on his way into the campus. He heard a voice in his head (which he knew was Jesus) telling him to not go into his usual entrance BUT instead go into the building a different way – one which was a considerable distance out of his way – he tried to ignore it, but the voice persisted until he gave in. JUST as he was entering the building a bomb went off at the entrance he usually used – killing many – he knew Jesus had re-directed him. The other story involves Andrew himself. One of the young people in the church came up to him one evening when he was planning on going out to a meeting and told him not to go. Like all of us would do, Andrew ignored it at first and said he had to go, however the guy was VERY insistent that Andrew MUST not go – that Jesus had told him, so in the end Andrew didn’t go. Good job because there was a bomb attack – and all those who had gone to the meeting were killed. These guys REALLY know how to hear from God – they have to their very LIVES depend on it!!
Our few days there really did have a powerful impact on us, we were treated SO well, really taken care of by Andrew’s staff and it was an amazing time just meeting the Believers – one that I hope impacts me for many years to come – the LIFE these people have is not easy and yet they are SHINING brightly for their Lord and Saviour and truly put us to shame – this is somewhere that Faith matters and where their Faith can be a matter of life and death – one person we met summed this up more than anyone, his name was Toma (not his real name – the reason for which will become clear).
Toma is in line to become a VERY powerful tribal chief once his father dies. The family are staunch Muslims and very powerful people in the hierarchy of Iraq. Toma was working for the US forces as a translator – however for some reason that he still doesn’t know (other than he puts it down to Jesus) he was put in prison for no reason – in fact he was never told why. He spent over a year in prison, during which time as a good Muslim he prayed to his god to help him – however he got no response. Eventually when this wasn’t working, he asked one of the US guards for a Bible – he asked for an English bible as he knew the people he was in prison with couldn’t read English BUT would kill him if he got one in Arabic. He started reading this and eventually started praying to Jesus and that was when things started changing. In a short space of time his circumstances completely changed and he was soon released from prison – he knew it was his prayers to Jesus that had changed things. Once he was released he wanted to find out more about this Jesus and decided he wanted to follow Him – one of the American soldiers put him in contact with Andrew White. He went to see Andrew and told him he wanted to follow Jesus. Now, basically when a Muslim converts to Christianity in Iraq they are signing their death warrant if anyone finds out. Andrew has baptised 13 Muslims who became Christians – 11 of them have been killed very soon after, Toma is one of the remaining 2. Andrew explained all this to him and he still chose to be baptised, so Andrew baptised him there and then. We had the honour to meet Toma and film him as he told his story (from behind so no one could see him) however I did have the pleasure of watching him as he told his story and his whole face was a light with the Glory of God – it was a remarkable site, and I for one was in tears at one point where he said that while he had no desire to die, that if he were to die because of his Faith in Jesus he would consider that the greatest of honours – WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still feel chocked as I am typing this now – never have I met someone like this who so powerfully sums up how important Jesus is and His life changing power.
I really don’t have much more to say or to add – I believe Toma’s story speaks volumes of the Believer’s in Iraq – this is a Nation where their Faith could cause them to die and yet they are so joyful, lovely, peaceful and some of the most life filled bunch I have ever had the honour and privilege to meet. The work that Andrew is doing out there, meeting the practical needs of BOTH Christians and non- Christians is incredible and I thoroughly commend it. BUT it is the Glory and Presence of God in His people that shines forth so brightly that is the most amazing thing – and that experience I found life-changing – there is something so beautiful about Jesus in these people that my words would never do it justice – but trust me when I say this GOD is there in ways we in the west could only hope for – until we fully understand what our Faith means and it becomes as important as breathing to us (as it is for them) – these wonderful Iraqi Believers will always have things to teach us – and I am incredibly blessed to have had the chance to learn from them.
St. Georges is in the Red Zone in Baghdad – about a 5 minute drive from the Green Zone. I have to say I had no sense of Geography while we were there, I couldn’t tell you where in relation to “downtown” Baghdad the Church is located – in fact I couldn’t even say if Baghdad has a downtown. I do know however that the Church is in an area mainly surrounded by Government buildings which means 2 things, one, it has more protection around it (probably) than it would if it wasn’t and two it also means its more in the firing line than it would be otherwise. A couple of years ago there was a bomb attack just outside the walls of the church compound, blowing out all the windows of the church (including the original stained glass ones) and causing considerable damage both to the church and the clinic next door – in fact it pretty well wrecked the clinic. I don’t know if the bomb was targeted at the church OR the government offices – but either way it was not good for St Georges.
Just to give a little flavour of how difficult things have become for Believers in Iraq, you have to look back a little. Up to the fall of Saddam, being a Christian was relatively easy. Saddam even had a number of Christians in his cabinet (because he could trust them not to stab him in the back) and because Saddam himself came from a “minority” group he made a point to protect the other minorities in the country – including the Christians. However all this changed when he was overthrown. It is now MUCH harder being a Christian in the country and indeed, MANY Christians have fled the country or moved to the north where things are easier for them. Since the fall of Saddam, there have been frequent attacks on Christians and Churches culminating in the attack on the Assyrian Church in Baghdad last October when over 50 Christians were callously gunned down or blown to pieces when they went to their Sunday service. The one good thing to come out of that however was that it did force the religious groups (Muslims and Christians) to get together and issue a joint “Fatwah” declaring that attacks on Christians (and indeed all minorities) were to stop – and generally this has made the situation easier – though still far from easy!!
So, that’s how life is generally for Christians – and yet, life for them goes on. Now for a little background on St Georges and Andrew’s work there. Generally speaking, it operates in a way that would be recognisable in most Anglican churches throughout the world – in fact one of the things Andrew is keen on emphasising is that this is a “normal” church – it has prayer meetings, youth meetings, conducts weddings, baptisms etc. and sits under the auspices of the Bishop of Cyprus – who also (I was pleased to find out) visits on occasions. However there is generally where the similarities with Western churches end. This is NOT Church as we know it. The cost of keeping St Georges running is around $177,000 per MONTH!! (this went up $2,000 in the time we were there – due to demands for more medicine for the clinic). Why so expensive you may ask? Well there are a number of reasons – for instance the cost of security. The Church compound is surrounded by high walls, barbed wire and has armed guards stationed on the gateway into the complex 24/7 – to get in to the church you have to go through their checkpoint and have your vehicles checked for bombs etc. Also, the church operates a free clinic to all comers – included in this service is a dentists, 2 doctors, pharmacy and also a laboratory – where they can do all their own blood tests, develop new treatments etc. and as I said it is all FREE to anyone who needs it – as there is little else for the Baghdad population. In fact it is the largest clinic in Baghdad treating hundreds of people every week – quite an achievement and a major part of their outreach in the community. Also, they have a comprehensive feeding programme, providing food for over 4000 people a week who cannot afford basic necessities – this isn’t just for the Church members and Christians but also many Muslims who are not being taken care of by their own “religious” leaders – again this is a major outreach to the community – and you often see many of the Muslims in the Church during the service. They are also in the process of building a school – which they plan to have opened later in summer – this will be a tremendous addition to the work they are doing in the community as there are MANY kids around. All of this however takes lots and lots of cash – and that is one of Andrew’s biggest frustrations – he has to leave the church frequently to travel to other parts of the world to raise the support he needs to continue the work at St Georges – he would much rather not have to do that PLUS when you think he has Multiple Sclerosis travelling for him is no fun at all – but it is necessary or most of the crucial work would stop due to a lack of finance.
As hopefully you can appreciate from the above being a Believer in Baghdad is NOT easy – and yet the church is usually filled every service with overflow rooms operating, a very busy Sunday school and women’s meetings (the Mothers Union) also well attended. When you consider that in order to GET to church these people have to travel some very dangerous roads, have their vehicles checked and be searched on the way into the church compound – attending services is not an easy process. Even the 18 buses the church use to collect and transport people to church are subject to the same treatment. I often think I’ve done well to arrive at Church before the end of the first song – these people have to aim to be there anything up to 2 hours prior just to ensure they get a seat AFTER going through all the security checks!! There is a real commitment and love for their church.
The other couple of things that become obvious about the Believers here are that everyone has a story to tell of how their lives have been impacted by the trouble in their country. We spoke to many people who had either lost loved ones who had been killed, or who had to move due to threats of violence against them – the troubles in Iraq have not left many people unscathed, one of the most touching was meeting a guy who carries around in his wallet pictures of his 2 children (not unusual for a father you might think) until you see the photos and realise they are pictures of his children lying in pools of blood with a bullet hole in their heads – dead. It is VERY sobering and truly makes you realise just what being a Christian in Iraq can cost. The other thing you notice very quickly is that there are MANY MANY more women and children than men – the simple fact is that most of the men have been killed!! I’ll tell you the stories are simply heartbreaking.
BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT and I really cannot stress this ENOUGH – the incredible, amazing, awesome thing is that there is so much JOY and LIFE in the Believers – their eyes physically sparkle and their faces shine as they tell you about their Jesus, who He is to them, the life He gives them, the hope they have in Him – they really are radiant. It is the most wonderful thing – these people LOVE God with all their hearts DESPITE the challenges they have they literally glow when they tell you what being a Christian means to them – it was so incredibly humbling for all of us to see this and realise just how lack lustre our Faith is in comparison. They also have many stories to tell of Jesus talking to them, warning them, guiding them etc. To encourage you, let me just quickly share two of them. One was told us by a guy who works in the clinic. He told us of the time when he was studying at University and this particular morning was on his way into the campus. He heard a voice in his head (which he knew was Jesus) telling him to not go into his usual entrance BUT instead go into the building a different way – one which was a considerable distance out of his way – he tried to ignore it, but the voice persisted until he gave in. JUST as he was entering the building a bomb went off at the entrance he usually used – killing many – he knew Jesus had re-directed him. The other story involves Andrew himself. One of the young people in the church came up to him one evening when he was planning on going out to a meeting and told him not to go. Like all of us would do, Andrew ignored it at first and said he had to go, however the guy was VERY insistent that Andrew MUST not go – that Jesus had told him, so in the end Andrew didn’t go. Good job because there was a bomb attack – and all those who had gone to the meeting were killed. These guys REALLY know how to hear from God – they have to their very LIVES depend on it!!
Our few days there really did have a powerful impact on us, we were treated SO well, really taken care of by Andrew’s staff and it was an amazing time just meeting the Believers – one that I hope impacts me for many years to come – the LIFE these people have is not easy and yet they are SHINING brightly for their Lord and Saviour and truly put us to shame – this is somewhere that Faith matters and where their Faith can be a matter of life and death – one person we met summed this up more than anyone, his name was Toma (not his real name – the reason for which will become clear).
Toma is in line to become a VERY powerful tribal chief once his father dies. The family are staunch Muslims and very powerful people in the hierarchy of Iraq. Toma was working for the US forces as a translator – however for some reason that he still doesn’t know (other than he puts it down to Jesus) he was put in prison for no reason – in fact he was never told why. He spent over a year in prison, during which time as a good Muslim he prayed to his god to help him – however he got no response. Eventually when this wasn’t working, he asked one of the US guards for a Bible – he asked for an English bible as he knew the people he was in prison with couldn’t read English BUT would kill him if he got one in Arabic. He started reading this and eventually started praying to Jesus and that was when things started changing. In a short space of time his circumstances completely changed and he was soon released from prison – he knew it was his prayers to Jesus that had changed things. Once he was released he wanted to find out more about this Jesus and decided he wanted to follow Him – one of the American soldiers put him in contact with Andrew White. He went to see Andrew and told him he wanted to follow Jesus. Now, basically when a Muslim converts to Christianity in Iraq they are signing their death warrant if anyone finds out. Andrew has baptised 13 Muslims who became Christians – 11 of them have been killed very soon after, Toma is one of the remaining 2. Andrew explained all this to him and he still chose to be baptised, so Andrew baptised him there and then. We had the honour to meet Toma and film him as he told his story (from behind so no one could see him) however I did have the pleasure of watching him as he told his story and his whole face was a light with the Glory of God – it was a remarkable site, and I for one was in tears at one point where he said that while he had no desire to die, that if he were to die because of his Faith in Jesus he would consider that the greatest of honours – WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still feel chocked as I am typing this now – never have I met someone like this who so powerfully sums up how important Jesus is and His life changing power.
I really don’t have much more to say or to add – I believe Toma’s story speaks volumes of the Believer’s in Iraq – this is a Nation where their Faith could cause them to die and yet they are so joyful, lovely, peaceful and some of the most life filled bunch I have ever had the honour and privilege to meet. The work that Andrew is doing out there, meeting the practical needs of BOTH Christians and non- Christians is incredible and I thoroughly commend it. BUT it is the Glory and Presence of God in His people that shines forth so brightly that is the most amazing thing – and that experience I found life-changing – there is something so beautiful about Jesus in these people that my words would never do it justice – but trust me when I say this GOD is there in ways we in the west could only hope for – until we fully understand what our Faith means and it becomes as important as breathing to us (as it is for them) – these wonderful Iraqi Believers will always have things to teach us – and I am incredibly blessed to have had the chance to learn from them.
2 comments:
Wonderfully uplifting - nothing could demonstrate commitment to Christ kike these ghood and faithful servants who run the gauntlet of death every time they come to Church in Baghdad.
Excellent blog Graeme. Well written and very descriptive. Thank you for writing it.
David Aldous
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