Author: commission@imb.org
Publication: TConline.org
Date: May-June 2003
URL: http://archives.tconline.org/Stories/MayJune03/iraqwar.htm
As this issue went to press, Southern
Baptist workers were already planning massive relief projects inside Iraq
which will need hundreds of volunteers to staff.
Workers have set up procedures which
will enable Southern Baptists to feed as many as 10,000 people a day in
both northern and southern Iraq, but only if enough volunteers and funds
are available.
Iraq has been one of the most closed
Islamic countries in the Middle East. The chance to send hundreds of evangelical
Southern Baptists there is a "pivotal moment in history" the denomination
must not ignore, says John Brady, coordinator of Southern Baptist work
across Northern Africa and the Middle East through the International Mission
Board.
"We in the church are the body of
Christ" says Brady. "It is through us that He wants to work in this troubled
part of the world.
"The Iraqi people will not know
real peace unless they have God's peace within their hearts. Neither the
United Nations, nor armies nor governments can deliver God's kind of peace.
"To really change a nation you must
change its people from the inside out," says Brady. "There will be both
an urgency and an opportunity inside Iraq after the war.
"This will be a narrow window of
opportunity, and we must begin getting ready now," he adds.
One worker braved missiles and gas
attacks when he flew into a country near Iraq during the war to explore
how Southern Baptists might move food and supplies through the region.
Other workers have explored avenues of service in other surrounding countries.
Six Southern Baptist workers set
up one of the first ministry projects at a tent city for refugees in eastern
Jordan near the Iraqi border. They have distributed food, diapers and other
supplies and entertained children. Most of these refugees have come from
Sudan, Somalia, Egypt or Palestinian areas; as of publication time, no
Iraqi refugees have appeared.
One worker managed to visit southern
Iraq just before the war began. He described impoverished towns and villages
where basic systems such as electricity and water supplies were barely
working even before fighting began, and heavily oppressed people struggled
to survive.
More than half of Iraq's people
depended on humanitarian aid for food before the war. While shops had food
and goods, few Iraqis had money to buy anything.
Since the war began, he says, upwards
of half a million Iraqis have fled their homes and are basically refugees
in their own country.
"We will not be trying to duplicate
the work of the large aid agencies or governments which will be doing relief
work in Iraq" the worker continues. "More likely, Southern Baptists will
hopefully assume responsibility for certain villages and will help provide
them with food, water or other help."
Some work may be with Marsh Arabs,
a minority group of Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq. If that happens, it
would be the group's first contact with evangelical Christians on a large
scale. The same is true for the Kurds in northern Iraq, who fear persecution
from both Turkey and Saddam Hussein.
Southern Baptists were able to provide
food for thousands of Kurds in the early 1990s when they fled through mountains
into Iran, fleeing poison gas attacks by Saddam Hussein.
"We must think of people groups
cut off from the outside world, fearful of their own government," Brady
says. "They have been imprisoned and oppressed, and they desperately need
both political and spiritual freedom."
River water is contaminated and
desalination is a problem in much of southern Iraq. Getting clean water
will be one of the biggest needs people have. Blankets and tents may be
needed more in northern Iraq.
"It will be critical for our volunteers
to set up microprojects in villages which both meet needs and show people
we care about them," said Brian Barlow, a Southern Baptist worker in Jordan.
"A church might adopt a school and send in school supplies, or provide
a ball field and equipment for a village.
"We will need to establish long-term
programs of good will," he concludes.
Other Southern Baptist workers familiar
with Iraq agreed that evangelical workers of almost any kind who are willing
will be needed after the war.
Top priority needs will include:
medical and dental workers, construction workers, agricultural and livestock
workers, logistics workers, fish farm experts and many other helpers.
Along with workers, Brady says there
will be a huge need for funds- both for humanitarian projects and literature,
cassettes and other materials. He urges Southern Baptists to remember needs
in Iraq as they give through their churches this year.
Workers also pleaded for special
prayer support from Southern Baptists. "If you can give us your prayers,"
says one worker in a challenge to the churches, "we will succeed with this."
Brady acknowledged post-war ministry
could be difficult and possibly dangerous. "But those who respond will
have the joy of serving God and the privilege of seeing Him work miracles
in the hearts and lives of the Iraqi people," Brady promises.
