Baghdad Needs Prayer By Rebecca Gower

Rebecca Gower, March 15th, 2010

Being a Westerner and living in Baghdad is alone enough to make someone a target for abduction, torture or murder. When you add to this being a Christian, leading a flourishing church, having links with both the British and US governments as well as influential leaders and (gulp) working for peace, you might as well be standing on a street corner with a huge sign on your chest reading ‘Free money if you kidnap me now’...

As I sit here in the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East office in the small and quiet town of Petersfield I find myself working for a clergyman based in the busy, bustling and dangerous city of Baghdad, Iraq at a turning point of the nation’s history. I scour the newspapers daily for news of the latest bombings. Is it Baghdad? Is it near the church? Is it the restaurant where Andrew is meeting his friend the Grand Ayatollah for dinner? 

This is the reality Canon Andrew White, fondly known as ‘The Vicar of Baghdad’ and rector of St George’s Anglican Church, Baghdad, finds himself in. His title isn’t just a name sake that he uses for self-publicity whilst he lives the high life in ‘leafy Hampshire.’ Approximately two thirds of Andrew’s time is spent in Iraq, with the other third spent not only with his family, but also speaking at churches in the UK and US, meeting and greeting and trying to generate enough cash for his next trip home to Baghdad; a difficult balance indeed. But enough about the Canon; if you want to find out more about him just get hold of his book ‘The Vicar of Baghdad’ – all the stories are there. For now I want to tell you more about the church...

St George’s church, Baghdad is made up of over 3700 people of various Christian denominations. 90% of the congregation are women and children due to the large numbers of men absent through death, disappearances and pursuit of employment elsewhere.

In the run up to the elections on the 7^th March violence increased by 44% (Associated Press) amidst threats to prevent their success at any cost. The minorities tend to be the focus for particular persecution with Christians bearing a proportion of the load. Just last week Christians took to the streets in protest, refusing to retaliate violently, but determined to have their voices heard and their rights defended.

Although Christians are not subject to persecution by the state, individuals are targeted by extreme sectarian groups, usually threatened first then killed as a family. Converts from Islam are targets of particularly gruesome deaths. Of the thirteen people baptised last year only two still remain. St George’s Church was most recently bombed in October when all the windows were broken, the clinic was badly damaged, structural damage occurred yet fortunately no one was killed.

The church building is set on its own compound on Haifa street, one of the most notorious streets in Baghdad.There is only one way in, through a heavily guarded entrance, after ID searches and checks from the Iraqi military.

In order to reach the church, families pile into mini buses and drive along crowded and dangerous streets, under immediate threat and vulnerable to attack. In spite of this threat, hundreds start queuing for the service hours before it is due to start, ready to praise God and meet with each other. After the service, food is distributed in plastic carrier bags, individually packaged for each family. Provisions include pasta, rice, eggs and meat.

Passion for prayer is outstanding.  The long-term goal is to set up an accessible house of prayer in Baghdad. Faiz (lay Pastor) and Andrew just launched 24-7 Prayer there as a series of weekly half an hour slots and within a matter of hours every single one of the three hundred and thirty six slots were filled, leaving Baghdad completely soaked in prayer 24-7!

Currently, because of the security risks at St George's Church these times of prayer will take place at home, but in the long term it would be wonderful to have a safe space, dedicated to prayer, calling on the presence of the peace of Jesus and bringing God's kingdom to earth. Do I hear an AMEN?

If you would like to join the people of Baghdad in prayer, email me letting me know when you are able to pray and where you’re praying from and I’ll pop your name down. We send out weekly prayer points to all interested parties, to inform prayer.

Whether or not you can commit to weekly prayer please pray now for Iraq. Pray that leaders with integrity and capability will come in to power. Pray that violence will be prevented and that people will feel that they are represented fairly by the new government. Pray for the protection and provision of our Christian brothers and sisters that they would not need to flee due to persecution and lack of resources.

With a changeover of power likely in the next few months there's predictable unrest and a great need for prayer at this crucial time, which could be a turning point for Iraq and with it the Middle East.

To find out more go to www.frrme.org