OAKVILLE, ON-A verse of Scripture helped convince a five-member mission team visiting Iraq in March where and how to build bridges with local evangelicals.
Team leader Jeff Christopherson, teaching pastor of The Sanctuary in Oakville, says as they were leaving for Iraq, a church member read them Psalm 20:2; "May He send you help from the sanctuary.?
At the time, Christopherson assumed it spoke to the 24-hour prayer support set up by The Sanctuary on their behalf. But the following Sunday in Baghdad, at a packed worship service at a newly opened evangelical church, the team discovered its true meaning.
Christopherson says, "The service was all in Arabic, until the first words in English we heard-Psalm 20. I was supposed to speak; I had a message prepared, and I just threw it away and said, ‘God’s got a different message here.’
"It was confirmed to us there that ‘May the Lord send you help from the sanctuary’ wasn’t for me and my mission team, it was for them.?
The team had also planned to visit Kirkuk and Mosul. But Christopherson says when they heard Psalm 20, "God couldn’t have [made it] any plainer? that they were to limit their efforts to serving the Christian community in Baghdad.
"Our goal was to find whoever it was God sent us there to find,? he says.
"We were looking for somebody who was taking responsibility for his own people, who already walked by faith and who had a vision to do something.?
With Baghdad-born Salaam Jaro, pastor of the Arabic Baptist Church in Weston, as their spokesman and interpreter, the Canadian group was able to meet with about 20 Baghdad pastors who shared their vision and basic needs.
No more than three percent of Iraqis are Christians. But there are signs that it is changing for the better.
"There is very wonderful news-almost 10 churches now in Baghdad. And in the north, they are starting churches. So God is working there so mightily,? says Salaam.
But at the same time, Baghdad’s six-million residents are caught in the grip of almost total anarchy, 45 per cent unemployment, a year’s worth of uncollected garbage and serious food shortages.
The Canadian team and pastors settled on a plan that involves humanitarian aid-specifically, sending the Iraqi Christians cash donations so church leaders can buy food.
"The people in their congregations can’t feed themselves,? says Christopherson. "If they could give food to their neighbours and friends in the name of Christ, that would be huge in breaking down barriers.?
The immediate goal is to raise $50,000 by June.
"We can’t send food. It’s just too expensive, and we don’t know if it’s going to get there,? says Christopherson. "But we can get money there. And we’ve got people on the ground that we can trust to get it to where it’s supposed to go.
"Twenty-five dollars U.S. will feed a family of four for a month.?
But beyond food, says Salaam, "the most important thing? the pastors need is the encouragement of fellow believers.
"They are soldiers in the front line. They have letters of persecution, letters of threatening-and they need some people to tell them, ‘We love you, we appreciate the work that you are doing and we will help you any way we can,’? he says.
"We need to take care of them, and we need to pray for them.?
Compounding the urgency is that although the interim constitution now in place guarantees freedom of religion, that could change when the Iraqi government (to be elected early in 2005) drafts a permanent constitution.
"There’s a window of opportunity in Baghdad like nowhere else in the Middle East,? says Christopherson. "But I don’t think it’s going to be open for more than a couple of years.?
