Churches growing in war-torn Iraq

Baghdad, Iraq – Beneath the rubble of news about bombings, hostage-taking and political wrangling in Iraq lies a more positive picture of young evangelical churches.

In the northeast, Iraqi Kurdistan offers a haven for Christian activity as the two rival Kurdish governments grow in their toleration of Muslims becoming Christians. In the south, the evangelical church is growing rapidly.

In Baghdad, a total of 15 evangelical congregations have started since the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime in April 2003. Officially, only two evangelical churches, both Presbyterian and led by Egyptian nationals, existed in the capital during Hussein’s rule. Now there are Baptists, Methodists and Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) congregations, all led by local Iraqi pastors.

"The people are open like never before," said Ghassan Thomas, pastor of a CMA church in Baghdad. "It is because we have no peace. This is how we connect our message to the nation: I preach on the topic, ‘How do we get peace?’ and everyone listens, especially when I talk about the deeper peace that Christ brings."

"Muslims, too, want peace," Thomas said. "Many of them are frightened. When the hostages are killed, often a Quranic verse is used to justify it. So many Muslims are scared of their own god. When we preach that God is love, it is so liberating to them."

Southern Iraq is deemed too dangerous for foreign Christian workers. Most have pulled back to the more stable Iraqi Kurdistan. More than 4 million Kurds reside in this northern mountainous region, which has enjoyed autonomy since the first Gulf War in 1991.

"The last 10 years have been a golden time here and it is set to continue with Talabani becoming president," said Yousif Matty, a leading pastor of the Kurdish Evangelical Church, a denomination in the north comprising Kurdish and Arabic Christians. "He has been very strong on emphasizing the rule of law. Also, the Kurds have suffered at the hands of Islamists and have no love for them."

Matty’s churches have a few hundred members, from both Muslim and Christian backgrounds. He runs four bookshops, two schools and other projects, and he received a $500,000 plot of land from the government to build his church. The government has also welcomed other Christian non-governmental organizations.

"There is always persecution from the family when a Muslim becomes a Christian," said the Kurdish pastor of one fellowship in Arbil. "That will not change any time soon, but it used to be that the new convert would face persecution from the state also, yet this is less true today." (reprinted with permission from the Alabama Baptist Online)