The Adventist church and member?s homes have survived the recent war activities in Iraq, according to church officials for the Middle East region.
The Adventist church and member’s homes have survived the recent war activities in Iraq, according to church officials for the Middle East region.
“We’re especially happy to be able to report that all of the Adventists are safe,” said Pastor Michael Porter, president of the church in the Middle East, with headquarters in Nicosia, Cyprus. “We just received word after a couple of weeks of no telephone contact at all. We’re just really thankful to hear that everybody’s safe and also that the church building itself was not damaged during the recent war efforts.”
Porter, speaking with Adventist News Network, expressed relief after receiving word from the chairman of the legal association of the Iraqi Seventh-day Adventist Church, Ghanem Fargo.
Fargo managed to gain access to a satellite phone and sent word through his daughter in California, United States, that all members and their property were safe.
“We are all doing well and urge you to keep praying that this situation will be over soon,” said Fargo.
Although relieved that the church and its members are safe, Porter and Bertil Wiklander, president for the church’s Trans-European region, are expressing concern about the uncertainty that Iraqi Adventists will face as a new leadership for the country is selected.
“Under the regime of Saddam Hussein the church had quite a lot of freedom and liberty to operate,” said Wiklander.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Iraq was one of 13 religions and denominations registered with the government. This entitled them to receive free utilities and the right to own property, according to regional Adventist church officials.
“There is concern that a new government might not be as interested in religious freedom or as interested in allowing Christians to worship. There is concern for sure,” states Porter.
Wiklander says that members and leadership will just have to wait and pray.
“We hope that the degree of freedom we have had will continue and that Iraq will follow a democratic system of government,” adds Wiklander. “But there are of course possibilities that it could go the other way and that would mean that the church would have to work under more difficult circumstances.”
News reports in Western media note that Christians in Iraq have expressed fears about religious freedom after the war, despite the commitment to individual rights expressed by leaders of the United States-led coalition in the recent war activities in Iraq.
Porter states that members in Iraq are guardedly optimistic about the future, while Wiklander adds that they are “very committed and faithful members.”
Both stressed that leadership from the Middle East and the Trans-European regions of the Adventist Church will continue to give the church in Iraq all the support possible.
They are planning to visit the church in Iraq in the near future to be an encouragement to believers and worship with them, according to Porter.
The last visit to Iraq by Middle East church leaders was in early February when youth director Amir Ghali held a week of prayer at the Baghdad Church. Young people attending that week of prayer dedicated an entire evening to pray for peace to prevail.
