|
Pastor tells of his visit
to Baghdad
George Shahbaz describes his experiences
in Iraq, where he worked as a translator. In his spare time there,
he shared his Christian faith.
George Shahbaz was leaving a church
service in Iraq when a truckload of American soldiers ordered
him to stop in his tracks.
"Do you have a weapon?" a soldier asked.
Shahbaz, a Turlock minister who was
in the country working as a translator, had a ready reply.
"Of course," he said, holding
up his Bible. "This is my weapon. The word of the Lord."
Shahbaz, former pastor of Turlock's
Assyrian Presbyterian Church, told the story Sunday at Trinity
United Presbyterian Church in Modesto. About 90 people listened
to the talk, in which Shahbaz spoke of his experiences in the
war-torn region.
Shahbaz, 60, was born in Iraq, but left
the country when he was a young man to become a Christian minister.
Shahbaz recently returned to his native country as a member of
the Iraq Survey Group.
The group, often in the news, was charged
with searching for weapons of mass destruction.
But Shahbaz's specialty isn't weaponry,
it's languages ? he speaks seven and was called on to translate
documents from Arabic and other Middle Eastern languages into
English.
When he wasn't translating, he was ministering.
After hours, Shahbaz made it a point to talk to Iraqis, soldiers
and others about his faith, which until recently had been outlawed
in the Muslim country.
"It's the first time in my life
that I can share Christ with a colonel, a soldier ... all kinds
of people," he said.
Sleeping quarters in palace
Shahbaz and his fellow group members
spent one month and four days in Baghdad, where they slept on
the grounds of a palace that housed a private zoo established
by Saddam Hussein's son Uday. They heard animals howling at night.
Shahbaz displayed his Bible and some
religious tracts near his cot.
"It was like a little chapel,"
he said.
Most recently, Shahbaz was in Qatar,
where U.S. Central Command facilities are located. He plans to
return soon and expects to stay until May.
Congregation members applauded Shahbaz's
talk, then prayed for him. David Zellman of Modesto said he was
glad to hear good news coming out of a region that has become
known for violence.
"I appreciate knowing there's a
lot of good things happening there," he said.
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/9745189p-10611932c.html
|
