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Waning Christian Presence
May Determine Iraq's Future
By Allie Martin and Jenni
Parker
October 12, 2004
(AgapePress) - The head of a ministry
that serves persecuted Christians around the world says the future
of the Church in Iraq is threatened if believers continue leaving
the country. Kidnappings, written threats, bombings, and murder
by Muslim terrorists are driving thousands of Iraqi Christians
out of their homeland.
Dr. Carl Moeller, president of Open
Doors USA, says while it is understandable that many Iraqi Christians
fear for their lives, the exodus is leaving a spiritual void
in the country. He believes what happens to the Church in Iraq
will have a direct influence on what happens in the government
and the society.
"Without a strong Christian presence
in Iraq," Moeller explains, "the candidates in the
upcoming elections who insist on a separation between religion
and the state will have more of a say. They're going to move
the country basically towards an Islamic theocracy. And that
is, of course, something that will create more instability in
the Middle East and not true democracy."
Before the war, one million of Iraq's
25 million inhabitants were Christians. However, a steady outflow
of believers is under way in that country, and little is being
done to stem the tide. According to estimates by Iraqi government
and church officials, a string of violent attacks in the last
two months has sent between 30,000 and 40,000 Christians fleeing
the country, and the officials acknowledge that hundreds more
Christian families are leaving each week.
Of the 4,000 Iraqi families registered
as refugees in Damascus, more than half are Christians, and the
Syrian government estimates that there are about 300,000 Iraqis
in the country. A recent Compass Direct article quotes Hala Hikmat,
a believer who has joined thousands of her countrymen in Syria,
as saying Christians in Iraq suffer from an absence of leadership.
Hikmat says Iraqi Christians currently
have no advocate with those in power, no leaders that are communicating
their urgent needs for protection and for a voice taking a stand
on their behalf. Therefore, she adds, "each person has to
take care of themselves."
Meanwhile, other Christian refugees
from Iraq report having faced threats, beatings, kidnapping of
relatives, torture, and extortion at the hands of Muslim extremists
before they finally escaped. Compass Direct quoted one Syrian
cleric, whose name was withheld, as saying he feared Iraq's Christian
population could disappear entirely within a decade if the present
rate of emigration continues.
But while many believers are fleeing
Iraq, Dr. Moeller says others are choosing to stay and minister
to their countrymen. "We are seeing some hopeful signs in
this area," he notes. "There are stalwart Christians
choosing not to leave their homeland."
For instance, the Open Doors spokesman
says, "We know of a small group of Pentecostal Christians
that we spoke with recently in Amman, Jordan, who had been traveling
there from Baghdad. They reported that their church is growing
despite all this outward pressure."
Nevertheless, if terrorist threats and
attacks do not completely decimate the Christian population in
Iraq, some believers predict that escalating violence may eventually
drive the Iraqi Church underground. Moeller says the upcoming
elections set for January will be pivotal in determining the
future -- not only of Iraq as a nation, but also of the Church
in that country.
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/122004b.asp
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