Iraq Appeal - December 2020 Update
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1: 5
In this very dark year which has been 2020, one of the “darker” places, from my perspective, has been Iraq where The Outreach Foundation has partnered, for many years, with the three remaining Presbyterian congregations (Baghdad, Basrah, and Kirkuk.) Your gifts, over the years, have sustained the witness of the Church in a place that has, too many times, approached the verge of being declared a “failed state.”
A year ago (October 2019) I led a small Outreach Foundation team back to Iraq to be with our Presbyterian family there – to be “mutually encouraged by one another’s faith” (Romans 1: 12). And, indeed, we were! Of all the days we spent, none was more impactful than a trip we made to a now-deserted Mosul, the once-thriving, second-largest city which had been laid waste by ISIS and then by the military campaign to retake it from ISIS. We wanted to see what, if anything, remained of the tiny, historic (1840) Presbyterian Church, located deep in the old city. You can read my trip blog from that day HERE.
Although the church had been badly damaged, it was not destroyed. Rev. Haitham Jazrawi, pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Kirkuk (about 100 miles to the southwest) led us in a quick and quiet communion (although Mosul had been secured” he was fearful of hostile players left behind) to reclaim the space for Christ.
An engineer, Mr. Safa’a Ibrahim, had been hired to assess what was needed to rebuild, but the bigger question, at that time, was whether rebuilding was even an issue given that this part of the city was empty of people: to whom would the Mosul Church give witness!?!?
But then, a few weeks ago, came a message from Rev. Haitham. Engineer Safa’a had gone back to check on a wall being built to secure the Mosul Church property. (The Outreach Foundation had provided funds for that wall). What Safa’a shared about that visit was profound:
Last winter, I joined a committee that was in charge of restoring one of the churches destroyed by ISIS in Mosul. Among what we saw around the destroyed surroundings was a small mosque that was also badly damaged by ISIS. We prepared estimates for the cost of repairs, and we awaited official state-funding or any sort of charitable giving to help fund the cost. After a few months, we returned for a second visit and we noticed some changes and signs of reconstruction in one of the neighboring narrow streets (this area of Mosul is famous for its many very-narrow streets). We were pleasantly surprised to see that many of the residential buildings had already been rebuilt, and life was quickly going back to normal. The small mosque had already been rebuilt completely. The residents pointed me to a contractor in the area, Abu Mustafa, who was willing to help us with the reconstruction of the church …
As we were standing there, one of the Muslim residents neighboring the church and mosque walked up to us and spoke in the distinctive Mosul dialect and said, "Come on, we're waiting for you to come back and build the church and we'll be here to help you!" ... Moments later, a little Muslim boy, dressed nicely, walked up to us and offered us sweets and said "Uncle, these are sweets in celebration of the Prophet Mohammad's birth" (this was a holiday that just passed).
I ate the sweets, and, as I ate, I stood there thinking about the Iraqi society, especially this very healthy moment that I just experienced. Here I was, a Christian man, looking to rebuild a church; I was being offered help to rebuild the church by a Muslim neighbor …After all the pain we expected as Christians through ISIS' terror, I wasn't expecting to experience this moment…
Apparently, that Light had not been overcome by the darkness…and might still be needed in Mosul…
Marilyn Borst
Associate Director for Partnership Development
Gifts for the Iraq Appeal, which supports the mission and ministry of the three Presbyterian churches in Iraq along with relief efforts for Iraqis displaced by war, may be made HERE or by sending a check to our office.
Mosul Church in 2001