Posted on 04/18/2003 6:55:40 AM PDT by Incorrigible
April 18, 2003
BY MARK O'KEEFE
Two leading evangelical Christian missionary organizations said Tuesday that they have teams of workers poised to enter Iraq to address the physical and spiritual needs of a large Muslim population.
The Southern Baptist Convention, the country's largest Protestant denomination, and the Rev. Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse said workers are near the Iraq border in Jordan and are ready to go in as soon as it is safe. The relief and missionary work is certain to be closely watched because both Graham and the Southern Baptist Convention have been at the heart of controversial evangelical denunciations of Islam, the world's second largest religion.
Both organizations said their priority will be to provide food, shelter and other needs to Iraqis ravaged by recent war and years of neglect. But if the situation presents itself, they will also share their Christian faith in a country that's estimated to be 98 percent Muslim and about 1 percent Christian.
"We go where we have the opportunity to meet needs," said Ken Isaacs, international director of projects for Samaritan's Purse, located in Boone, N.C. "We do not deny the name of Christ. We believe in sharing him in deed and in word. We'll be who we are."
Mark Kelly, a spokesman for the Southern Baptists' International Mission Board, said $250,000 has already been spent to provide immediate needs, such as blankets and baby formula. Much more will follow, along with a more overt spiritual emphasis.
"Conversations about spiritual things will come about as people ask about our faith," said Kelly, based in Richmond, Va. "It's not going to be like what you might see in other countries where there's a preaching service held outside clinics and things like that."
Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, is urging caution for the two groups, as well as other evangelical organizations planning to go into Iraq.
"Evangelicals need to be sensitive to the circumstances of this country and its people," said Cizik, based in Washington, D.C. "If we are perceived as opportunists we only hurt our cause. If this is seen as religious freedom for Iraq by way of gunboat diplomacy, is that helpful? I don't think so. If that's the perception, we lose."
Graham, the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, has been less diplomatic about Islam than his father has been. Two months after the Sept. 11 attacks, Franklin Graham called Islam "a very evil and wicked religion" during an interview on NBC, the television network. In his book published last year, "The Name," Graham wrote that "The God of Islam is not the God of the Christian faith." He went on to say that "the two are different as lightness and darkness."
On the eve of the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis last year, the Rev. Jerry Vines, a former denomination president, told several thousand delegates that Islam's Allah is not the same as the God worshipped by Christians. "And I will tell you Allah is not Jehovah, either. Jehovah's not going to turn you into a terrorist," Vines said.
Widespread condemnation of those comments followed from other Protestant leaders as well as from Catholic and Jewish groups. The Graham and Vines statements even created a problem for President Bush, who has called Islam a "religion of peace."
Bush, an evangelical Christian himself, has close ties to both Franklin Graham, who gave a prayer at his inauguration, and Southern Baptists, who are among his most loyal political supporters.
Isaacs, who works for Franklin Graham, refused to comment about his boss' views of Islam, except to say, "most of Franklin's work is to the Muslim world and those are sincere acts of love, concern and compassion."
In a written statement, Graham said: "As Christians, we love the Iraqi people, and we are poised and ready to help meet their needs. Our prayers are with the innocent families of Iraq, just as they are with our brave soldiers and leaders."
Isaacs said Samaritan's Purse has assembled a team of nine Americans and Canadians that includes veterans of war-relief projects in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Rwanda and Somalia. The teams include a doctor, an engineer and a water specialist.
They will bring resources that include a system that can provide drinking water for up to 20,000 people, material to build temporary shelters for more than 4,000 families, packages of household items for 5,000 families, and kits designed to meet the general medical needs of 100,000 people for three months.
So far, there's no budget for the effort because it's so fluid, said Jeremy Blume, a Samaritan's Purse spokesman, but donors are being asked to help. A Southern Baptist fund-raising drive is under way to help underwrite the cost, Kelly said. Both groups said only private donations have funded their plans thus far, with no government assistance in the works.
Southern Baptists, representing a denomination of 16 million members, have workers in Jordan waiting to help refugees. But so far, few refugees have arrived, perhaps because it's still too difficult for much of the population to maneuver between warring militaries on their way to the border, Kelly said.
Baptist Men, a national organization devoted to providing disaster relief work, has promised to send volunteers from the United States "on a moment's notice," Kelly said.
As soon as they gain access to northern Iraq, teams will go, Kelly said, with plans of feeding up to 10,000 or more people a day.
"The hope is that as the war front moves and the situation in the outlying areas improves, we'll be able to send mobile teams in.
"Our understanding of relief ministries is that anytime you give a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus you've shared God's love in a real physical way. That also raises the question as to why you did that. When people ask you, you explain that it's because of the love of God that has been poured out into my life and I have a deep desire that you know that same love as well."
(Mark O'Keefe can be contacted at mark.okeefe@newhouse.com)
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Weak excuse for your obvious LDS favoritism ...
Anyway, it is my belief that Islam is completely incompatible with democracy. So is the kind of soft paganism prevalent in Japan and Europe. The Judeo-Christian ethic of compassion, self-policing of moral behavior, decency, non-violence (note: not pacifism), and so forth is the only regime of ethics compatible with a free society.
Having said that, I think it would be prudent to hold off a bit, lest the War on Terrorism gets misconstrued.
Hm, well, what exactly would indicate I'm "completely indulged into my way of believing" or "obsessed" with my beliefs?
About Bush-- let me know when you all get you Visa to goto Iraq.
Per the article, "workers are near the Iraq border in Jordan and are ready to go in as soon as it is safe. The relief and missionary work is certain to be closely watched...." I'm assuming they have authorization already. But I guess we'll know for sure later.
No I am not a professed Christian.
How are you defining "professed Christian"? I define it as any person who has affirmed openly (thus, "professed") that Jesus Christ is his/her personal Savior.
I am not saying my way is better than yours, but the way you go about recruiting new members is questionable.
Ummm, not sure about this "recruiting" stuff. I believe in folks accepting or rejecting Christ of their own free will.
Why would I think you're going to Hell? :-)
But this is the expressed intention (converting people to Christianity),
No, they are going in to preach Christ crucified ('go ye into all the world and preach the gospel...'). To most, this will be a stumbling block or foolishness. Only God can open someone's eyes and change their heart. No one has ever been argued into the Kingdom. God does the converting.
...and this is definitely how it will be seen...especially by the Islamic groups already hostile to the US presense.
You are probably correct. Christianity is an offensive religion. It doesn't threaten bodily harm in this world, but it's message is clear:
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
And we are privileged, and honored, to bring these words of life to the world.
The basic principles that President Bush has properly put forward are thatSharia [Islamic] law has not, will not, and can not adhere to the final requirement. The Status of Non-Muslim Minorities Under Islamic Rule
- the Saddam Hussein regime has to go,
- that the new Iraqi government, whatever it is, be selected by the Iraqi people,
- that it not have weapons of mass destruction,
- that it not threaten its neighbors,
- that it be a single country and that
- the people of that country be free to put themselves on some kind of a path towards a representative system that protects the rights of the minorities and the ethnic groups in that country.
I'm certainly hoping the right way.
You are referring to California...
What categorization of Christian is older than "evangels"? The original evangels (bearers of the "Good News") were Jesus and other Jews who spread the Messianic message of Jesus as Savior. An evangel[ical] is exactly the same today as he was 2000 years ago. But today, of course, more efficent modes of transporation enable evangel[ical]s to travel to some of the most remote parts of the world to spread the gospel. And while so doing, they will continue to praise the God of Israel, spread the gospel message of eternal Salvation through Jesus as Messiah, and serve the needy.
The "shock troops" you speak of are doing the Lord's work, which has been commanded by God. And the world is a sweeter place as a result of it.
I pray that God blesses you with His Truth.
Please count me among those Protestants who would vehemently disagree with that.
As for me, I have no certain idea which way I'm going because: a)I'm not dead yet, and b) I'm not God.
I'm also neither dead nor God, but in Jesus' own words:
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." - John 5:24 (KJV)Be assured.
Polygamy is not permitted of LDS in this dispensation. But, then, you knew that and decided to take a shot, untruthful or not, anyway.....
And is it the Catholics who are the subject of this thread OR American Baptists??
In defense of my Catholic brethren, the Inquisition has been over for quite some time, or haven't you gotten the memo yet?
" Let the Red Cross and Red Crescent bring and distribute the aid needed. And for the record...I'm a Christian.
LOL -- the Red Cross??
I don't know what kind of "Christian" feels they must acquiesce to the corrupt Red Cross, or perhaps even the will of the UN to further administer aid and preside over this "sensitive" situation....
BTW, please feel free to letting fly any "smart a$$" remark you feel appropriate.
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