wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Bombs cant keep Baghdad Christians out of pews,

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Note #8455 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Bombs cant keep Baghdad Christians out of pews, spokesmen say
04357
August 6, 2004

Fearful but prayerful

Bombs cant keep Baghdad Christians out of pews, spokesmen say

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE  It will be business as usual in Baghdads Christian churches
this Sunday, Elder Ayad Al Saka says.

Yes, yes, people will be coming to church on Sunday, he tells an
interviewer by telephone. There will be an ordinary service. This morning, I
was in the church. There was Bible study; there were the children for Sunday
school. I was there with the church council. We stayed for more than two
hours.

Got through the whole agenda, Al Saka adds, including the planning of a
celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the construction of the sanctuary
of the Assyrian Evangelical Presbyterian Church (AEPC), a congregation that
has worshipped in central Baghdad for 120 years.

Al Saka says he thinks the program may be held this coming Sunday, and hes
expecting normal attendance, despite a series of bombs that exploded during
worship last Sunday outside four churches in Baghdad and one in Mosul.

He asks a Presbyterian News Service reporter to tell his pastor, the Rev.
Younan Shiba, not to worry. Shiba, a guest at the recent 216th General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), is visiting churches in the United
States.

Yes, Al Saka says, police are outside the church building, fulfilling
promises of protection offered before the smoke cleared last Sunday evening,
killing 11 people and injuring dozens  mostly Christians, but also some
Muslims who were hit by flying glass and shrapnel and dangling power lines.

What Iraqis are saying is that it isnt Iraqis who master-minded the attacks,
but outsiders, extremists opposed to the U.S. occupation and determined to
show that it cannot stop lawlessness, looting, raping and robbery  and now,
terror. They apparently mean to drive a wedge between the Muslim and
Christian communities, to plunge the country further into anarchy.

Shiba, the itinerating pastor, isnt so easily calmed. He says he is worried
 worried enough to move his wife and two daughters into a different
apartment after their home was burglarized twice in two months. He says he
has been worried about chaos at home, and now hes worried about terror.

Fear is a constant, an ever-present factor in this kind of attack, he says.
Theres fear that there is more to come.

Shiba offered to return home more than two weeks ago, when an elder called to
tell him that a rocket had hit a 70-member, AEPC-launched new-church
development in the Baghdad area, causing minor damage but no injuries.

Last Sundays phone call was more devastating; this time, there was a body
count. The elder who called said hed lost two members of his family, young
newlywed cousins.

Shiba was told to stay put, to let the U.S. church know about the Iraqi
church.

Theres been a generalized fear of going out in the streets, to the
markets, he says. Now the thresholds of sacred spaces have been trespassed.
Im afraid  it will be more difficult to keep people coming to worship.

A Presbyterian in Mosul who asked that he not be identified by name said
attendance was normal when his congregation met last Sunday evening and again
on Wednesday. Some people were afraid, but considered coming to worship an
act of faith, he said.

No church here has asked for extra security, he added. Some of the youth
have volunteered to stand watch outside, but they wont be armed.

Iraqis say the Christian community has been comforted by loud condemnations
of the attacks by Muslim clerics.

Weve lived together for thousands of years, one man said, referring to
Iraqi Christians and Muslims, so there is no need to begin dialogue. ... I
dont even think there are two communities. ... There is an Iraqi community 
and we will continue dialoguing to solve the Iraqi problem.

He said he does worry that extremist groups may attack a mosque and blame it
on Christians.

Greg Rollins, of Vancouver, Canada, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Team
(CPT) in Baghdad, said its members arent sure what strategy they will use
Sunday in accompanying Iraqi Christians.

CPT is global organization that tries to stop violence by getting in the way
of it in hot spots like Colombia, Palestine and Iraq. It also documents
human-rights violations. The Baghdad group was the first to report inhumane
treatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops.

Were not sure whether to go to the churches that have not been bombed,
since they are more likely targets than those that were, he said, or
whether it is best to go to the ones whove been bombed and express
solidarity. Those are the options on the table.

Rollins and fellow CPTer Sheila Provencher were worshipping at St. Raphaels
Catholic Church when the first bomb exploded last Sunday at 6:25 p.m. at an
Armenian church about a quarter-mile away. Peggy Gish and Doug Pritchard were
at St. Yousefs  Chaldean church in the same neighborhood.

That bomb destroyed three cars and shattered windows for 500 yards around,
including the churchs stained-glass windows.

Pritchard, CPTs Toronto director, said he and the others will be in church
again this Sunday.

Well go as we always do, he said.

Shiba will be heading home next week, when his U.S. tour ends.

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