Atlanta-Based Ministry Trains, Equips Emerging Leaders in Iraqi Church
by Allie Martin
March 3, 2004
(AgapePress) - Iraq's newfound freedom of religion has created an urgent need in the Middle East nation's emerging underground Church.While the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime has given Iraq's people religious freedom, a lack of church leaders and available resources could hinder the growth of the Church in that country. That has prompted EQUIP, an Atlanta-based organization founded by John Maxwell, to provide leadership training for church leaders and pastors in the war-torn nation.
Pastor Jule, who can only be identified by his first name for security reasons, says more training for Christians is desperately needed. "The Lord has given us a big vision, and we really feel that we can't fulfill this vision without a big base of leadership within the Church," he says.
In the capital city of Baghdad, there are currently only a dozen pastors for five-million residents. EQUIP is partnering with other U.S. ministries in hopes of assisting the exploding Church in Iraq. Jule says this kind of support for believers in the region is both essential and extremely significant.
"The priority, what we need in the Church to be growing -- especially as we are a new church -- is to have leaders," the Iraqi pastor says, "so it's very important what EQUIP is doing around the world, especially in the Middle East, and especially now in Iraq."
Equip is working to train 25,000 Christians in the targeted areas of Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq. In 2002, the ministry's board of directors approved the launch of a six-year global initiative called the "Million Leaders Mandate," with the objective of training a million international Christians leaders and equipping them with ministry resources by the year 2008. Currently the organization is training more than 235,000 leaders worldwide.
