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.
