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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 countrys largest Protestant denomination,
and the Rev. Franklin Grahams Samaritans 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 worlds 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 thats 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 Samaritans Purse, located in
Boone, N.C. "We do not deny the name of Christ. We believe in sharing him in
deed and in word. Well 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. "Its not going to be like what you
might see in other countries where theres 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 dont think so. If thats
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 Islams Allah is not the same as the God worshipped by Christians. "And I
will tell you Allah is not Jehovah, either. Jehovahs 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 Franklins 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 Samaritans 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, theres no budget for the effort because its so fluid, said Jeremy
Blume, a Samaritans 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 its 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 moments 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, well 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 youve shared Gods love in a real physical way. That
also raises the question as to why you did that. When people ask you, you
explain that its 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."
