July 4th in Iraq – Of Freedom (part one)

There’s something poetic about spending America’s Independence Day in Iraq.

After hearing the stories from our host pastor last night about the eight times he has been hauled off to jail for preaching the Gospel (each time facing death as the outcome), it gave an added dimension of understanding and appreciation for the many freedoms we enjoy and take for granted in the United States.

On one occasion, the police insultingly transported this pastor in the cramped trunk of their car to be subsequently interrogated for six long hours. During his detention other officers ridiculed and taunted him to try to evoke a physical response that could be met with violence or execution. He held calm and steady and was later released. No doubt they were impressed by his fortitude of character and patience.

This same pastor also shared with us about the time he was ordered to be captured and killed by Muslim extremists. For a number of days prior to his abduction by radicals, he received death threats delivered to his home, warning him that he would die if he "converted any more people."

Undaunted, he kept faithfully going about the Lord’s work.

The knock on the door came late at night while his family was sleeping. Two men grabbed him tightly by the arms and said that he was being taken to their cell leader. These men were known to torture and kill in the name of Islam.

For a split second the pastor thought to himself, "This is the last night of my life," and sent up a quick prayer to God. He immediately felt a sense of peace envelope him and the Lord telling him to not resist.

He was led from his home and thrown into a waiting van where he was told to kneel while the men resumed the firm clutches upon his arms.

The pastor started praising God out loud. With each "I adore you, God...I love you, God...God, you are mighty and wonderful...You are amazing, God," the grips on his arms slowly weakened and relented.

The words of exaltation disquieted the two men and they entered into a rational dialog with the pastor. The pastor explained that he wasn’t about the task of converting people from Islam to Christianity; that it wasn’t just a case of targeting and shaming Islam. Instead, he was simply letting people know about Jesus, the same Jesus revered by Muslims but who did – and is – more than they comprehend or acknowledge.

The pastor proceeded to explain about the purity of Jesus and His sinless life and then challenged them, "If you can show me any man more just and holier, please do so and I will follow him." Unable to respond with a viable alternative, and shaken by the pastor’s steadfastness and loving-kindness, they released him.

The pastor would later learn that these two men were asked by their leader, "Where is the pastor? I demanded that you bring him to me personally" and that they replied, "He knew more about God and loved God far beyond our understanding and reasoning. We had to let him go."

These two men subsequently fled for their lives to Europe. Their actions that night took even their own freedom in Iraq away from them. The hunters became the hunted.

(Image: An Iraqi believer takes communion as an act of worship)

Comments

[Marcello]

What an amazing story. True worship is redefined every day by people like this Pastor. In the hands of God we find life, true life. Praise God, Praise God, Praise God!!!!!!