Christian Missionaries encounter martyrdom
Mosul (AsiaNews/MEC) Five Christian missionaries were attacked by unknown men Monday morning, leaving four dead and one in critical condition. The missionaries were researching a water purification site the eastern side of Mosul, Northern Iraq, when the attacks occured, numbering the second of fatal incidents against foreign Christian workers in Iraq. Larry Elliott (60 years), Jean Elliott (58), Karen Watson (38) died at the scene, with no witness to the murders. Dave McDonnall (28) was transferred to an American hospital within the country, but died of his wounds Tuesday morning. His wife Carrie (26) remains in critical, but stable, condition. The couple were newlyweds. The attack appears to be part of a general pattern of targeting westerncivilians in addition to military personnel
While most foreign missionaries report a warm welcome among the Iraqi people they serve, life-threatening danger is nonetheless real. Pastor Kelley died on February 14th when travelling with a group of fellow American pastors as they returned from a site-seeing trip on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Since the removal of Saddam Hussein from power, Christian churches have the freedom to organize, and are finding that they need increasingly larger buildings to meet the needs of their growing numbers. Previously, the Presbyterian Church was the only legal Protestant church in the country. Now, independent churches have been established, and the Baptist Union of Iraq, founded in October, has five member churches enrolled. The opening ceremony of the National Evangelical Baptist Church in Baghdad, the first Baptist Church in the country, was attended by 700 people. Several Protestant church representatives are hoping to form an Evangelical Alliance, as found in other countries, to facilitate unity between the different denominations as they work for the proclamation of the Gospel in the country. The biggest need, the churches agree, is for leadership training for local Christians, and for practical developmental assistance for the people, like the water purification system the killed missionaries were working on.
In some places of Iraq, native Christians have fled their homes because of intense pressure from religious extremists. In other places, Christians have been welcomed as brothers into a tribe.
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