November 2, 2007: This page is presently under reconstruction. Previous calls for prayer for Christians in Iraq and Afghanistan on January 15, 2005 and January 15, 2006, went largely unheeded. The results of our laziness in prayer on this matter can be seen in the news every day now. While much of the information on this page is now obsolete—since much has changed in a very dangerous direction since 2006— the need is still real. The only thing that will end the slaughter and disaster in Iraqand Afghanistan is if Christians here recognize and pray in unity with our brothers there. Only God can bring a positive outcome out of this!
If you would like to contribute new updated material for this page, or to promoe a day of prayer fr our brethren in Iraq and Afghanistan in your church or area, PLEASE write me!!!
Numbers: The best estimates indicate something in the range 800,000 to 1,000,000 Christians now live in Iraq, with at least that many Christians of Iraqi origin now living in exile. Many Christians fled Iraq for economic reasons during the reign of Saddam Hussein, and the pace of the exodus has increased since violent persecution of Christians (see below) started in earnest in August 2004.
Denominational flavors: About half, or a little more, of the Christians in Iraq are Chaldean (Eastern Rite) Catholics. Most of the rest are members of communities that belong to the Assyrian Church of the East (Nestorian), the Syrian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox or Syriac Orthodox (Jacobite) churches. At least before the war, churches in “Arab Evangelical” denominations had about 15,000 members in Iraq ( I have only one source for this number, and it is dated 2001). There are also a few churches in Iraq associated with international denominational bodies that also include American mainline and liberal Protestant churches, but their numbers are much smaller than the Evangelicals.
History: The Assyrian, Catholic and Orthodox churches in Iraq have a very long history. By tradition, the Apostle Thomas and two of the other original Apostles went into Assyria, then a separate kingdom on the border between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire (Persia), around 50 to 55 A.D., and preached the Gospel to the Assyrians (who speak Aramaic). Their mission was so successful that a subsequent King of Assyria was converted and declared the Assyrians Christians by law, making Assyria the first whole nation to convert to Christianity en masse. While this tradition is difficult to verify in detail, it certainly is true that the Assyrians had a flourishing church during the original Apostles’ lifetime (see I Peter 5:13), that they were the first whole nation to convert to Christianity, and that the Assyrian churches had a very active missionary program throughout Asia until the 13th or 14th Century. They planted churches that still exist in Iran and India, and Marco Polo found Assyrian churches in China. The Assyrian state church, prior to the rise of Islam, chose the Nestorian view of Jesus’ nature, which Rome viewed as a heresy, for political reasons, so that the Persians would not view them as an arm of the Roman Empire. However, particularly after the rise of Islam, this choice led to division between those who followed the Nestorian position and those who followed Rome, a division which was made much worse by the Crusades. The missionary period of the Assyrian church was decisively ended by Timurlane’s conquest of the whole area in 1394-97. The Arab Evangelical and mainline churches in Iraq have a much shorter history, and appear, unfortunately, to have grown mostly out of "conversions" from the Catholic churches rather than the Islamic population.
Persecution: Ever since the war began, there have been sporadic reports of random murders of Christians and of threats against Christians. While most Iraqi Moslems have lived at peace with Christians for centuries, radical Islamists view Christians, their prosperity and their non-Islamic lifestyles as a threat to Islamic community morals. The radicals also view all Christians as allies of America. Church bombings and widespread anti-Christian violence started in August 2004 and have been increasing since then. November 3, 2005: There have been reports that violence specifically against Christians has been diminishing somewhat over the course of this year, as the small terrorist minority has been focusing its limited resources on targets associated with the political election process. However, persecution has only slowed somewhat, not stopped. Moreover, with the recent adoption of an Islamic constitution which contains no protection for non-Islamic minorities, it is feared that once violence over the government formation process calms down, all three of the major groups participating in the government will turn their attention to the persecution of Christians.
Disclaimer: None of the organizations or information sources linked below are affiliated with this site or the meeting announced therein in any way. None of them have endorsed what we are doing. The links are presented only as sources of information and as prompts to prayer. All of these information sources are also somewhat partisan. Under the existing circumstances, totally objective sources are simply impossible to find. There are numerous sources about the Assyrian Christians in Iraq (and Iran), but very few about the tiny Christian community in Afghanistan or about the other Christian groups in Iraq.
:
Persecution.org (International Christian Concern): Report on Christian persecution in Iraq
Christian Solidarity Worldwide: Iraq.
The Joshua project, information about many people groups, including those of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Operation World, another resource containing much information about many countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Christians in them.
Persecution.org (International Christian Concern).
Christianinty Today, April 2005, "Longing to be Heard," on the plight of Iraqi christians.
Christianity Today, April 2005, "The Risks of Regime Change."
World Evangelical Alliance November 4, 2004 update regarding persecution of Christians in Iraq
Pray for Iraq, also contains information about Iraq, its Christians, and its provisional ruling council.
Christianity Today article: Post-War Iraq: Christian responses.
The Chaldean Church.Assyrian Christian urges prayer for peace.
The Christian Church in the Arab World
Iraq Interim Government, official site.
Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East.
Network for Good: Iraq, links to relief organizations.
Christianity Today Weblog: Iraq's Christian Exodus.
Assyrian International News Agency.
CNN Report: CIA paints bleak picture of Iraq (December 7, 2004).