Story number 1 for 21 Feb 2003

(Iraq)–We begin today with a look at the impending showdown between the United States and Iraq. The footprint of hostilities is falling heavy on believers who are living in the Middle East. Open Doors’ founder Brother Andrew expresses his concerns about the church’s continued work in the event of war. “There are Christians there. We work there regularly; we have big Bible exhibitions in Iraq, and all that would come to a standstill if war breaks out and it will make it worse for the surrounding countries where there are far less Christians and where there’s far less democracy than in Iraq.” Brother Andrew describes the need of the Iraqi church as a call to action. “Why shouldn’t we, as Christians, exert our influence in reaching out to the Christians by going there, finding out ‘what can we do?’ We may not be able to stop an outbreak of war, but at least we can go there, make friends and say, ‘I’ll pray for you’ and ‘Let’s see how we can support each other’.”