Recent training in Iraq took an unexpected turn, but God moved
Get to know Mark
- Background: Producer, Director of Production
- How long working at MEM: 11 months
- Favourite film: The Shack
In February, my colleague Samy and I travelled to northern Iraq, to train members of a church in using media for evangelism and discipleship. Sadly, the Iran War broke out while we were there, which complicated the training. However, we learnt that Iraqi Christians experience incredibly deep peace, even in the midst of conflict.
The Iran War began just two days into the media training. Alarmingly, a nearby church was hit by a missile, resulting in a two-day pause. The airport – our exit route – was also closed due to missile strikes*, so we couldn’t get home to North Africa.
*In Iraq, militia groups backed by Iran are carrying out strikes on US interests, including the local airport.
“…a missile flew right overhead, right past our hotel. Samy and I ran towards each other, terrified for our lives.“
Stuck in northern Iraq, Samy and I decided to finish the training, but it was a hard time for everyone. The church has 30-50 members attending each Sunday and we were equipping the pastor and seven others in media skills for evangelism. Four team members had to drop out. As for me and Samy, we were far away from our families – and they were very concerned about our safety. One afternoon, a missile flew right overhead, right past our hotel. Samy and I ran towards each other, terrified for our lives.
“The video was viewed 2,000 times on Facebook and 25 people returned to the church the next Sunday.”
On Sunday, only five people came to the church service, as the congregation was scared. As part of the training, we helped the pastor and his team create a video, encouraging them to come back. They oversaw the audio, lights, production and more.
The video was viewed 2,000 times on Facebook and 25 people returned to the church the next Sunday. Even people who don’t go to the church messaged the pastor, saying how encouraged they were by the video and thanking him for it.
Many years of conflict in Iraq (since 2002) mean that Iraqis are behind in media use and skills. We’d been trying to visit this church for about five years, but had been prevented by regional instability. They have been telling us that they feel very behind in media ministry and need our support. They even had a camera and audio mixer they wanted to use to share the gospel, but didn’t know how to use them.
“So, we sat down and prayed, asking God to give us this peace.“
This church wants to reach the Kurdish community with the gospel, and there are so many groups across the Middle East like them. God gave us wisdom to know how to support them during such a terrible time. But they also blessed us. Firstly, the Iraqi food they served us (I haven’t had to eat since.) Secondly, the team – particularly the pastor – had such peace in the middle of incredible danger. I kept on saying to myself, “I don’t know how they have such peace!” and it really made me and Samy ask ourselves a lot of questions. So, we sat down and prayed, asking God to give us this peace.
God answered our prayers, and we definitely felt peace on our way home to North Africa. In fact, we really enjoyed the journey home, which took over 24 hours by car and two flights.
Since being home, we’ve talked with the pastor lots. In April, he pointed out that, although we’ve helped them to gain media skills and work out their vision and target audience, they still have the war. We’ll need to go and visit them again, to get their skills further up to scratch. But, until then, we have to wait and pray for more peace in the region.