American Baptist Group Hopes To Convert Iraqi Muslims
Lisa Ashkenaz Croke | 06.01.2004 06:31 | Anti-militarism | World
While coalition forces need to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis, an American Southern Baptist group plans to win Iraqi souls.
To that effect, the Baptists' International Mission Board (IMB) is mobilizing missionaries to convert Muslims from a "false" religion based on the teachings of a "demon-obsessed pedophile," as a former IMB leader once called the Prophet Mohammad.
Jon Hanna, an evangelical minister and missionary from Ohio, told the Telegraph UK last week that Islam's denial of Jesus as divine qualifies the religion as "false." Citing the New Testament, Hanna said, "Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist."
Despite the fact that this defines almost 70 percent of the world's population, access to Iraq's 23 million plus unsaved souls is literally an answer to IMB's prayers, presenting a unique but possibly brief opportunity.
"A U.S. passport is all you need to get in, until the new Iraqi government takes over," said Hanna. "What we thought was a two-year window, originally, has narrowed down to a six month window."
Under the pretense of providing humanitarian aid, the Baptists come to Iraq with food, medical services and Bibles; IMB holds that the first two items are "a conduit" for the latter. As one missionary who met with Iraqi children said in an IMB news bulletin, "...I could tell some of them have not eaten well. But their biggest need is to know the love of Christ."
Jon Hanna, an evangelical minister and missionary from Ohio, told the Telegraph UK last week that Islam's denial of Jesus as divine qualifies the religion as "false." Citing the New Testament, Hanna said, "Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist."
Despite the fact that this defines almost 70 percent of the world's population, access to Iraq's 23 million plus unsaved souls is literally an answer to IMB's prayers, presenting a unique but possibly brief opportunity.
"A U.S. passport is all you need to get in, until the new Iraqi government takes over," said Hanna. "What we thought was a two-year window, originally, has narrowed down to a six month window."
Under the pretense of providing humanitarian aid, the Baptists come to Iraq with food, medical services and Bibles; IMB holds that the first two items are "a conduit" for the latter. As one missionary who met with Iraqi children said in an IMB news bulletin, "...I could tell some of them have not eaten well. But their biggest need is to know the love of Christ."
Lisa Ashkenaz Croke
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