Revival Service in KurdistanIn a back street, discreetly hidden from public view, is a two story house surrounded by a wall, typical of the city homes here in Duhok; there is something extraordinary happening here. As
we walk through the entry gate up the stairs to the open front door, we are greeted by a pretty lady with a kind and pleasant smile. She is the pastors wife and she is welcoming those who are arriving into her home to participate in evening worship. This is the home of Pastor Layth Ibrahim, it is also his Church.
I visited here a week ago for the first time with Dr. Bob Doe from Lancaster, PA and Frances Saenz from Rancho Cucamonga, CA. This is the first Evangelical Church I have encountered here. Dr. Doe was led to it by Adil, the man above interpreting for me, he is also the husband of one of the doctors attending Dr. Doe’s Family Health Care seminars at the Ministry of Health here in Duhok.
I have been invited to speak this evening, and I have come, Bible in hand and message in heart,
with that which I have felt that The Lord would have me to speak. I spoke on “The Message Of Reconciliation.” Knowing something of the history of the people I am about to address, I also know that what I have to say will be a challenge for them; yet I am confident that they will respond. I feel this because as I worshiped with them last week, I found them to be “The real deal.”
The place is packed out. The large living room has been modified into the Church sanctuary. Except for the fact that the language is Arabic (the language most Christians here use) you wouldn’t know that you weren’t in one of the Churches our Fellowship has planted around the World.
Everything from the video projected songs, a full worship team, complete with keyboard, to the praise service feels exactly the same. To find something like this here, is like finding an Oasis in the Desert. There is hand clapping, vibrant music, audible praise and exhortation from Pastor Layth, their shepherd, who obviously loves his little folk. It’s a good place.
I tell them my story, how I came to be in 
Kurdistan of Iraq, how that I feel The Lord led me here, to N. Iraq, before I really even understood what N. Iraq was. I tell them that I have been sent to the Kurdish Muslims to preach the Gospel and that I have been working and living among them for almost two years now. These folks are not Kurds, most, I believe, are from Assyrian and Chaldean Christian backgrounds who have been born again and Spirit-filled. Some have fled to Kurdistan under threat of death by the Insurgent Muslim factions down south. Many had lost all that they had.
They have been welcomed to Kurdistan, in fact, the regional government here has gone out of its way to provide homes for the Christians, when many of the Muslims still do without. It is Kurdistan’s way of trying to show America and the World that they want democracy, human rights, civil justice and freedom of religion. Despite this, these folk still walk softly because they have lived with Islam for a long time.
I tell them to consider; What did the disciples think when they saw Christ taken from them and crucified by wicked men? Despite all The Lord had taught them, they saw only death and despair; they didn’t see resurrection. On the road to Emmaus, two sad-faced disciples are joined by a stranger who inquires the reason for their sadness. Are you a stranger to these parts? Don’t you know what’s happened? Our leaders have taken Jesus of Nazareth and crucified him; and we had hoped that it was He who should redeem Israel.
O, you foolish ones, the stranger says, And slow to believe all that the Law and Prophets foretold. Ought not Christ to have suffered and then come into His Glory? Then He began to teach them from the beginning of the Law through the Prophets all that had been spoken concerning Him.
As they arrive at their destination, the stranger makes as if he will go on into the evening alone. The disciples constrain him to spend the night and have supper with them. He accepts their invitation. At supper, the stranger takes bread, breaks it and blesses it. Upon doing this, their eyes are opened and they gasp, “Its The Lord!” He then vanishes from their sight.
I tell these people, that in this world, bad things often happen to good people and when this happens we are usually blinded in some way by the experience so that we can no longer see Christ. We are looking for Him to appear in the familiar manner in which we have become accustomed to perceive Him; we should consider, as C.S. Lewis said in his Chronicles of Narnia, “He is no tame lion.”
Grief, disappointment, failure, persecution, tragedy, all these things and many more have a way of blinding us to the reality of God’s larger purpose. I tell them, How do you think the Early Church felt, in the midst of great revival and blessing to suddenly find themselves being driven from their homes and properties by the great persecutions that came against them? Driven into the ugliness of the Pagan Roman World; yet, they persevered and ultimately changed that World. I believe, I said, that many of you were brought here, to t his time, as I was, forced by circumstances to be here for this very hour. That we have been given one of the greatest opportunities in Human History if we can look beyond our pain, prejudice and the bitterness of past experience and tragedy.
I then shared of a recent experience at the ancient Monastery we took our guests to see at Al Kosh. This is just outside the Kurdistan 
boundary. While our friends explored the Monastery, Mohammed, my Muslim friend and interpreter and I stayed behind, sitting on the wall of the near the entrance overlooking the Ninevah Plain below.
Mohammed on the left in h is Kurdish Uniform
Mohammed was dresse d that day in the typical Kurdish uniform fashion. There was a group of Assyrian Christians standing nearby, a young woman said in Arabic, “Oh, I don’t like Kurds.” She was ignorant of the fact that Mohammed speaks fluent Arabic and that she had just wounded my friend deeply and stirred up sentiments rooted in centuries of conflict between Christians and Muslims. I told the Church, I w ould have invited my friend Mohammed to come here tonight, but he still feels the rejection of that young woman and fears he may receive the same among us. I do not judge that young woman, because I do not know what things she and her people have suffered at the hands of Kurds or others, but today is a new day and we must lay aside our fears and prejudices on both sides and work toward a mutual peace and understanding. One precious older lady raised her hand and asked, “Did you tell this to the Muslims?” Yes, I have, I answered, for two years now from the villages to government officials. This is a new day and God has created an opportunity in Kurdistan of Iraq for the birth of so mething fresh which can bring healing to our World if we will believe and obey Him.
This and many other things I shared, to make my point; at the conclusion, there was a good heartfelt response an d willingness on the part of these folks.
I then prayed for their sick, ministered
individually as I was led by The Lord and these folk responded in faith just as ours do, again, you would think that this was one of our revival services Stateside.
At the conclusion I thanked the people and the Pastor for the privilege of sharing with them and for their openness to hear me; Pastor Layth laughed, as did the congregation, “No Brother, this is only the beginning! You are one of us, you must speak to us again, and again!”
Here, I believe is the open door that I have been seeking; a place to publicly minister the Gospel and some willing folks to help me. Its so strange and wonderful, the way The Lord orchestrates events. These people have no legal church building and they feel pressure from their landlord that his house should not be used as a church. They have written a letter of appeal to the Prime Minister of Kurdistan for land and help to build their own church. I just happen to have returned from a meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Relations (the gate to the Prime Minister’s Office) they have encouraged me to submit a list of my own requests for consideration. With these requests, I will submit Pastor Layths letter under the banner of our legal NGO here.
Lets Believe,
and
Lets See,
what
The Lord Will Do
Jack (in Iraq) Harris
Mission Global Harvest (Iraq)
P.O. Box 1769
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729
