October 21, 2002

Notes from Iraq by Marthame and Elizabeth Sanders

[Bethlehem, West Bank] Marthame and Elizabeth Sanders are Americans working in the West Bank. Last year they attended the Fifth Annual Christian Conference hosted by the churches of Iraq. I thought you might be interested in their report.

"But, even after months of ecumenical work with different Christian denominations in Palestine, we were unprepared for the richness of the Christian community in Iraq (5% of the population, with more in the diaspora). We met Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant - Greek, Roman, Chaldean, Adventist, Syrian, and Assyrian Christians. Pondering this experience, braced in the hot wind, we felt like we were experiencing our own Pentecost."

http://www.fpc-wilmette.org/sanders/updates/update12.html (our reflection on our trip)

http://www.fpc-wilmette.org/sanders/may01.html#iraq (our journal from that trip)