vicar of baghadad visits highfield
Andrew White the Anglican Chaplain to Baghadad, now popularly known as the Vicar of Baghdad recently visited Highfield. He spoke about the continuing insecurity and terrorism which blight the lives of ordinary Iraqis and the life of the St Georges Church, where he is Rector.
St Georges runs a medical and dental clinic, medical laboratory and school and is in the process of building a kindergarten. In addition to supporting the congregation of the church the clinic provides services to anyone in need and Canon Andrew said: "One of the key ways we can show the love of Christ is through the clinic by: filling their teeth; giving them ECG's and delivering their babies.
The church is growing organically, with people choosing to follow Jesus despite the often severe consequences for those who leave Islam. Andrew said: "Last year I baptised 30 Muslims and 11 were killed in the following week. We have a lot of Muslims who come to the church and I tell them all quite honestly if you are baptised you might be killed. Most of them still say 'We want to follow Jesus, we want to be Christians'.
The cost of running St Georges Church and the educational and medical services it provides now amounts to around $170,000 per month, a sum which is raised through donations to the Foundation for Reconciliation and Relief in the Middle East. The website of the Foundation is www.frrme.org.
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