WSCF testimony on the importance of prayer in times of war from Iraq given by Youhanna Kamal Shawky

The following testimony was given by Youhanna Kamal Shawky at the WCC central committee on the World Day of Prayer for students.
The first part of this report tells of how youth in the Middle EAst managed to set up a leadership workshop in Iraq. The second half tells the stories of the young people themselves, how important it is for them to continue praying even when faced with terrible circumstances.

A Visiting Team from WSCF went to Iraq in November of 2002. This visit is what started a relationship between youth in Iraq and WSCF-Middle East. As a result of that experience Iraqi youth were introduced to the work of the organization. In an effort to fulfil the requests to establish and maintain a relationship with the organization, youth were invited to participate in annual conferences held in Syria , Jordan and Egypt.
The idea of a Leadership conference for Iraqi youth had already surfaced. In order to make the conference come to fruition, planning began. Iraqi youth met with Regional Secretary Elias Halabi to establish what type of conference the youth would be interested in having. Based on that meeting and information gathered from church leaders in Iraq a committee was formed and worked together to set the agenda for the conference.
The committee faced difficulty in maintaining contact with one another. It was virtually impossible for the team in Iraq to send and receive email, instead we had to rely on mobile phones. A local committee was established to coordinate with the Regional Office. The committee was comprised of participants from the past Conferences. When the areas of interest were selected the tasks of the desk was to identify speakers and trainers. Local preparatory meetings were held in Lebanon and Egypt to introduce the speakers and Trainers to the Iraqi reality and give them an introduction about the participants backgrounds and their expectations. The Regional desk insured the coordination between the groups in Lebanon and Egypt and specific material was gathered and adapted to the needs expressed.

The next business was obtaining travel permits for the Iraqi participants from the local authorities in Iraq as well permission from Jordanian officials. 31 participants were invited to attend and of that number 29 were able to participate.

The logistical planning was the simplest of the entire process. Though the entire process was painstaking, the conference was a monumental success.

Here is some Feelings and Feedback from the youth who participated in the Leadership programs :

Dina says :
“The Importance of Prayer during war.
What amazes me is that the experience of prayer during war time. Since the war started I noticed that people pray more and more and they turn to God. I think this is a good thing and very beautiful. For example one day during the war the shelling was very hard and close to my home. During that time we were sitting and playing cards with some relatives. During dinner a strong explosive shook the floor beneath us. I noticed that everyone was heading to the corridor and praying. Praying loud even screaming. They were expressing their fear and surrendering to God.

During the war and up till now there were many threats that the church building would be bombed. Never the less we find all people heading to the church each day. The church appears as if it is a feast. People are filling the churches, they meet and exchange ideas and thank God that they are still alive at this time.”

Mina says :
“One day I was heading to the college. Our college is situated one block from the Red Cross Center. Suddenly an explosion happened and I felt panic and I didn't k now what was happening. Dust and broken glass was everywhere around us. I managed to survive but it was like a miracle. However, one question remains in my head. Why an organization like Red Cross is targeted and it has nothing to do with the situation in Iraq.”
Sargon says :
“After the war I am working for an NGO. They asked me to go to the exchange office and bring some cash. When I finished and I was heading to my car I was attacked by robbers. They started shooting at me and they wanted to rob me. I jumped in the car and drove like crazy. They followed me and kept shooting at me in the car. I don't know how I survived and got away from them.”

Rita says :
“The war period was very difficult for me. My mother and elder sister traveled to Syria to apply for an emigration Visa to Canada. The war started they were forced to stay there. I stayed for 8 months with my father and brothers. This was a very tough period for me. I am not used to the idea of being separated from my family members. Especially my mother and sister in a difficult period like war. Now what is making the situation more difficult is that I have to work in a very difficult situation in addition to that.”

Nora says :
“After the cease fire, I thought that everything was gone. We lost everything, even our beloved church. We were not able to access our church because it was in a very dangerous zone. All our activities stopped, all clubs were shut down until further notice. After the war we felt things will never go back to live again. With the help of God I was able to overcome this reality, I started by excepting it and moving on with my life. Being at this conference gave me knew hope and knew will to live and revive many good things in my life. I want such activities to continue endlessly."

At Last ,
What is amazing is that despite all these challenges and despite the reality these students live in they succeeded to form the Ecumenical Youth Committee IRAQ which is now working trying to relieve the hard reality that youth is living in.
We pray for them all and pray for peace all over the world .