In The Presence of Greatness....
Let me introduce you.....This is Andrew White better known as
The Vicar of Baghdad.
Canon Andrew spoke to our church, The River, on Sunday and I was spell-bound!
Andrew White is one of a tiny handful of people trusted by virtually every side in the complex Middle East. When political and military solutions fail, Andrew offers a different approach, speaking as a man of faith to men of faith.
Compassionate and shrewd, gifted in human relationships, he has been deeply involved in the rebuilding of Iraq.
Andrew started The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME)
and England presented the Foundation and Andrew with the
2008 Prize for Peace Award....
This is not a 'token' endorsement....Andrew has actually been kidnapped, (ransom paid)
thrown into prison rooms with dismembered body parts, (fresh he said)
lived through loss unmentionable....
I salute you...Andrew White.....
A Great Man of Faith.....and ACTION!
Below: With General David Petraeus in 2007.
On Andrew's left is his right-hand man, Samir...
on the generals right stands Col. Mike Hoyt and beyond him, Peter Maki and another general.
St George's Church in Baghdad with a few of the people and four bodyguards
St George's Church in Baghdad with a few of the people and four bodyguards
from Iraqi special forces...
With Pope John Paul II in 1992..
Andrew White receives many summons to the Vatican.
I quote Andrew for picture below:
"In the summer of 2008, six of the young people from St George's
were able to come to Britain with me.
Three of them stayed at my house in Hampshire, and three at the home of some local friends, Robert and Tanya, who have a swimming pool, a tennis court,
a lake and a large collection of vintage cars.
They had a wonderful time.
They travelled around the country - in Oxfordshire they were given lunch by Nina Prentice, the
wife of the current British ambassador to Iraq.They even spent two days at the House of Lords .
When they returned with me to Baghdad, one of these young people said to me:
'You took us to heaven. Now we are back in hell.'
I told him that one day Iraq will be heaven again. And I believe it will be...one day...
After all, the Garden of Eden was in Mesopotamia....Iraq"...
See the article below in the UK Times online which gives a better summary of the vastness of involvement by this great 'Man of Faith'
Andrew as he spoke to our church on Sunday...
Oh, by the way, Andrew has MS and was declared 'medically unfit' in 1998 to serve in his church in England so....he went to Baghdad....the rest is history!
I would like to quote from Andrew's 'now' words....
"Recently, I spent two days speaking at a small conference for Episcopalian US Army chaplains in Iraq and introduced them to some of their fellow Christians from my St. George church.
At that meeting, one of the chaplains asked what was so special about our church.
Everybody replied with the same answer: love.
We love our Lord and Master, we love each other - and I love my people and they love me.
I never thought I would love my congregation as I do.
We are surrounded by violence and the tools of violence, but when we come to church we come to worship and to love. There is a lot of laughter - sometimes at my expense! - as well as tears.
The fact is that we have the biggest Christian congregation in Iraq.
Currently, it is growing at a rate of a hundred a month and it now numbers 1,800,
including 500 children.
In June 2008, the new bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf, Michael Lewis, visited Iraq.
One of his duties was to open our new medical and dental clinic at our church, St. George.
The kidnappers in Iraq had targeted professionals in particular, and by now over 80% of Baghdad's doctors had either been killed or fled the country.
As a result, it had become very difficult for people to get treatment.
So, we set up a free clinic with funding from the US Army, with three doctors and three dentists - one of them Jewish - all from the neighborhood.
Now, people come to church for the good of their bodies as well as their spirits.
Most of our patients are not even Christian, but it is to the church they come for help
and there is no discrimination." (Quoted words of Canon Andrew White)
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