Alliance general secretary, Iraqi Christians, call for prayer on February 23
Amman, Jordan, February 21 2003
A team of four people from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches has just finished a pastoral visit to Iraq.
The message they heard from both Muslims and Christians was summed up in the words of Archbishop Emmanuel Karim Delly, auxiliary archbishop of the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate in Baghdad: "Join us in prayer".
Archbishop Delly asked the team to join with Christians in Iraq in praying for peace on Sunday, February 23. The prayers will take place at 5 pm local time. This will be 9 am Eastern Standard Time and 2 pm GMT.
Dr Setri Nyomi, who led the visit, assured their Iraqi hosts that millions of Christians and people of other faiths were already praying along with them.
Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance, called on all churches and all people of faith to join in this time of prayer on Sunday, and to continue in prayer and action to oppose the forces pressing for war.
"When Iraqi Christians call for prayer, they are not simply asking the world to pray for them," he noted. "They are praying for people in all parts of the world."
"Iraqis are praying for world peace," Nyomi said. "As we join them, let us pray that war may be averted and that people everywhere may live in peace with justice."
