woman covered with a scarf at the local art shop in downtown Baghdad. The man, possibly in his 40’s, survived the front line and its horrors during the war against Iran.
He is one of many who lost their youth in the battles of Saddam Hussein that killed at least one million Iraqis. Yet some of these war veterans tell BosNewsLife they found new hope in Christ, who they claim saved their lives.
"It’s a great thing to believe in God, He will save you," says 27-year old Emil Saroian, who served at a military medical centre in Baghdad during the latest United States-lead war against Iraq. "In the darkest situation I was praying. I was praying that I would be saved in this war," adds Saroian in Baghdad’s Armenian Catholic Church, where he assists the priest.
"I thought for a while I would be dead as an American bomb exploded near my unit." Despite the relentless attacks he was not angry at the U.S. "I was even happy when they bombed us," he claims.
"GOD SAVED US"
"Because Saddam Hussein was leading a brutal regime." A week before the fall of Baghdad, the young men was able to "run away" from the army. "I did not want to serve in the army of Saddam Hussein. I could hide with my uncle, yes God saved us," says Saroian.
His views are shared by Evangelical musician and United Bible Society official Nova Hagopian (33), a former soldier who became a "born again Christian" during the 1991 Gulf War. "I had three days off from the front when my mother asked me to go to (a Protestant) church," he recalls.
"There was a foreign evangelist who urged people to accept Jesus Christ. I came forward to raise my hand and to accept Jesus (as Personal Saviour and Lord). After that, they asked me to play the piano and keyboard. I am still doing that today."
SADDAM WOULD KILL
Yet, Hagopian had still some fighting to do. "I returned as a Christian to the front lines at the border of Saudi Arabia. It was impossible not to go, as Saddam Hussein would kill you." He wanted to surrender to American forces, but his comrades warned him of land mines.
However Hagopian suggests that God did not forget him and his unit. "We managed to escape to the cities. We traveled three days, I still feel the pain in my knee. In the end we arrived safely in Baghdad, after the government ordered us to return (to the capital)."
That does not mean however that the war veterans of Christ have no difficult moments and memories. "I can’t sleep at night," admits Christian shop owner Naman Louis, 45. "I spend my best years fighting. I hated it. First nearly a decade in the war against Iran. Than, against Kuwait. Now I am old, but want the best for my family," he says.
ROCKETS AND GUNS
"I was a soldier, I did not want to become an officer and never wanted to serve Saddam Hussein. Christians should not fight," explains Louis, a Catholic. "But I was forced to do it. I knew how to use anti tank rockets, machine guns, and how to drive tanks," he adds, while showing his rifle hidden between some beer cans.
While Louis still searches for a more personal relationship with Jesus Christ, he does not believe God is far away. "God is watching over me. He has protected me, I am not afraid…"
The wondering war hero walking and searching between the trash cans of Baghdad seems not yet to have this spiritual joy. But evangelicals like Hagopian observe a "hunger for the Gospel" in Iraq, which they hope will eventually heal this wounded nation.
