Dear Friends,
Greetings from Baghdad.
I was travelling back here on Monday and as usual I was excited. It had been a good Christmas and it was wonderful being with my family, but now I was going back to my people.
I stopped for a moment and thought about where I was going to. It is the most dangerous place in the world. Our people are being slaughtered, massacred and targeted. It is a place where people live in total fear.
Yet I want to be there. I want to be with my people.
I stopped again and thought why I was so happy. My mind went back to the College Chapel at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, where I trained for ordination.
Behind the Altar there was a banner. It said: "He who has called you will not fail you." Every day, I saw those words. Now, twenty years on those same words remain etched in my mind.
The most important thing is that we are where G-d has called us to be. It is the very issue I have preached on recently. Daniel was where G-d had called him to be. He was from Jerusalem, but G-d called him to Babylon, Iraq.
I am not from here, but this is where G-d has called me.
And despite everything, despite the heartbreak and trauma, I am so happy. Because wherever G-d has called you to, he will equip you, and he will not fail you.
I arrive at the Church and once again the security has increased around us. There are more bomb barricades, there is more razor wire.
The place looks awful - but I am so happy to be here.
He who called me to Baghdad has given me the joy to remain.
God also gave Daniel the skills he would need. It was to interpret the dreams of the King. Daniel's needs were provided for, he was equipped to do what he was called to, and he was highly favoured.
When we are where G-d has called us, he will give us joy in service.
But we must have enough money to do our job here. Running Iraq's biggest church and clinic is not cheap, and it is always
a challenge to know how we will get by each month.
Last week, we did not have sufficient funds to see us through January.
Then, on Sunday, I was taking services at the New Generation Church, Sidcup, and at St Paul's Howell Hill, Cheam, in the evening.
The offerings from those services, so vital and so greatly appreciated, added up to the precise amount we needed.
Once again the Lord provided.
I often worry why the Lord provides so late, but he does, and he promises to provide our needs according to His riches in glory.
The Lord always provides just what we need. And he does it through you, our friends.
I tell you this because you are here with me. You are the people who enable me to be here, and I am so grateful.
I would not be here without you. Thank you.
With every blessing,
Andrew
Canon Andrew White
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