Christian peacemakers held in Iraq

Throughout Advent, Christians around the world prayed for the safety and release of four men being held in Iraq, for their families, and for those responsible for their detention. They were picked up in Baghdad on Nov. 26. At the time of writing, no further news about their fate was available, even though the deadline for demands pertaining to their release had passed.

The four, Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, American Tom Fox, 54, and Briton Norman Kember, 74, are members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT).

Canadian Mennonite University student Jennifer Braun of Rosenfeld, Man. lights a candle for the four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams being held in Iraq at a Dec. 2 prayer service at the university. During the service, students, staff and community people sang, listened to Scripture and prayed for the safety and release of Harmeet Singh Sooden, James Loney, Norman Kember and Tom Fox. The service was organized by the student-run Peace and Social Awareness Committee.

CPT has been present in Iraq since October 2002, providing first-hand, independent reports from the region, working with detainees of both U.S. and Iraqi forces, and training others in non-violent intervention and human rights documentation.

“Despite how difficult the situation is, the friends of Jim, Harmeet, Tom and Norman are called to see the people holding them as hosts. Hospitality is a deep belief of the Muslim faith,” said William Payne from the CPT office in Toronto. “We are called to see their humanity, to see them as brothers and not to demonize them.”

Loney, who has been on three missions in Iraq, including one that claimed the life of fellow CPTer George Weber in a road accident, was leading the Nov. 2005 delegation when the four went missing.

The incident thrust Christian Peacemaker Teams into the media spotlight. Prayer vigils were quickly organized, and statements of support from a variety of churches, organizations and leaders, including Muslims, were issued to the group that had seized the men.

CPT spokesperson Robin Buyers reported a “noticeable” upswing in the number of people interested in signing on with the group. “They have now learned of an organization that does walk the talk and takes the risks that are associated with walking the talk.”

Buyers said there is a rigorous screening and training process for applicants.

CPT is a program of Mennonites, Brethren and Quakers founded in Chicago in 1986 following a challenge from Ronald J. Sider in a sermon at the Mennonite World Conference assembly in Strasbourg, France in 1984.

A powerful sermon

In an article published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Dec. 4, 2005, Harold Jantz recalled that sermon. Of all the addresses given at the Strasbourg event, “Sider’s was easily the most electrifying,” he wrote.

“Over the past 450 years of martyrdom, immigration and missionary proclamation, the God of shalom has been preparing us Anabaptists for a late 20th century rendezvous with history,” Sider had said. “The next 20 years will be the most dangerous – and perhaps the most vicious and violent – in human history. If we are ready to embrace the cross, God’s reconciling people will profoundly impact the course of world history.

“This could be our finest hour. Never has the world needed our message more. Never has it been more open. Now is the time to risk everything for our belief that Jesus is the way to peace. If we still believe it, now is the time to live what we have spoken.”

That address spawned a movement that has seen teams “get in the way” of injustice in places like Bosnia, Afghanistan, Palestine, Mexico, Colombia and North America.

—from news reports and MWC release

Note: The full article, “Christian Peacemaker Teams began with a sermon in France,” by Harold Jantz can be read at mbconf.ca. Updates and further information about the four men, their families, and CPT can be read at cpt.org.