February 11, 2009
by Bethany Furkin

LOUISVILLE – At 33 years old, Jonah Salim feels like he's finally found his way home.

Salim made history Feb. 3 when he became the first Iraqi pastor to have a transfer of record to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

But his story started long before then.

As a child growing up in Mosul, Iraq, Salim witnessed the realities of war firsthand. At that time, the Iran-Iraq War was waging, and Salim recalled not understanding the reason for his mother's fear or why she made him hide under staircases when Iranian planes flew overhead.

"I could see the fear in her face, but I did not understand what it meant," he said.

One day he came home after school to find that the fighting had moved to the streets outside his house. Windows were breaking, people were shouting and ambulances were wailing.

"At that moment, I understood very much what war meant," he said.

Since then, Salim has also come to understand the humiliation and fear that come with persecution and the uncertainty of being an illegal resident in a strange land. But he has also seen the work of God's hand in his life, and says that his past struggles have deepened his faith.

"When someone persecutes you because of your faith, you ask why they are doing that," he said. "You are not taking (faith) for granted."

Looking for peace Salim told the Presbyterian News Service his first experiences with Presbyterianism were a result of his search for peace. Unable to understand the reasons for war, he found a Bible in his home as a teenager and was soothed by Jesus' message of peace.

Reading the Bible helped his spiritual needs, but he was still suffering physically. Some of his Muslim schoolmates began persecuting him for his beliefs, and although he had some Muslim friends, others were beyond reach.

After graduating from college in 2000, Salim served in the Iraqi military for the required two years, where he worked as a cleric. Although he calls his time in the military one of the worst of his life, it was then that his relentless search for peace took a new turn.

"All my life, I've been asking myself how to get peace," he said. "Why don't I change the question and instead ask how I can bring peace?"

That change of question allowed him to see his life in a new way. He felt a call from God and a responsibility to follow it by becoming a minister. Salim is from a very poor family and knew he'd need a full scholarship to be able to attend seminary but was confident that if God had called him to ministry, he would also provide a way to make it happen.

One day, a professor from the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, Egypt, visited Salim's church in Mosul and the two began e-mailing each other. Salim ended up getting his scholarship and headed to Egypt.

‘Man without a country'

While in Egypt, he learned of the plight of foreign prisoners, mostly illegal refugees from North Africa who had no food, medicine or clothing. Salim began raising money to help the prisoners and also worked to contact their families and get them immigration paperwork.

When one of the prisoners, a Muslim, saw the good work that this Christian was doing, he converted to Christianity. And although Salim was focused on humanitarian, not evangelical, efforts, the Egyptian government told him to leave the country upon learning of the conversion.

Salim was given enough time to graduate from seminary and became ordained by the Cairo Evangelical Presbytery of the Evangelical Church in Egypt, which is in correspondence with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

But once he was ordained, he had nowhere to go. He couldn't stay in Egypt, and he couldn't go back to Iraq for fear of persecution.

"I was literally a man without a country," he said.

After contacting embassies in several countries, he ended up being granted a United States visa. After being in the States for eight months, he lost the visa because he could not find a qualifying full-time job.

He then applied for asylum, which he was told he had a 30 percent chance of getting. He received it in June.

"That was really a miracle from God," Salim said, adding that this was one more example of God working to guide his journey.

A Presbyterian home

Salim now lives and works in Bay City, MI, where he serves as the missionary in peacemaking at First Presbyterian Church. On Feb. 3, the Presbytery of Lake Huron unanimously voted to accept his transfer of record into the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), making him the first Iraqi pastor to have his records transferred into the denomination.

"I'm grateful to my Lord and grateful to the people who gave me this opportunity," he said. "Now there's someone who can talk in the PC (U.S.A.) officially about the struggles of Iraqi Christians."

Salim stressed that he does not claim to speak for all Christians in Iraq, but that he does offer a unique perspective because of his experiences with religious persecution.

Members of the presbytery had to confirm that Salim's studies at the Cairo seminary were equivalent to those taken by a Master of Divinity student in the United States. Salim also had to pass the five standard ordination exams and demonstrate his knowledge of the Bible.

He is now a part-time student at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, traveling there about one week a month to attend classes.

In Bay City. Salim has most of the duties of an associate pastor. He preaches, visits the sick and leads Bible studies. He has also led an educational series about Muslim culture and an interfaith dialogue between Muslims and Christians.

He said the goal of these sessions is understanding Å\ Salim wants members of both religions to be educated about each other and to see that there are extremists and victims in every group.

"When we think in a narrow view, that does not really help us find solutions," he said. "Whenever we can understand each other, that's how we express peace to each other."

Working with Salim has been a series of learning experiences, said the Rev. Jeffrey Weenink, pastor of First Presbyterian Church. Although there have been cultural and language barriers, Salim has given the congregation "the gift of new eyes."

"It's been a unique opportunity to understand the mind, the heart and the spirit of an Iraqi Christian," he said, adding that learning about Salim's struggles has been valuable. "Jonah has given us the gift of taking a good hard look at all of our assumptions. He's provided a freshness for us."

And accepting Salim into the church community has given members an opportunity to practice God's commandment to love thy neighbor. Members have formed a "Jonah Team" to provide him with assistance.

"Here's a chance for the church to really walk the walk," Weenink said. "We've learned how to welcome a stranger."

Looking back, Salim said he never would have imagined he'd end up where he is today, but he can never see himself going back. As a college student, he would often walk along the Tigris River in Nineveh and watch the birds flying freely together. He wondered when he'd get to be like them, living without fear or boundaries.

"I see myself as a bird here. It's the freedom that I was working for," he said. "The other bird is the PC(USA) that I belong to."

Presbyterian News Service