IRAQ UPDATE: STREET WHERE ADVENTIST CHURCH LOCATED IS SHELLED

NIKOSIA,CYPRUS [ANR] Reports monitored at 1815 GMT from the Al
Jazeera satellite television channel have stated that Al Nidal
Street, where the Baghdad Seventh-day Adventist Church is situated
has been shelled. There is no confirmation as to which stretch of the
three-kilometre road was hit. Normally, no church services held at
this time on Sunday nights.

As the ground war has now reached Baghdad some Iraqi workers at the
Middle
East Union office in Nicosia, Cyprus, also observed television
pictures of the Al Mansour district being shelled. "This is a
residential neighbourhood where several Adventists are living,
including the chairman of the legal association for the registered
church in Iraq," comments the spouse of an Iraqi worker at the MEU.

For the passed nine days all means of communication with the
Seventh-day
Adventist members in Iraq have been severed. Anxiety about their
whereabouts and health continues to dominate the thoughts of their
friends, colleagues and families around the world. "Over the weekend
I have been in regular contact with my Iraqi colleagues in Nicosia
but none of them has been able to verify if the service in the
Adventist Church in Baghdad went ahead or whether the members have
been injured or their properties damaged in any way," says Alex
Elmadjian, communication director for the MEU. "We sense the urgent
responsibility of trying to provide the world church with regular
reports so that they can be more focused in their intercessory prayer
but there is just very little accurate information that can be
circulated at this stage."

Michael Porter, MEU and Iraq Field president reports that dozens of
phone calls, emails and faxes, in various languages, continue to be
received at the office from around the world. "Our world church
family is pledging their prayer support, expressing heartfelt
sentiments and quoting powerful promises from scripture to encourage
their brothers and sisters in Iraq," says Pastor Porter. Many of
these messages were faxed to Baghdad Church before the fax lines were
cut off. The remainder will be collected at the office and sent on at
the earliest opportunity.

[Alex Elmadjian/ANR]