ICC Note: As Baghdad has erupted in protests amid the continuing conflict with ISIS, government corruption, and violence across the country, that violence came dangerously close for a prominent Iraqi pastor. On Tuesday, a bomb detonated just moments after Pastor Maher Fouad exited an auto garage in the church bus. The windows were blown out, but Paster Maher and one other Christian were uninjured.
08/19/2015 Iraq (Blaze) An Iraqi Christian pastor and one of his deacons reportedly narrowly escaped death recently when they went to get a church bus repaired at a local garage in Baghdad and a bomb reportedly detonated just moments after they exited the building.
Pastor Maher Fouad of New Testament Baptist Church in Baghdad is no stranger to dangerous threats, as he has boldly run a Christian radio station there for the past decade, praying on air and sharing the Christian gospel.
It’s an effort that has led to numerous death threats from those opposed to his message. While it is unclear if the bomb that detonated was aimed at Fouad, the situation shows the dire nature of life in modern-day Iraq; it also shows the danger that Fouad is willing to live under in an effort to continue his ministry work.
“On Tuesday our Baghdad church bus broke down and needed a spare part,” reads a post on Iraqi Christian radio station 102.9 FM. “Pastor Maher Fouad and a deacon from the church went to a garage to fix it. The mechanic told Maher that he doesn’t have the part and directed him to another garage.”
It was when Fouad drove the bus out of the garage and into the street that a bomb went off inside the garage, killing the mechanic, as well as at least one other individual who was in another vehicle traveling behind the bus.
…
