Pastor from Iraq tells American church to avoid politicizing refugee crisis

A Texas pastor who fled from Iraq decades ago has urged the Church to avoid politics amid the ongoing debate about travel bans and keep sharing the Gospel to refugees.

Jalil Dawood, lead pastor at Arabic Church of Dallas and founder of World Refugee Care, has just released a new book titled "The Refugee: A Story of God's Grace on One Man's Road to Refugee," where he recounts his own journey as a refugee from Iraq. He is hoping that the book will inspire other Christians to lend their support to the millions of refugees in need, both in the U.S. and abroad.

"There is a lot of misinformation about how to deal with refugees [today]," he said in a recent interview with The Christian Post. "God is sending the nations here. And God wants us to reach out to those people," he added.

Dawood fled from Iraq in 1982 during the brutal Iran–Iraq war when he was just 18-years-old. He traveled to Rome with the aim of acquiring refugee status in the U.S. as two of his brothers had done in the past.

While he was raised in a traditional Christian family in Baghdad, he felt as though he does not have a real connection with God. But that changed when he heard an American named Steve sharing the Gospel while he was in Rome.

He initially went to the club where Steve was preaching to learn English and watch movies, but he ended up attending a Bible study, where he said he heard the Gospel message clearly for the first time and accepted the Lord. He was then taken in as a disciple by Steve and his wife, Marilyn, who prayed for him when he was approved to come to the U.S.

Dawood was shocked to hear an American talk about God because he had believed that U.S. was the most godless country. He said that such mindsets are still strongly prevalent in Iraq even though there had been a few changes due to the internet.

The pastor has stated in an interview with CBN that he agrees with President Donald Trump's travel ban which prohibits travelers from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.

However, when asked by The Christian Post what he would tell the American Church if he had a chance to speak for five minutes without any interruptions he said: "I would say, stay out of politics, help refugees, and share the Gospel with them."

"I was extremely disappointed in the American Church when everybody went out, protested President Trump stopping certain nations from coming here because there are millions of Christian refugees in the Middle East and nobody cares about them," he added.

The pastor reminded Christians that Jesus was once a refugee, and he pointed out that the people of Israel were commanded by God to show kindness to strangers because they were once refugees in Egypt. He contended that refugees will never forget the help they are given, and just as Steve and Marilyn showed him kindness, such a witness will have a profound effect on Muslims in particular.

Dawood, who preaches at a church comprised mainly of immigrants and refugees, said that when Christians exhibit this kindness, it is simply obedience to God.

"The Lord says, 'I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me water, I was naked and you clothed me. When I was in prison you came to me. And when you've done it to the least you've done it to me," he said.