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STEVE MATTHEWS ON IRAQ - March 10, 2003
Interviewer: Steve Matthews, I understand that you’re in the region getting prepared for a possible war. Could you tell us who you’re with and what you’re doing and where you are?
Steve Matthews: World Vision is a Christian humanitarian relief and development agency that’s been around for 53 years. We have been actively working in the Middle East for the past 28 years, and we have a history of working with the Iraqi people since just before the Gulf War, so for about the past 13 years. We are back here right now based in Amman, Jordan, which is one of the countries – one of the five countries surrounding Iraq, and we are in a phase called Iraq Preparedness. That is, nothing has happened yet, but we are looking at the possibilities, and we are trying to best forecast what might happen if there is a conflict next door so that we can efficiently look after the needs, the humanitarian needs, of the people who may be fleeing that country, and then perhaps if need be later on, move into Iraq and assist even further.Interviewer: As World Vision prepares humanitarian relief for Iraqis who may flee to nearby countries, have you faced any obstacles related to being a Christian organization?
Steve Matthews: We haven’t really run into any obstacles because what we’ve discovered working with the people here in Jordan and in other countries surrounding Iraq, that they’re pretty peaceful people in this part of the world, and they respect people’s religious attitudes. One thing that people may not be very aware of is the fact that there are about 8 percent of the population in Iraq that are Christian and they are openly allowed to worship there and actually they don’t have any problems with their Christianity in the country despite being a minority.
Interviewer: Have Christians in the United States been responsive in giving toward possible humanitarian needs of Iraqis?
Steve Matthews: Well, I do know that Christians in the United States are always willing to give to a worthy cause despite religion, despite creed and color, etc. I don’t know if Americans have actually given a lot of money towards what’s currently happening in the Middle East, and we need to remember right now that nothing has happened at this point. But I do know that a lot of my Christian friends in Canada and the United States certainly have been putting a lot of prayer time towards what’s going on here, and I think it would be safe to assume – not that I want to speak for all Christians – but I think everybody is praying for peace.
Interviewer: Can you give us an idea of how a war in Iraq would affect the children?
Steve Matthews: I can’t really talk about what’s going to happen in the future, but I can talk about what I’ve seen in the past. I was in Iraq in 1999, and I witnessed the children there. They were suffering from all kinds of different things. That was, you know, in the post-Gulf War period. They were suffering from everything from malnutrition to there were high rates of childhood leukemia there that were possibly linked to the depleted uranium used in some of the warheads during the Gulf War. And then there’s also – there have been recent reports about the actual psychological damage that has been inflicted on the children already.
Interviewer: Is World Vision an advocate for a particular strategy to minimize the harm done to children and other innocent people?
Steve Matthews: World Vision is a child-focused agency, so most of what we do in the humanitarian field, that would be in relief and development, is focused on children.
Interviewer: What other organizations will be partnering with World Vision to meet needs in Iraq?
Steve Matthews: Well, we have a number of partners that are focusing right now on preparedness for a possibility of a war in Iraq. Right now, those are mostly faith-based agencies, such as CARITAS and also MECC, which stands for the Middle East Council of Churches. We’ve also – we’re looking at working with other NGOs, such as the Jordanian Red Crescent, and then there are famous NGO’s like CARE, Save the Children, etc. Everybody’s really in this together over here, and we’re trying to share resources and information so that we can all do a good job and not duplicate on effort.
Interviewer: What should American Christians be praying for these days?
Steve Matthews: The prayer is very simple. We should be praying for peace. We should be praying for a peaceful resolution to this problem that is in the Middle East. Despite political viewpoints, we all want a peaceful conclusion to this because if we don’t have a peaceful conclusion, a lot of the innocent people are going to be hurt.
