There were a series of coordinated attacks in Baghdad over the weekend. One of the bombs was exploded very near to St. Georges Anglican Church where Canon Andrew White serves as vicar. White has posted a report detailing the damage and finding a few blessings in the events.
From the front page of his ministry organizations website:
“Outside the church, at least 132 people were killed and over 600 injured. Destroyed fragments of their bodies have been thrown through windows of the church, making the clean-up operation yet more unpleasant. Many of our staff and church members remain unaccounted for. Lay Pastor Faiz and I have been trying in vain to reach them by telephone.
Today was a terrible day for us. But even in the blood and trauma and turmoil, there are things for which we can, and indeed must, praise our G-d. The carnage was terrible, but it could have been even worse.
-At 10.30am this morning, when the bombs exploded, there was no-one in the church. If the bomb had been just a few hours later, the glass from the windows would have ripped through the congregation causing terrible human damage.
-Yesterday an enormous tree fell down outside the church, which prevented the suicide bomber from detonating his explosives where they would have caused maximum damage.”
Canon White reports that much of the medical equipment at the parish’s free clinic was damaged in the explosion and that the clinic will have to be closed for now.
The full article is posted here.