Sudanese pastor understands Refugees

By Harold Campbell

One-time refugee and former Mulsim Wagdi Iskander is now an Edmonton pastor.

An Edmonton pastor who fled his native Sudan 13 years ago to find a haven in Alberta is helping provide that hope to these refugees in Europe.

"When I tell them that I am a Christian, many of them say that since they have seen what Islam is really all about, they want to know more about Christianity," says Wagdi Iskander, who is pastor of two Baptist churches in Edmonton -- one Arabic and the other Sudanese.

Many Middle Eastern refugees in Europe arrive in Germany from Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and Sudan.

Every three months, Iskander makes the 7,200-kilometre trip from Edmonton to Germany to visit refugee camps. Working with Campus Crusade for Christ, he witnesses to people whose futures are uncertain. While some of the refugees are Christians fleeing religious persecution, others are Muslims.

"Immediately, I tell them that I was once a Muslim but I am now a Christian," he says. "They are interested in what we are doing." Iskander has formed Bible studies in refugee camps. In addition, he works at discipling and training converts to reach others for Christ. "I was once a refugee myself," he says. "I can relate to what they are going through."

Iskander grew up in northern Sudan, far from the conflict in southern Sudan that has killed more than one million people in the past 20 years. Although he was not a devout Muslim in his youth, he said he harboured bitterness toward Christians, especially one Muslim convert who shared Christ with him.

"I used to hate him," Iskander said. "But he cared about me and showed me the love of Christ." He got to know this mann at a university in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, where the ex-Muslim distributed Bibles and Christian literature. After Iskander completed his university degree and began working as an accountant in Khartoum, his friend continued witnessing to him.

"I was looking for forgiveness, but I didn't know where to find forgiveness," Iskander says. "But when my friend showed me the love of Christ, I found forgiveness and became a Christian." As a result, he was estranged from his family; some family members think he is dead. He also spent more than three months in prison. Although he was released, two of his friends imprisoned in the same jail were killed.

As a 24 year old new Christian, Iskander left Sudan in 1985 aboard an Operation Mobilization ship. In 1988, he landed in Great Britain seeking political asylum. His application, however, was turned down; British authorities gave him 72 hours to leave the country.

Iskander needed a miracle -- and found one. At that same time, Prairie Bible Institute in the small Alberta town of Three Hills was looking for a Muslim convert to lead an Islamic ministry. Knowing Iskander's plight, a missions organization suggested the college contact him. He accepted the position -- and, just before his 72-hour deadline expired, he was jetting across the Atlantic to begin his new life in Canada.

"My heart is for my people, especially Muslim and Arabic people," he says. "God helped me start a ministry, which grew and grew." Iskander began his Muslim ministry in Calgary. After three years, he met Georges Boujakly, a native of Lebanon who at the time served as a Southern Baptist church planter. Boujakly introduced lskander to the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta, and trained him in church planting. Iskander later moved to Edmonton and started the Arabic Christian Fellowship and the Sudanese Christian Fellowship.

The Arabic church averages 60 to 70 in attendance, while the Sudanese church -- which also includes people from Kenya, Egypt and other African nations -- numbers as many as 200 to 300, many of them refugees from southern Sudan.

Services in the Arabic church are conducted in Arabic and are similar to traditional North American services. Because those attending the Sudanese congregation come from several African nations, services are conducted in both Arabic and English. "It's a very African worship," Iskander says.

Much of his ministry consists of welcoming newcomers, providing them with transportation and making them feel at home in their new country. "Many of the Sudanese refugees hear about us by word of mouth," he said. "The Lord has blessed us."

Courtesy InfoMission