Vicar of Baghdad receives sign from God and visits Alderney
A CLERIC known as the Vicar of Baghdad will visit Alderney next week after saying he had received a sign from God that he had work to do in the island.
Jerusalem-based Canon Andrew White was the vicar of St George’s Church in Baghdad, the only Anglican church in Iraq, and had a role trying to maintain communications between Shia and Sunni leaders.
Canon White, who is a Harvard fellow, said that he had been asked to ‘prophesise’ for a visiting group of Christians from the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California.
He shared the details on a YouTube broadcast.
‘One of the people, Ivan, lived in Wales but he was from Guernsey,’ he said.
‘When I prophesised over him I said the Lord is calling us to do new work in Alderney.
‘Alderney is one of the smallest of the Channel Islands that hardly anybody has ever heard of. I said to him I feel we are being called to Alderney but God will confirm it within one day.’
Within one day, said Canon White, a woman arrived who was from Wales, but who was born and brought up in Alderney.
She was writing a book called God’s Gangster Girl based on terrible abuse she had suffered and the terrible things she had done in her life.
‘I said to the Bethel people, “there’s the confirmation that we were asking for.
‘Why should somebody turn up in the middle of Christchurch, Jerusalem and say I’m from Alderney?”
‘Next week I will be there, God will be there, God will do something good.’
Canon White is the former president of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East and the director of international ministry at the International Centre for Reconciliation at Coventry Cathedral.
He was appointed special envoy to the Middle East for former Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Rev. George Carey.
His main aim has been to try to maintain communication between Shia and Sunni leaders and to ‘gain trust of key religious leaders on both sides in various conflict areas’.
He sees his role as trying to mediate and re-establish the dialogue between conflicting groups.
He also took part in trying to resolve the hostage situation at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 2002.
His visit is being co-ordinated by Vazon Elim Church, with which he has connections, although he will not be visiting Guernsey.
His two-day visit to Alderney will be hosted by the Salvation Army.
Corps officer Paul Southcott said the visit would be non-denominational.
‘We don’t know what his programme will be yet, but we are very excited and honoured to have Canon White visit Alderney.’
