Mission District

• Countries: Iraq and Jordan
• Organized Free Methodist Churches: 4
• FMC Membership: 350
• Ordained Ministers: 4
• Ministerial Candidates: 9

Origins

The work in the Middle East, beyond Egypt, began in 2002 when a Free Methodist North American missionary family moved to Amman, Jordan, and began networking with and ministering to Iraqi refugees residing in Amman. A key Iraqi leader affiliated with the Free Methodist Church in the fall of 2003 and became our first ordained FM Iraqi pastor. Through his contacts, a FMC was established in Amman, Jordan, which focused on Iraqi refugees. This church then daughtered a church in Baghdad, Iraq, in the fall of 2003.

Due to the intense conflict in Baghdad and the particular vulnerability of Christians, many of our FM people fled Baghdad in 2004 and 2005 to the relative safety of Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Some of these individuals gathered others in their homes and started "House Gatherings." In one case, the Baghdad church intentionally sent out a leader to a key city in northern Iraq, Dohuk, to plan a FM church. The church in Dohuk has grown and, in fall 2007, became our first "government recognized" FM church in Iraq.

There are, however, tens of thousands of towns and villages throughout this region without any gospel witness. The Free Methodist Church is developing a new strategy that will help national believers in the region catch a vision for planting "house churches" in the most underserved areas. 

Opportunities to support Middle East ministries

Learn more about Iraq
Learn more about Jordan