Christian Peacemaker Makes Final Journey Home from Iraq

|TOP|U.S. Christian Peacemaker Tom Fox, who was found killed by his hostage takers in Iraq last week, is making his final journey home to the U.S.

The body of the 54-year-old, who was taken hostage along with retired British professor Norman Kember, and two Canadians, James Loney and Harmeet Sooden, last November, departed from Anaconda military base at Balat, Iraq, at dawn on March 13.

He is expected to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware at 1am EST on March 14, according to a CPT report reproduced by Ekklesia.

Beth Pyles, a member of the CPT Iraq team, travelled to Anaconda where she kept vigil with Tom for 36 hours until his departure Monday.

Rich Meyer and Anne Montgomery of CPT in the U.S. have been in the Dover area since 5pm on March 11 where they have kept vigil and continue to await Tom’s arrival on home soil.

Ms. Pyles was able to watch Fox’s coffin, draped with the U.S. flag, be loaded into the plane before she read “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5), on his departure from the air base.

|AD|Ms. Pyles also read in honour of the Iraqi detainee, whose coffin is travelling to the U.S. beside Fox’, “allah akhbar” (God is greater), and words from the Jewish scriptures to conclude the reading, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21).

Meanwhile the three Christian Peacemaker women remaining in Iraq have confirmed they will not leave the country despite the killing of Fox, reports Reuters.

The three women have no personal security except armed guards outside an Iraqi organisation next to their rented apartment in a quiet street in central Baghdad.

“I don't want to be killed, I don't want to be kidnapped, I don't want to be hurt," said Anita David, 60, a former television set decorator from Chicago. "But I don't have a personal sense of doom every time I exit my house."

The women recently travelled along one of the most deadly highways in Iraq to Baquba, a city which continues to struggle with daily insurgence violence.

“We make our own choices about where to go and how to go, consulting closely with our Iraqi counterparts," said Maxine Nash, 43, from Waukon, Iowa, who was a clinical researcher before becoming a CPT activist.

The work of the women ranges from clearing rubbish from local roads to mediating between U.S. and Iraqi government agencies and families that have had their relatives arrested by security forces.

The three women insist, however, that they are not naïve.

“One may appear naive or illogical but it's not naiveté or being illogical," said David. "It arises from one's faith."

"They tell us it's dangerous for us to be here," said Nash. "We agree to disagree with them."

The group of women has insisted it will remain in the country as long as its “presence is more help than harm,” says Nash.

They hope their fellow workers who remain in captivity can also leave one day too.