Former Valley resident travels to Iraq for missionary work

In 1996, Shara (Crandall) McLaughlin, then a Houston Jr./Sr. High School graduate, won the Miss Alaska Co-Ed title and then won the Miss America Co-Ed title. In interviews, she was always asked what she wanted to do in the future, and her reply was simple -- she wanted to do missionary work.

Now, seven years later, she is following through with her dream. Earlier this month, McLaughlin and her husband, Joel, went to Baghdad to perform Christian mission work.

"The people of Iraq are so hospitable, so affectionate," McLaughlin, who now lives in Ohio, said. "We were so surprised by how we were treated. We thought of the Muslims as being cold toward Christians, but they were the exact opposite. They were so caring."

The McLaughlins were in Baghdad from Dec. 2 through Dec. 11, and just missed the capture of Saddam Hussein. McLaughlin said the fear of Saddam was evident in every aspect of Iraqi life.

"They were worried he was poisoning the water there, that there were chemical attacks," she said. "We just missed the capture."

McLaughlin's husband is a preacher, and he wasn't actively pastoring when a church missionary talked to them about work in Baghdad. He talked about all the opportunities for Christians to travel to Iraq and teach and help out, and the McLaughlin's said they would love to go.

Even with the current unrest, McLaughlin said a higher power helped her get through without fear.

"We're not two regular people going. God told us to do it, and you can't be afraid because God is bigger than anything. He gave us the verse Proverbs 29:25, 'The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.'

"We were never afraid. We knew that if we put our trust in God, he would watch out for us," she said.

The McLaughlins stayed at a Baghdad hotel and would go to Bible study sessions with born-again Christians. They also distributed Arabic Bibles to people in the region. There was one Christian church in Baghdad, a city that McLaughlin said is amazing.

"You can tell how beautiful the city was," she said. "Everyone wears fancy clothes, fancy shoes -- you can tell it was a very rich city. But now, every other building is leveled and there is rubble everywhere."

While in Baghdad, the McLaughlins even met up with some U.S. military personnel.

"They asked us why we were there. We were the first Americans they had seen since early this summer," McLaughlin said. "They thought we were crazy to be there."

The McLaughlins flew into Jordan and drove to Baghdad, and took the same route home. The time in Baghdad has left a big impression in McLaughlin's mind.

"The people over there, they love each other so much. Maybe because their brotherhood is all that they have," she said.

Joel and Shara McLaughlin hope to return to Iraq in May and establish a youth center where they will pastor young Iraqis about Christianity.

They aren't allowed to be proactive in their mission, but if youth come to them, they are allowed to speak about Christianity, according to Iraqi laws and customs.

Shara McLaughlin said she hopes to spend the entire summer in Baghdad."

"It all depends on what happens with the formation of the Iraqi government," she said. "We really want to go back, for a lot longer time than we had this month."

The McLaughlins have two young boys, and they didn't make the trip to Iraq in December.

The couple is still deciding whether or not to take their boys with them to Iraq this summer.

"My husband doesn't think they should go, but I'd love them to see what is going on in Iraq and see the love the Iraqi people have for one another," Shara McLaughlin said. "But we still have some time to decide about that."