The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is grateful to God that the Persian Gulf war is over; for this we call on our nation to offer prayers of thanksgiving to God. We are thankful to God specifically for the swift conclusion to the war and the removal of the original aggressor from Kuwait.

We commend President Bush for his principled leadership and also commend him and other national leaders for calling the American people to prayer during this crisis. We regret, however, that in his March 6, 1991 address before a Joint Session of Congress, the President thanked everyone but God. We reject the temptation to pride and humbly ask God to continue to intervene in human affairs.

The Persian Gulf war reminds us that we live in a fallen world which has rejected Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. We express sorrow for the suffering and all loss of life in this conflict and grieve with the affected families. We pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Kuwait, Iraq and elsewhere.

We condemn discrimination against Arab-Americans during this conflict and call for repentance for this tragic wrong.

We reaffirm NAE’s Peace, Freedom and Security Studies (PFSS) program and its emphasis on non-violent means of resolving conflict. PFSS must continue to help educate our constituency on questions of war and peace and to press for expansion of religious liberty and human rights among all people in the Middle East.

We commend the hundreds of evangelical chaplains who served in the Persian Gulf and rejoice that many of our military personnel came to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

We recognize that war has tragic consequences for innocent victims and commit ourselves, as we have done historically, to assist those in need. As a specific response to the Persian Gulf conflict, we designate April 21, 1991 as WAR RELIEF SUNDAY. We urge our member denominations and churches to join in prayer for all victims of war. We also encourage them to participate in a nationwide relief offering to be used by NAB World Relief wherever innocent people suffer because of war.

We anticipate that day when Christ our Lord will return and establish His kingdom, thereby bringing peace and blessing to all the world.