Dear friends,
I'm just returning now from a week in Baghdad preparing our first group of children to come out for heart surgeries. Each time we have tested the waters in Iraq we have found God's grace. This time the hospital there gave us use of a conference room and access to their files. At night I would call the families of children who need surgery and ask them to come meet with us. It's a very strange thing in Iraq for an American to call up at 11:00 at night and ask you to come see him the next day. To my relief most could understand my Arabic and believed me; I was only hung up on twice!
And what familiar, stirring scenes the next day. Blue, neglected children walking in solemnly next to their parents. Just to look in their eyes and smile caused them to light up. But they could only bear the attention for a few seconds before they'd turn sheepishly away and look at the floor. And how well I could empathize with the parents, watching with such quiet intensity as their papers were scrutinized, praying that they would not be turned away from what must seem like a miraculous chance to save their child. By week's end we were surprised and thankful to find that God had enabled us to complete paperwork, and heart examinations on CD or video, for 24 of these children.
Our last morning in the hospital there was a sudden commotion and we were hustled out of the hallways. Injured were coming in from the suicide car bombing of an Iraqi police station in a Shiite neighborhood. Once things quieted down we were standing to one side of the doorway of the emergency room, encouraging a mother with child in arms that we would pray and do everything we could to help her loved one have life-giving heart surgery. To the other side were Shiite women, dressed all in black, sitting on the floor and weeping over the murderous attack on their loved ones. I couldn't have painted in stronger terms the struggle now on for the future of the people of Iraq.
But most efforts to help have now come to a standstill due to the threat of violence. The American consul told me that most diplomats and NGOs were in the last stages of evacuation, and--to my amazement--she advised me to have a plan in place in case the American forces bunkered down in their headquarters and, by implication, lost control of the country.
What helped give me some perspective on all this pessimism was a visit earlier in the week to a Shiite family which had grown close to Dr. Lee and Angela, our volunteers who spent the previous month in Baghdad. Our host showed us the picture of his brother, killed for taking part in a demonstration against Saddam's regime. "There's no family that hasn't lost someone," he said quietly. Indeed the Iraqis are a deeply wounded people, and seeing what they have suffered illuminates how precious is the change that has taken place. All the common Iraqis know this in their hearts, and I am increasingly optimistic that they will succeed in opening a new chapter in the region's history.
During the week I was privileged to attend the ordination ceremony for a new pastor for one of a number of new evangelical churches opening in Baghdad. Hundreds of Arab Christians from all over the country and the Middle East came to celebrate together in an amplified, open-air meeting next to the new church building, which has a prominent sign and cross on its roof. "Could this have happened under the old government?" I asked. Never, I was told.
A young man named Ghazwan who is a member of the church has agreed to work together with us in Baghdad. He is culturally Arab, but like many in Iraq (e.g. Kurds and Assyrians) he is actually of non-Arab origin, with family roots in Turkey. He has a servant's heart and we were especially blessed that he understood and accepted that we work as volunteers and trust the Lord to provide. Please do join us in praying for courage for Ghazwan and remembering that God may prompt us to help meet his needs.
We also thank God together with Phil and Martha Berg of our Jerusalem office for their new baby Sara born Friday morning, their first girl after three fine boys. Sara was born right in our building in Jerusalem, with Phil reportedly officiating in place of a tardy midwife!
Now begins the work of providing donor hospitals in the US, Europe, India,
and Israel with the CD and video examinations so that they can select
Iraqi childen for surgery. We have 12 firm invitations in hand and hope
for many more. The most recent comes through a friend named Marianne in
Holland, who wrote:
After reading your call about the situation in Bagdad I wrote to several
hospitals in Holland with your request of donating a surgery. Now the
Academic Hospital in Groningen responded on the call and they are willing
to donate a surgery on a child from Bagdad...When I got this message from
the hospital I was so happy and thanked God for opening a door in Holland
too.
Let's remember that even though we are simple people with no special connections, there are many ways in which God can use us now to make a difference in Jesus' name in Iraq and the Middle East.
Yours faithfully for his sake,
Jonathan Miles
Coordinator
Shevet Achim
www.shevet.org
"Behold how good and how pleasant when brothers dwell together in
unity" (Psalm 133:1)
