Last Supper

The chapter of life we share with Santa Maria has drawn to a close. She is now a healthy little girl with a new heart. Santa and her mother began their journey in September of last year and they never expected to stay so long. But by the time they left, the hospitality and loving care they found here made it hard to say goodbye. They have in their suitcases many many pictures of friends they will never forget and in their hearts sweet memories.


Santa Maria left the hospital on Wednesday evening. David Hartman and his daughter picked them up and brought them to stay with Stephen, Bethany, Martha, and Raneen at our staff home in Jerusalem. Jeanne d'Arc wanted to see Jerusalem again before she returned to Iraq. She visited the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulture, the Via Dolorosa, and the Israel Museum. It was a blessing to host them both. I hope this picture adequately conveys the joy and thanksgiving they expressed.



These last two evenings we all took the opportunity to celebrate Santa's healing with some coummunity meals in Martha's apartment. All our staff and their families crowded in around the table.



Jeanne d'Arc brought us a cake to express her thankfulness and we had the Kopp family over for dessert so they could also say goodbye. The Kopps took Santa Maria and Jeanne d'Arc to Bethlehem a few months ago. We had a wonderful time celebrating what God has done. I wish we had a picture of Santa Maria running about with Martha's children, especially the way she doted on baby Anna. She is full of energy and curiosity these days and quick to give hugs, the light of her life and spirit shown out to us all these last few days.



At the end of the night the girls stayed up late, "slumber partying" as David called it.


As I am writing this Santa Maria is in a van headed for the Israeli boarder. She and her mother will fly back to Iraq tomorrow morning from Jordan. We send back to Iraq a testimony to the love of God as it is poured out through the hands of His people. In another heart the walls of separation have been bridged. Thank you all for joining with us in prayer and thanksgiving for Santa Maria's life.

Our little one is ministering to others

Santa Maria is holding Hawraa in the picture below. These two little girls are from ethnically and religiously separate regions of Iraq. They are loving one another and connecting in an Israeli hospital.

Santa also knows how to warm the hearts of the Israeli staff.















Santa Maria took some time to comfort and play with one of the little girls from Gaza, who is in the hospital for surgery this week.

Back and Forth

Good news and less good news have come to us this week on Santa Maria's health and ability to leave the hospital. We were all disappointed to find out that Santa would not be well enough to travel over Christmas. One of our staff members, Raneen, had wanted to take her home for the holidays to her village. It was a big disappointment to Santa's mother especially.

Santa Maria is getting better. The doctors have allowed her to leave the hospital to stay at a home, run by our partner organization Save a Child's Heart, which is close by the hospital. She will have to go back next week for another kidney treatment, but, praise the Lord, the doctors no longer think that she will need a heart catherization.

Yesterday, Raneen got a chance to visit with them and with the other children we are caring for at Wolfson Hospital. She brought Christmas presents of cloths, stuffed animals, and blankets, most of which came from contributions sent to us by Dick and Joan Purcell and by members of the Wellspring Community Church in Wales on their recent visit to Jerusalem. We were blessed to be able to give gifts at this time of year, and by them to remind the children and ourselves of the gift God gave to us in Jesus.

May the Word of God dwell in you richly this holiday season. Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer for Santa Maria and her loved ones.

Fever

Raneen, an Arab-Israeli staff member, took this picture when she spent the morning with Santa on Friday.

Santa Maria developed a fever over the weekend. This will delay her coming to stay with us in Jerusalem. Please pray for her.

Homeward Bound... (we think)

As with everything about the future we can only make a guess, but after talking with the head nurse caring for Santa Maria things sound very good. As we already know, Santa Maria's kidney surgery 3 days ago was successful but there was the potential for complications. None have materialized. Praise the Lord! We now expect that Santa Maria will be discharged from the hospital next week, possibly as early as Monday.

Bedside Ministry

Judy Hartman, wife of Shevet Achim staff member David Hartman, is pictured at the right of Santa's bed on a hospital visit Sunday.

Today, Dr. Tamir gave us a short update on Santa Maria's progress. So far, her kidney that was operated on last week is healing properly. No decision has been made yet about the other kidney.

Santa Maria and her mother will be spending at the very least another 2 weeks with us. This means that they will be away from their family for Christmas.

We, the Shevet Achim staff, are thankful to be with Santa Maria at this time in her life. Her life is now a testimony to the Father's intimate care for his children (Mat. 6:26). What a blessing to be His hands and feet to show Santa and the world that our Heavenly Father knows how to give good gifts to his children. (Mat. 7:11)

Please keep Santa's recovery in your prayers. The doctors say that as her kidneys heal she will still need other tests including an echo and a possible heart catheterization. If that happens it will increase the time that she is in the hospital, preventing her and her mother from going home. We're sure they miss the rest of their family very much.

Sleeping Beauty

Shevet Achim staffer David Hartman visited Santa Maria Thursday afternoon, and with a thankful heart found what he called "Sleeping Beauty."


In a positive development, Santa has now been moved from the intermediate ICU to a "normal bed." Doctors are still uncertain what they will do next concerning a remaining kidney stone. They will meet to discuss the alternatives yet this weekend, if possible.

And yes, Santa is alert and active, and finding some amusement via the cell phone of Raneen, our Israeli Arab staff member.

Santa Gives the Thumbs-Up

Santa Maria came through a five-and-a-half hour surgery today to remove the large kidney stone in her one functioning kidney. Tonight Shevet Achim staff member David Hartman found her awake in the intermediate ICU, and even attempting a smile!

According to Santa's mother, urologists during the surgery found more complications involving the other kidney. Tests to be done Thursday morning will help clarify. We'll update the blog as soon as more information becomes available.

Santa's Kidney Surgery is Wednesday Morning

Santa Maria will be going in for major kidney surgery Wednesday morning at the Wolfson Medical Center near Tel Aviv.

Santa only has one functioning kidney, and it is this one that has a large stone. Because it is essential for her life and future health, urologists are attempting to delicately remove the stone through a surgery planned to last 5-6 hours.

ICU head Dr. Eli Gilad says this is a big surgery for a small girl, and he expects to have her with him in the ICU for a couple of days post-operatively.

Santa's mother is hopeful that the surgery will go well, and be the last surgery Santa will ever need. Dr. Gilad believes "she is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel right now."

We'll post another update Wednesday evening.

To pray corporately click on "comments" below.

Not Leaving Till She is Whole

Filed by David Hartman
Waiting, one of life’s injustices, especially for a little girl with a new heart! A heart that is now pumping newness of life into a little girl who only 7 weeks ago could hardly walk across the parking lot to the awaiting van for lack of energy and strength. She is now a miracle to behold…..a little Iraqi girl with a new heart!

However, while she has been in her post-surgery recovery time her heart doctors noticed she had another problem that they had not anticipated: she has one kidney half the size of the other, and the good kidney had three kidney stones. It was determined that she would need to have these dealt with before they would even think of sending her home.

Initially, a new medication was ordered and after a seemingly lengthy wait was administered. The doctors patiently began their treatment hoping the stones would be disintegrated by the potential of this new medication. Much to their desire, they watched as one stone disappeared and then a second one. However, the third seemed to defy the medication.

That is where we stand today. What is the next step? The doctors already know that they will need to operate on the small kidney to try and repair it so it will grow to its necessary size to be functional. However, they have already stated the fact that if they cannot repair it, it will need to be removed to avoid future problems. In the mean time, they wait in hopes the third stone will dislodge or somehow be dispelled from Santa Maria’s remaining normal kidney.

It is truly a waiting game, but in the meantime Santa Maria and her mother have found a new world of friends and acquaintances that have become their family away from home. A family made up of people who were strangers not too long ago, now a close community of people they will never forget.

As these relationships grow, so is their faith in the One that made all this possible. The One that saw their need and impressed upon someone to tell them about Shevet Achim, a Christian organization whose God-given mandate is to reach out to the hopeless and those that will die unless their hearts are healed. God made the way, as well as gave the favor, to overcome the seemingly insurmountable bureaucracy of multiple nations to make it possible for one little girl and her mother to come and be united with Israeli doctors that are being used to save this little girls’ life.

There is another first happening here: Santa Maria and her mother are Kurdish Christians from northern Iraq, the first Christians that Shevet Achim has ever helped. All the other children have been Muslims. God is expanding the tent stakes of Shevet Achim. We believe He wants to expand yours as well. Please seek the Lord as to your involvement in the ongoing outreach to these little ones…..ones without hope, without a future unless someone steps forth and takes them by the hand saying, “Come, Little One, to a place prepared for you, a place filled with hope, a place filled with the promise of life….His abundant life and desire for you!”

Please tell your friends about this unfolding drama of the Hand of God in action, by clicking on the white envelope below.

Next update: Surgery? - An Opportunity for Prayer

Santa in Bethlehem

Goose bumps appeared immediately and Yasmin's face lit up when her new friend, Shadia, asked, "Would you like to go to Bethlehem?" Permission granted from the doctors, Santa and her mother Yasmin spent the weekend in Jerusalem.

With Shadia as guide and translator, Santa and Yasmin made a full day of it beginning at Narkis Street Congregation where they were introduced to an audience delighted to see firsthand the results of Yasmin's successful heart surgery. Next stop - the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, with a lunch break in the Middle Eastern ambiance of Amigo Emil Restaurant followed by the 15 minute drive to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where Santa and Yasmin paused to light candles and pray.

And to top off a full day - a brief shopping spree through the temporary stalls of local olive products in Manger Square.

Those of us who live here have long since taken the sites of the Holy Land for granted; but for two Iraqi Christians who have never, until a few months ago, left their home, it must have seemed like an invitation to make a dream come true.
Filed by Liz Kopp

Santa Holds Court

Filed by Liz Kopp

You would never guess by watching Santa Maria "holding court" with a group of young people from a nearby high school that it has only been four weeks since she traveled hundreds of miles, crossing a number of borders that thrust her into an unknown culture and language, and then underwent a very successful heart surgery. She looks right at home playfully decorating the faces of the high schoolers who have come to visit her and the other children recovering from similar surgeries. It seems she's learned that visitors, even if they do speak an unfamiliar language, are a nice diversion to the hours and days of waiting while recovery fulfills its own time-consuming role. Through it all, Santa's learned to be quite expressive and persuasive with hand gestures, twinkling eyes, and coy smiles.


It doesn't surprise me to see Santa adapting so well as children are often incredibly resilient. It is her mother, Yasmin, who commands my admiration; separated from her husband, her other child, her family and loved ones for weeks on end. Even though she's been told it will be another two weeks before they can return home due to the kidney procedure Santa still faces, Yasmin smiles sweetly, patiently and offers me a cup of tea.

Santa is Out of the Hospital!

News just in that Santa Maria has improved so dramatically that she is now discharged from the hospital, and staying at the children's home a few minutes away. Doctors estimate she'll still have two more weeks in Israel for follow-up before returning to Iraq.

Out of ICU So Soon

Filed by Liz Kopp
What a sight! Walking at a brisk clip down the hospital corridor are Santa and her mother who break into broad smiles as they spot a familiar face approaching. What a relief to see the hospital staff's prediction proven true (that the complications were not serious) and Santa, so soon, out of ICU and what better way to celebrate the latest progress than a trip to the mini-mall connected to the hospital for a cup of tea and pretty balloon.


It all seemed so natural, sipping tea at a cafe, and yet so surreal, when reflecting on the labryinth of hoops Santa and her mother have had to jump through to arrive at this casual moment. Whatever tomorrow brings one senses that this young mother's stamina and faith have been bolstered by the successes that outshine any of the unexpected setbacks hurled in her path.

Back in the ICU

The Shevet team expected today to find Santa Maria discharged into the children's ward, or even out of the hospital.


Instead we found her back in intensive care. A pneumothorax--a build-up of air around her lungs--put her back in the ICU and on oxygen. Hospital staff explained this was not a serious complication, but rather that space was simply available in the ICU where she could be watched most closely.

However Santa Maria looked afraid and alone when we saw her, even though her best hospital buddy Sausan from Gaza had also moved with her to the ICU. (We first helped Sausan come to Israel for surgery some eight years ago).


Please pray with us for the continued work of the Comforter and the Healer in the lives of Santa and Sausan.

Click on "comments" below to post a prayer.

Peril and Redemption

"Shufi!" "Look!" Santa calls to Sausan, the little girl from Gaza with an identical scar in the middle of her chest. Santa is holding up a colorful drawing she has just made for her roommate who is also recovering from a similar life saving heart operation in a bed directly opposite her own.

Santa's greeting to us, as we walk into the room Sunday in the middle of this artful communication, is a mixture of serious cordiality conditioned by a very young lifetime of painful limitations and hopeful optimism. She seems too little to be able to grasp the medical, physical, political and spiritual ramifications that have brought her to this point in time, but the playful mischievousness that lurks behind her dark penetrating eyes relate that a lot more is sinking in than she is able to verbally express.

The smile on her mother's relaxed face, on the other hand, says it all. Although there is still the matter of the stone in little Santa's kidney, the uncertainty and hopelessness have disappeared from Yasmin's beautiful eyes and have been replaced by a confidence that is almost tangible. In the meantime, Yasmin patiently waits for word as to when the kidney procedure will take place after which they will be able to head back home.

As I make my own journey back to Jerusalem in one of the first good rains falling this season and think of the laborious trip here made by Santa and her mother and their return that yet lies ahead, I can't help but compare the arduous journey made by another mother in her final stages of pregnancy via donkey. It seems as though life's most redemptive events are precipitated by perilous uncertainty.

Filed by Liz Kopp

How Soon Can We Go Home?

Santa Maria looked like an angel today when the Shevet team walked into the intermediate ICU.


That's right, she is already out of full-blown intensive care! Santa is well on her way to full recovery, and could be leaving the hospital within 3-4 days.

Her mother said that Santa has been crying a lot, and the only way we could coax even the faintest of smiles from her today was by attempting to tickle her foot.

Santa's mother asked us to translate for her today some words for Israeli Dr. Eli Gilad: "I like these people very much and they've been very kind..."

"But...." interjected Eli. "There's always a but."

"But, how soon can we go home?"

Once Santa is fully recovered from heart surgery, Eli explained, doctors will take a look at treating a large kidney stone in her only functioning kidney. He assured us this would be a simple procedure compared to open heart surgery. And then Santa will be free to return to Iraq.

Why was Santa's mother so concerned about the length of her stay? She'd learned that the boy in the bed next to Santa (in a coma following a brain virus) has been there for seven years.

Santa is Recovering Well

Santa Maria was weaned from the ventilator at noon on Wednesday and is now breathing on her own. Though drowsy from her pain medications, she has tried to drink water.

Dr. Eli Gilad, acting head of the ICU, described her condition as "very stable" and said she is "doing very well."

Meanwhile Santa's mother is receiving loving support from an encouraging source:

A woman named Mazal, from a Jewish family that emigrated to Israel decades ago from Iraqi Kurdistan, heard about Santa Maria and has been faithfully by the mother's side in the hospital.

Look for the next update with new photos from the ICU on Thursday evening.

Blessed Relief

Much of the anxiety, fear and uncertainty was finally washed away for Santa Maria's mother today. Witness the emotion which crossed her face when she spoke with family back in Iraq just after her little one emerged from surgery:


As he left the operating room chief surgeon Lior Sasson told us the six and a half hour surgery was difficult--he had to recreate a missing valve in Santa Maria's heart--but that he was satisfied with the outcome.


Tonight Santa Maria is in the pediatric ICU, on a ventilator, and receiving round-the-clock attention. The next 24 hours are critical; let's do our part by praying.


Click on "comments" to post a prayer, and on the white envelope to share Santa's blog with a friend.

Surgery Update Coming Shortly

We are expecting Santa Maria to go into surgery this morning (+7 hours from US East Coast). An update will be posted early this evening. Please pray.

Not Just Yet

Filed by Danny Kopp

The human body is a strange and wonderful thing. That any part of it should work in an orderly fashion is a mystery to me and yet when a small part does indeed go awry it seems as though the world should stop until it's mended.

Santa Maria's operation, previously scheduled for today, has been postponed until next Tuesday or Wednesday. Upon further examination it was discovered that one of Santa's kidneys does not function - apparently since birth - and the other has a large stone. A committee of doctors met to discuss the issue and it was decided that they should go ahead with the heart surgery and attend to her one good kidney afterwards.


I don't think Santa has so far accused me of trying to get rid of them but she and her mother are now back at the home near the hospital. Now, however, that they have had some time to become accustomed to the idea that they will be going through with this - with the crucial backing and insistence of relatives back home - they are less disinclined to stay there.

I haven't made up my mind but there seem to be glimmers of hope and reason and godly love in the midst of despair and madness and emptiness. Or maybe the reality is more like Santa's body, where everything is working beautifully according to plan, except for here and there where there are failures, and this small effort of a wider body is the miracle that will restore wholeness.

First Day at Hospital

Filed by Danny Kopp

"Mama, stop arguing with Danny or he'll send us back to that house!"

Poor Santa Maria thought that in her mother's insisting I take some money for food we'd bought she would upset me and somehow ruin our welcome for them. I hope that wasn't what she understood by why she is returning to Tel Aviv to be hospitalised today at Wolfson Medical Centre.

Cardiologist Aki Tamir moved more than a mountain to schedule Santa for her heart surgery, tentatively for this Thursday. She was brought to hospital tonight so she could undergo a CT scan early Wednesday and further preparation for the operation. Yasmin will be staying with Santa these coming nights in the children's ward nearby.

"I don't think I'm scared at the moment but it's so hard not knowing what will happen." Here is Yasmin, just days away from witnessing her daughter's chest pried open and that tiny muscle that must every second extend life to the rest of the body come under the knife. How tenuously on the brink her existence must seem right now.

Raneen, one of Shevet's dedicated nurses, was indispensable in both winning Santa's heart and deftly translating all the technical bits for Yasmin as she accompanied them today. It's beautiful to see such quality people come along aside Yasmin and Santa, especially knowing this journey and how it is conducted is nearly as crucial as the destination.

Mass and Yom Kippur

Filed by Danny Kopp

I don't know which was a more satisfying a find, that the only Chaldean Church in Jerusalem happens to be exactly opposite my in-laws' home or the bicycle with training wheels at the Shevet office.

Santa's mother Yasmin was thrilled this morning to be able to attend a service at her "home" church. In Iraq the Assyrian Christians who are divided into Orthodox and Catholic (Chaldean) rites don't often cooperate but perhaps due to their tiny numbers in Jerusalem they've found the ability to even conduct a joint mass. It's a sad comment on our Christian world that often only the threat of extinction forces us to consider the existence of co-confessionalists as valid, let alone that of our enemies.

Three prayers were raised for Santa Maria after mass and several promised to light a candle on the day of the operation - a wordless gesture that is both simple and eloquent.

Today is also the eve of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement for Jews. A day of fasting and reflection for adults and tireless fun for children who race up and down streets that for this one day of year are without a vehicle in sight. Santa was surprised to see other girls on bicycles - exclusively a vehicle for males in her region - and immediately decided she should have one.

It wasn't long before she joined the fray. Yasmin meanwhile is waiting apprehensively to see when Santa might have her operation. But at least now she's in a place where she feels connected and grounded.

Home is where the heart is

Filed by Danny Kopp

"Get us out of here now!"

I didn't know how Santa Maria and her mother would hold out in a strange place with people who don't speak their language, waiting two weeks for her operation to take place. And returning two days after we left them at the children's house near the hospital I found that all they could conceive of was going back home immediately. Apparently we had left Santa in tears, and they hadn't stopped flowing since.

Nothing I could do or say would put Santa's mother's mind to rest. Here is yet another cultural chasm that is nearly impossible to cross for Westerners. We are so cosmopolitan in our experiences, in our exposure to other cultures and modes of existence that we think nothing of it.

Not so for most of the rest of the world. I hadn't realised how vulnerable, how trapped and frightened anyone must feel in Yasmin's circumstances (I think I'll take to calling Santa's mother Yasmin because even though I can't use her real name for her personal security, I think she deserves to be personalised nonetheless). Yasmin is away from home, away from everyone and everything she knows and loves. She could survive periodic trips for medical exams to the war-zoned hell that is Baghdad, but hours on end in a villa in an upperclass suburb proved an insurmountable feat.

"You do understand though, Yasmin, that this may be the last chance your daughter may ever get to do this surgery?" I must have tried for over three hours to convince her of what she already knew logically but had lost the will to hold fast to in the face of Santa's broken spirit. Broken spirit or not, barring the miraculous, Santa will die if the hole in her heart isn't mended. I couldn't hold back any longer, "Yasmin, your daughter will not live past 20 if you leave!"

I'm quite capable of filling the time with talk but obviously not gifted in providing comfort or reassurance. One call to Yasmin's husband in Iraq and I couldn't conceal my satisfaction when I heard her say, "So we'll stay and do the operation then?" Santa too was her joyful self after a quick exchange with daddy.

We're not quite in the clear yet though. Cardiologist Aki Tamir has generously offered to do everything he can to have the operation performed by this Thursday, so the most difficult stage is still ahead of us. In the meantime Santa and Yasmin are with us in Jerusalem where hopefully they'll have more opportunities to communicate and see a bit of the outside world.

"You can't imagine what it's like to be in my shoes, Danny." Yasmin is right. I have no idea what it's like to have lived my entire life in such a precarious state, hounded, oppressed and slaughtered on political, ethnic, religious or any other baseless grounds. One would rather salvage the little happiness left than face any more suffering. And how do you convince someone that a little more suffering will bring the light at the end of the tunnel, when every time that light has burned them.

There is more than one heart being operated on in this story--each could use a miracle.

To invite friends to this blog please click on the white envelope below. And we can agree together in prayer for Santa Maria and her mother by clicking on "comments."

In Three Dimensions

Dr. Aki Tamir examines Santa Maria

Filed by Danny Kopp
After leaving Santa Maria and her mother in tears last night, I thought today might be even more difficult as they set out on a series of medical examinations, including an echo (a type of ultrasound), x-rays and blood tests. The echo takes place in a dark room with the curtains drawn and Santa hooked up to a computer with more wires than a marionette. But Santa was her regular trooper self, putting up no protest whatsoever, and before we knew it she was snoring!

Not until the nurses had to draw blood did Santa balk at the sight of the needles but she was able to brave that as well, watching all along, until it was time for the next stage of tests.

The echo confirmed in greater detail the report the doctors received from Iraq. Santa's heart has a hole in the wall separating the two chambers. She also has a faulty valve which doesn't fully close as blood leaves the heart through her artery. This causes blood to flow back into the heart in the wrong direction and has also stretched the artery leading to the lungs to three times its normal width.

[Disclaimer: To all those in the medical profession and everyone else, please accept my sincerest apologies for the extremely primitive descriptions of Santa's condition. I don't even have the luxury of hiding behind regurgitated technical terminology as we went back and forth in Hebrew and Arabic.]

But to see Santa laughing and playfully teasing us round the hospital ward is a deceiving sight. Even the precise details given by the doctors are somehow lost on the wider significance of her condition. There are no open wounds, no outwardly visible signs that her life is slowly being snuffed out.

It isn't clear until we go outside and play chase when, just beyond a tease, she's run fifteen steps and her energy's spent. She hasn't the concept of pacing herself within her means, to withdraw from what her six year old spirit naturally is pushing for, but her body won't allow. Her mother too finds herself losing that battle everyday, between holding Santa back and preserving her heart, and letting her go...

Ariann, Shevet Achim's volunteer in Amman, had the brilliant idea to take them to the beach near Tel Aviv when Santa's exams were over. Of course this was their first time at the sea and Santa seemingly could not have been happier. She was so excited she jumped all the way in, screaming and splashing and getting all of us wet.

Santa's mother is anxious to have the operation performed as soon as possible but she may have to wait a week or even two before she can be scheduled in. We watched in silence as Dr. Akiva Tamir held Santa's virtual heart in his hands in three dimensions on the computer screen, scrutinising from every possible angle. I imagine this one saga in Santa's life as a window into God's perspective, with every unforeseeable circumstance that has brought her to this point, an angle of his providence.

To invite friends to this blog please click on the white envelope below. And if you're praying for Santa Maria and her mother, we can do this together by clicking on "comments."

We Speak Christian

Santa Maria arrived safely in Israel late Tuesday night. Danny Kopp is traveling with her:

It may be a cliche to say so, but Santa Maria and her mother are heroes. There are too many details to recount here; bureaucratic steps that for a Westerner would be merely mundane, or at most irksome, but for these Iraqi passport holders are a matter of life and death.

I can't imagine the trauma a mother and father must experience knowing their child will have to undergo open heart surgery. It becomes nearly impossible to relate to however to think of the vast distances they've traveled, the constant fear they could be turned back on a whim (as happened yesterday at the embassy), or that a simple ink stamp indicating their travel to Israel could be tantamount to a death sentence.

Despite the stress of travel and an apprehensive wait for what seemed like an eternity at the Israeli border crossing, both Santa Maria and her mother were in high spirits. They speak in their mother tongue Assyrian, a dialect of Aramaic (or as Santa's grandmother says, "We speak Christian"), Kurdish as a second language and Arabic a third. In all the questioning back and forth with the officials in Hebrew, Santa's mother was excited to discover, with all her languages, she had correctly understood whole phrases!
Perhaps it is owing to the precarious existence the Assyrians have etched out of a war-torn region that has inculcated in them such a profound perceptiveness of their environment. Santa's mother had astutely compiled a mental list of all the stories of excursions taken by friends and relatives to neighbouring countries in attempts to find health care unavailable in their region, only to be disappointed, maimed or even lose lives. She had counted the risks, knowing a visit to Israel for many is an unforgivable cardinal sin. There is no naivete or foolhardiness here - but real discernment, hope and gratitude.

Santa and her mother had supernaturally held their composure until our very last stop, the house near the hospital where they will stay while undergoing treatment. Perhaps it was the sight of other children crying as they bid farewell to new friends they'd made at the home, or maybe it was just exhaustion from 14 hours in transit, but Santa finally broke down in tears herself. Having just heard an explanation of tomorrow's ordeal of first day check ups at the hospital, Santa's mother couldn't hold back either.

"God can heal, I've seen it many times! Do your type of Christians believe in that?" I remember Santa's grandmother prodding me yesterday. "He also sends people like your group to help, whatever it takes. We had family who left for the West years ago and promised to help but never did. But God knows how to take care of his family."

As she said, she speaks Christian.

Danny will be with Santa Maria at the hospital Wednesday for her first encounter with the Israeli doctors. Look for his update Wednesday evening Israel time (+7 hours from US East Coast).

To invite friends to this blog please click on the white envelope below. And if you're praying for Santa Maria and her mother, we can do this together by clicking on "comments."

Come back tomorrow

Filed by Danny Kopp

"Not good!"

Not a traditional greeting in this part of the world but apparently these are the words our meeting evoked for Santa Maria's grandmother. I apologised and admitted she was right but that wasn't what she meant. "No, not you silly. I wanted to see Jerusalem, the Holy Land, the Church of the Resurrection but they told me I can't go!"

She immediately smiled and let me know she was joking and it's been non-stop banter ever since. She will indeed have to send her daughter and Santa Maria off by themselves for surgery in Israel (due to visa restrictions), but insists she is not the kind of believer who becomes angry with God when things don't go her way.

"Every step of this arduous journey has obviously been directed by God so I know he's in control, even if he takes Santa's life. You, however, I'm waiting to see what strings you can pull for me. Dirk says I can't cross the Jordan like Joshua these days..."

It's with this kind of unshakeable faith, a worldly realism and razor-sharp wit that Santa Maria's grandmother faced the news that our appointment at the Israeli Embassy here in Amman, Jordan had been postponed till tomorrow.



Santa - yes, they call her Santa for short - seems not to have minded the delay one bit. We found her some ice cream at a nearby hotel, which she thoroughly enjoyed exploring, especially the glass elevators - not a common feature of the Iraqi landscape.

Santa's mother has been taking everything in stride and is exceptionally perceptive of all the logistical coordination and cultural nuances involved in this process. It must certainly have been comforting to hear Dirk's wife Manuela so delicately describe in words and photos a similar operation that their own daughter had to undergo. Manuela and Dirk could not be more wonderfully placed to accompany Santa Maria and her mother, and others like them, as they negotiate a labyrinth of fears, languages, bureaucratic and political constraints.

The day before tomorrow

Filed by Dirk Kleinloh, Shevet Achim coordinator in Jordan

Today was a day of rest, SantaMaria played with our kids Johannes, Josefa and Jomana. No more shyness, but playing and fighting, as usual among kids. A neighbour dropped by and chatted with Santa´s mother and grandmother for hours about their life in Iraq.

After some prayer, fighting discouragement, I walked down to where the van was standing on the side of the road. There I found that after pouring water into the radiator it started and drove without the temperature rising. At the garage the mechanic said that the gasket was useless and he advised me to change the radiator, since it was too weak for the high temperatures in Jordan. They started to work straight away and after four hours the van was fixed at a cost of 107,-JD. Praise the Lord!

We went on a trip together to a castle in the afternoon. We were unable to go far because SantaMaria was unable to hike and climb too many steps, becoming more and more tired, and a little frustrated. She handled it well, as this is nothing new. She is often crouched down as kids with congenital heart defects commonly do, as it raises the oxygen level in their body. So then we walked through town and our kids had to give up their stroller for Santa Maria.

They really enjoyed meeting people at church this night, with everyone curious to meet them and greeting them. The day was long enough for them, and they went early to bed again. Best this way as tomorrow will be very tiring, with the day maybe only ending around midnight after getting visas, crossing borders, and reaching the hospital in Israel, if all goes as planned. This would make any grown adult tired, not to mention a six year old with a weak heart.

Look for the next update very late Monday night Middle East time (+2 hours from UK, +7 hours from US East Coast). Please share your thoughts and prayers by clicking below on "comments." And you can widen the circle by clicking on the white envelope and inviting a friend to join the blog.

Arrived safely in Jordan

Filed by Dirk Kleinloh, coordinator for Shevet Achim in Jordan

Just yesterday we were informed that the flight would arrive at 15:00 instead of 18:00. We arrived at the airport in time and the flight was late one hour. That´s normal with Iraqi Airways. Our new volunteer Ariann came along, and so did Johannes, my son, as we greeted Santa Maria, mother, and grandmother, pictured above.

Santa Maria was looking very sceptical at first, but later warmed up and became good friends with Johannes. They are Chaldean Christians from the north of Iraq. Santa Maria's grandmother has 10 girls and 2 boys(!). She has got it together, and ‘Alles in Ordnung,’ as they say in Deutschland. Santa Maria and her family have been waiting for over one year to come for surgery, after they were told that the surgery could not be performed in Iraq.

Talking about everything being in order, not so lucky. We had a slight detour on the way back to our home, in the form of clouds of white smoke blocking the highway. Unfortunately the source was our poor Korean van. It appears that the gasket is blown, but our hearts are not dismayed, and we continue on our journey, and hope you will continue following this adventure, and praying us through! The van is currently sitting on the side of the road, and a friendly local gave us a ride home. God willing the vehicle will be fixed tomorrow morning.

Note: Dirk hopes the cost will be only about 100 dinars ($140). If you can help, please use the "Donate to Shevet" link at above right.

Tomorrow my wife Manuela will show the family some photos of our own family’s experience going through heart surgery in Israel with our daughter only one and a half years ago. We will also be introducing them to the Arabic-speaking church, and please pray that we will have a rich time of sharing God’s Word and getting to know them better.

We have an appointment with the Israeli Embassy on Monday to collect their visas. The grandmother was not able to get a visa, so she will be staying in Jordan and is planning to see the sights for a couple weeks. Immediately after leaving the embassy, we hopefully will head straight for the border after that, to meet up with our Jerusalem coordinator Brian on the Israeli side. Journalist Danny Kopp will also be with us, traveling all the way through to the hospital in Israel with Ariann (pictured here holding Jonathan, our youngest family member).

Feel free to share your thoughts and prayers by clicking below on "comments." And you can widen the circle by clicking on the white envelope and inviting a friend to join the blog.

Santa Maria arrives in Amman Saturday night

Santa Maria is flying Saturday night with her mother and grandmother from northern Iraq to Amman, Jordan. Please pray for their safe travel and peace of mind and spirit. It is likely that none of them have ever traveled far from their home, been in an airplane, or even encountered such devices as an escalator. (We've seen an Iraqi grandmother fall down in surprise when the ground started moving under her feet!)


Shevet Achim volunteers Dirk and Ariann will greet Santa Maria at the airport and bring her to Dirk's home south of Amman, for rest and reassurance. They will then travel to the Israeli embassy in Amman on Monday for visas to allow Santa Maria and her mother to enter Israel for heart surgery at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon.

As part of a community praying in agreement, please share how you're interceding by clicking below on "comments." And you can widen the circle by clicking on the white envelope and inviting a friend to join the blog.