Syria: Day 6

Thursday, April 30, 2009 10:08 AM
Subject: Syria: Day 6

Marhaba! (hello in Arabic)

Hello dear friends! This morning we did "home visits" again. We had the same teams also. So Graham, Marcos, Kristen and I went to three homes this morning. The first one was a family - a husband, wife and son, who left Iraq because her husband had been kidnapped twice, and they tried to kidnap her 9 year old son on his way to school. So they left. They are new, and can't apply for visas with the UN until they have been here for 2-3 years. I didn't realize that until today: many of these refugees cannot even apply for visas to leave Syria until they have been here for 2-3 years. The second family we went to was very sweet, and stuck with me for most of the day. It was a woman and her sister. Her sister has 5 daughters, and her husband was kidnapped in Iraq and they have not heard from him for a long while. They do not know if he is dead or alive. The other woman (the sister) was being threatened because her husband, who died of a heart attack actually, was assisting US forces in Iraq. Once the threats came, they left Iraq. This was very sad because this family had no money, no furniture, barely enough food, but they were still so hopeful and so joyful. The third family was also very sweet - a husband, wife, and two kids. They had to flee Iraq because her husband was also assisting US military forces and was being threatened. We p-ed for all of them, and they were all so grateful. They are truly such a blessing to us, and His kingdom. Some of these homes look like they are in neighborhoods straight out of Slumdog Millionaire, random trash piles everywhere and barren buildings.

I will share with you, when we first arrived at the church this morning, there was a woman who arrived at the church for he first time. She shared her story with everyone on the team. She was crying, as she had come for help. Her husband ran a jewelry store in Baghdad, was robbed by terrorists and shot to death. She left with her son and now lives in Syria. She just arrived and does not have much money. She was a member of the "John the Baptist" faith, which doesn’t recognize Jesus as our Savior. So Graham took out his evangecube, gave it to Carolyn. We lead her through the witnessing process, Joun and Marcos p-ed the p-er of salvation with her, and I also spoke with her about God's amazing love and grace. She was a very sweet woman, so she accepted Christ today! PTL! ;-)

We taught kids again this afternoon, which was a lot of fun. We have been building relationships with many of the kids, and they have been asking for our email addresses to keep in touch. Which is awesome! :-) They need more community of believers, especially if they come to the USA. Marianne and I were working with the 4-7 year olds today, by the end, we were covered in paint, stickers, markers, and just about anything else we use at craft time! lol They LOVE stickers! They are soo cute! Btw, the young girls go crazy for blond hair! lol

Tonight we are going to Nancy's for dinner in Jamana, which is the Iraqi neighborhood. It has an amazing view of Damascus, sooooo beautiful. We have been taking a ton of pictures.

God is doing amazing work with these team, please keep p-ing for us to have energy. We are getting very tired, and not getting a whole lot of sleep at night (which is another story about our hotel being the hottest wedding reception place in all of Damascus, so there is literally a celebration going on right below our rooms- every night - its VERY loud! lol). But no biggie, God is giving us just enough rest, hopefully it continues!

You guys are great, thanks again for all your support. Those of you with kind words about my writing - I thank you! :-) And yes, I'm actually a journalist by profession. lol (technically an editor, so some of you guessed correctly) Writing these emails each day has been a blessing and something I look forward to throughout the day. A small bit about me, writing this down actually helps me process how God is working through our team and also myself. So, He has been blessing me with the ability to communicate with y'all what it is going on here in Damascus. :-) Thank you so much for your kind words, encouragement, and support in sending out these updates. It's awesome to hear how God has been impacting you through these updates, our team LOVES hearing about it.

Please keep p-ing, we almost there. Tomorrow is actually a big day. We will be having real personal conversations with the older kids, 17-20 years old, about addictions. Which is a broad topic, but I know God will use it, and please p that the kids open up about what is going on in their lives. For Him to provide healing for the pain they are harboring.

Thanks so much!!! You are a blessing to this sweet, Spirit filled team!

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Kristina