Where He leads...: March 2017

Tomorrow we will leave the emergency field hospital and return to Erbil. Early Saturday morning we will begin our 24-hour journey home. I don't know how to sum up my time here. Certainly I will be processing these past six weeks for months to come. I hope my occasional updates have given you some glimpse into what we have experienced. And I thank you again for all your prayers for us and the team. We've seen the horrific results of what evil can do. And we've witnessed the beauty of love bandaging up those wounds. We've seen God bring about miraculous healing. And we've seen lives transformed by the truth of the Gospel. One of our national doctors made a decision to believe in and follow Jesus just a few days ago! Despite this being such an intense and difficult time, I am so thankful to have had this opportunity and to see God working in such a unique way. I will forever carry the sadness in my heart of what we witnessed here, but I will also remember the sweetness of God's love in such a dark place and the unity of His people to care for the broken and the dying.

A Shining Light

One night as we were standing at the bedside of a dying little boy, a European security guard started encouraging us about the work we are doing here—and not just the work itself, but how we are carrying it out. He said that his Iraqi staff were hesitant about working at the hospital. They knew we are a Christian organization and joked (with more than just a hint of seriousness) about whether we would poison their food. Many people in the Middle East have been told lies about us. These men have been faithfully guarding us nonetheless, and this supervisor was saying he has seen a change in his guards because of the love we have shown to the patients. Most of them wanted to stay longer after their two-week shift ended. He went on to say, "There is a light all around this place and you would have to be blind not to see it." Praise God people are seeing the Light that we have carried into this darkness. May our good works here, spurred on by the love of Christ, bring glory to God and draw others to Him.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

This was removed from the side of a ten year old boy's chest. He is still recovering here at the hospital and we would appreciate your prayers for him and for all our patients. We've seen many healthy discharges and there have also been many who are transferred to other hospitals for further care.

If you want a glimpse into the battle in Mosul, click here for a 30 minute news documentary. Parts of it are hard to watch and there are a couple bad words in the subtitles, but it's quite informative. It's easy to see why we receive so many civilians causalities as the fighting is literally happening on the streets and around the homes where hundreds of thousands of people are still living. Many of our national staff members have family still living in these dangerous areas. Please pray for their safety and for a quick end to this brutal war.

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

John 1:5

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