2 Brothers - 2 Books

Last week was such a wonderful week! Thank you all for voting for PLC on Stay Classy last week. For anybody who hasn’t voted yet, the voting lasts until July 26^th so show Craig and PLC some love by following the instructions on last week’s post.

This week I’ve been able to be a part of some amazing things and I would like to share a few of them with you. Before these stories I had only met one Kurdish believer and I was starting to get really discouraged. Well this past week I met SO many! Because of the persecution in our city it is better for us Westerners to keep a little distance between ourselves and the local church, especially us short timers. Luckily though we were invited to a church led by a local here in town. The service was AMAZING. It was all in Kurdish so I did not understand a whole lot but just being in that room filled with local believers was amazing. We sang, studied the word, prayed, and ate together. It was beautiful. That night we were also invited to a baptism!

Last weekend we all loaded up in a bus and headed out to a river. It was a full day filled with a picnic, swimming, dancing, praising the Lord, and my first ever Kurdish baptism!!! I was even able to sing a few of the songs because we sang them earlier that week. I love how Hallelujah is also used in this culture. Words cannot express my joy from that day as I was able to welcome two new brothers into the family. Please pray for these new believers.

Last week was also very special because I got to give out two bibles to two of my friends! Earlier in the summer I was introduced to these friends at our coffee night and we became good friends right away. I was also able to read the Word with them earlier in the summer and they seemed interested in knowing more.  Throughout this summer it has been great to get to know them and share my life with them.  I was so excited when I gave them bibles in their own language.  Please pray that they Spirit will work through the Word in their lives.

Thank you all so much for keeping up with this blog and praying for Craig and I. Words cannot express our gratitude for your prayerful support. We will be returning home early next week. Please keep our last week here and our travel in your prayers. Can’t wait to tell you more about our summer in person!

Tyler

Good news everyone!

Hi guys!

Recently I was asked to write a award nomination article for an organization that helps charities around the world. The Classy Awards is one of the largest charity award programs in the US, so the article for nomination was very important.

We spent a few days polishing it and making it as good as we could. Finally, we were able to send it out to the people at StayClassy for them to look it over and either accept or deny it. I was very nervous because it was my first "big" assignment and I didn't want anything to go wrong.

A couple of days ago, we received news that our nomination had been accepted! We were in the running for the award, which would help PLC with everything from publicity to funding. I was ecstatic, knowing I had been a part of helping PLC and that something I contributed might lead to the growth of PLC so they could save more lives than ever before!

I'm glad I've been able to help PLC in their goal to save the lives of children and train local doctors so they can do the same. I only have two more weeks here, but this experience is one of my most appreciated. Thanks for your support and encouragement, I couldn't do this without you!

I'd love to hear from you, so send me an email at craig@preemptivelove.org or comment below!

Until next time,
Craig

P.S.
You can be a part of PLC's mission too! Go here to vote for PLC and help them get publicity and funding for saving children's lives! Here's what you need to do:

1. Choose the "South" region, either at the top of the page, or in the bottom bar.
2. Scroll almost all the way and find the "Health and Well-being" category.
3. Select Preemptive Love Coalition for your vote.
4. Click "Submit my Final Ballot" in the lower right.
5. Sign in with Facebook and share your vote with friends! We need all the support we can get!

Happy 4th from the Field

Hey all,

I hope everyone had wonderful 4th of July festivities last night. Craig and I got to go to a party on the roof of a hotel last night that overlooked the city. It was a real treat! We even got to watch some fireworks go off around the city but as you can imagine people were not celebrating the Independence of America. They were actually celebrating a holiday, called barat, where children go around and get candy and money from neighbors to stalk up for Ramadan which is 15 days later.  They also get to play with fireworks which is a plus! And much like in America there are fires because it is very dry here. I am praying for all the fires I have heard about it the states.

Large fire right in town. Sorry for the poor quality.

View from the hotel

I am sorry this note is so short but Craig and I have been incredibly busy with work and hanging out with all of our friends. Please be lifting up our last 3 weeks here in Iraq. Craig and I have been building great relationships with a few friends and we hope to have many more good conversations while we are here. I have added a few photos for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

A summer picnic

Hello everyone!

Last Friday all the PLC staff and interns went to a picnic in the Iraq countryside near Iran and I want you to experience what we did. So without further ado, a typical Kurdish holy day!

You leave your home early in the morning and take a bus out to the country. The ride is full of anticipation, laughter, and excitement. After two hours of winding up and down mountains on single lane dirt roads, you arrive at the house you will be at for the afternoon. The first thing you notice as you enter the house is the lack of furniture, so you find a place on the large carpets spread throughout the room and recline on some pillows. You spend the entire morning talking and chatting with friends, lazily spending the day in no particular rush.

Lunch is absolutely amazing! It is a traditional Iraqi dish called sara and there is a whole lot of food for such a short name. First, you are handed a steaming bowl of rice which is considered your "home base". Then lots of different bowls full of all kinds of food are brought out. All the dishes have a tomato based broth, but that's about the extent of their similarities. There are beans, ocra, tomatoes, apricots, and all kinds of awesome foods. You're sitting on the ground in whatever style you can manage with a long plastic sheet that acts like a table cloth for all the guests (this is important later), looking at all the good food in front of you when suddenly a heavenly aroma wafts through the air like a thousand baby angels singing in your nostrils. THE NAN BREAD HAS ARRIVED! It's a flatbread like tortillas, but it's warm, slightly doughy, the size of a pizza. Then you  begin spooning out your portion of all the other dishes in to your “home base” of rice, tear off bits of nan bread, and take bites of delicious food intermingled with stimulating conversation from the around the floor. This is where the plastic sheet comes in. You dump all the uneaten food left in the bowls (except for untouched food) onto the sheet and roll it up. Volia, instant clean up!

After you’ve eaten your fill, the men head out to go swimming while the women enjoy a relaxing afternoon alone. You walk a short distance to a small river nearby that appears in the desert like a true oasis. The scene before you is wonderful. The river has cut away bedrock so canyon walls surround you as you swim. You fulfill your childhood desires by climbing up a huge rock in the center. Once you are back in the water you feel the odd sensation of small fish nibbling on your toes. You float along the current and find just around the bend caves of all shapes and sizes littered with old bomb casings from the Iran/Iraq war. This brings into your mind the warning of your local friend, "Don't go too far into those mountains because there are still active landmines even though 16,000 have been removed."

Swimming makes you deadbeat tired, so you are relieved when you return and are handed a large slice of watermelon and a hot glass of Kurdish tea.. The sound of stirring tea and slurps of juicy watermelon fill the room as you doze for a while and then play some games with everyone. After a long day of food and fun, you clean the house, lock up, and head back home. The bus ride is quiet since a lot of people are dozing, listening to music, or simply pondering the happenings of late. You get back to your house and wearily get ready for bed, ready to dream about the pleasant memories formed during your summer picnic.


I hope you enjoyed sharing out recent experience! If you have any questions or any topics you'd like to hear about, let us know in the comments section down below!

Until next time,
Craig

Friends Spotlight

This week Craig and I both got to hang out with some awesome new friends. I wanted to take this opportunity to spotlight those relationships so you could join us in lifting them up.

First, a note on male to male relationships in Iraq. The relationships between men are very different here then they are in America. Since men cannot be affectionate with women in public they show affection toward each other. Coming into this internship I knew this and thought it was totally bizarre. Being here has completely changed my perspective on relationships between men.  Here it is completely normal to link arms or hold hands while walking and greet each other with a kiss. Speech is also much different towards the same sex as you will see in the following spotlights.

Craig and I had an opportunity to hang out with some friends he met at the life center this past Saturday.  We went to park Azadi and walked around. His new friends are from down south and speak mostly Arabic but know a little Kurdish and their English is decent. We spent the night drinking cha (tea) and chatting up a storm. We taught them English and they taught us Arabic. One friend, we will call him Mac, and I had the same notebook where we would write words we wanted to remember.  The same friend sent Craig a text the next day that said, “Morning or night you are light…big or small you are all…young or old you are gold…far are near you are dear…” As you can see, this is definitely something you don’t see in the US.

The friend I want to shine a spotlight on I will call Sam. Sam and I have been able to hang out and talk a lot at the coffee night and this past week we got to have a long lunch together. The conversation was great! We talked about everything from his interaction with the US army during the war, to the Quran, to the life of Jesus. During that lunch we built a great bond. At the end I was leaving and he looked at me with complete sincerity and said, “Brother, if you need anything, money, food, this car, everything I have is yours.”

Please lift up these relationships. It is easy to hang out with people in this culture but please intercede on our behalf that these relationships would be more than just learning English or a new culture. Pray that they would be filled with love, grace, and truth.

Tyler

A somber day

Hello everyone,

As you may have seen in the news, there were a number of bombings in Iraq today. The numbers are still coming in, but the latest estimate is around 82 people killed. Everyone from PLC is fine, but it's still a terrible thing when we're working so hard for peace.

Keep the Shi'ite people in prayer as they were the target of these recent attacks.

Thank you all for your support,
Craig

You Have to Stretch Before You Can Run

Well folks it's stretching time,

We are winding down our 3rd week in Iraq and I am finally starting to get a good stretch. This week I've had the opportunity to be frustrated physically, culturally, and spiritually. And I'm glad because this is a huge reason I came to Iraq.

Physically I'm feeling a little beat up because my body is not cooperating with the type of food we eat. I thought I ate a lot of bread and meat at home but that was nothing compared to the amount I eat here. Also, the temp has reached 100+ and will only continue to climb as we continue to wear long sleeved shirts.

Culturally, I love it, I really do. I'm starting to get past the novelty however. The people are so nice and helpful. They will literally stop what they are doing to help you out, especially if you are American. I'm just getting past the stage where it's fun and cool to be the new guy, the one everyone wants to look at and and talk to.

Mzgowti Gowra (the great mosque) in the Bazaar.

Spiritually I am being challenged by the different views of the people around me. Not only am I living in a predominantly Muslim culture but I am also living with people who do not necessarily have the exact same theology I do. During our weekly "home group" at the Courtney's, we listen to different sermons that challenge us to think about what we really believe. We discuss different view points and ask challenging questions.

I tell you these things not so you will worry about Craig and me but to give you some direction in prayer to our Almighty Creator.  We are in good hands, but as I have said before and will say again, thank you so much for your prayers, we could not continue on our journey without them. I can safely say that I have personally felt the prayers of those of you that are praying faithfully at home.

Hanging out with Sam (right) and his friend at the coffee night.
Their beards put mine to shame!

Now for some good news. Last week I told you about the coffee night where we have the opportunity to meet local Kurds who speak English. Well last week was amazing. Craig and I both made many friends and exchanged numbers. It looks like we might even start playing on a soccer team with one of the guys I met. Please keep all of these relationships in mind. Hopefully next week I will be able to report more on the formulation of these friendships.

Tyler

Check out all the interns in this awesome intern video by Monique

Birthday in Iraq

Hello everyone!

My birthday weekend has come and gone, but I had an awesome time with all the new people I've met from PLC.

In the morning we had a time of prayer with the staff. One of the staff members introduced us to Syria and its current situation. Syria is full of corruption and strife, to the point that the local men cannot move from village to village without being shot at. We spent the entire morning in prayer for Syria and it was inspiring. The very thought that we can talk directly with God still makes me gape in wonder at His immense grace. Afterwards, we all headed to the local bazaar, which is a whole bunch of street side shops, full of the most awesome sights you'll see in all Iraq. From small goldsmith shops to butcher shops next to children's clothes, it's amazing anyone can find their way around. After wandering around for a few hours, we stopped to get some ice cream where we met a mid-20's shopkeeper who insisted we see his shop. So we headed out across the street into a mall building, right in the middle of the bazaar! While we were talking, he told us we could take some clothes for free. Now, one thing about the culture here is that everyone tries to give you something, usually to be polite, but occasionally people here will literally not let you pay for things. So we refused his gift as politely as we could and convinced him that we didn't want to take his wares for free, but it was an odd experience especially given America's traditional "out for #1" attitude. Then Tyler heard back from his friends I thought we were meeting at a local park, so we headed over to the park to hang out and chat with our local friends. Imagine my surprise however when instead it was the staff and interns from PLC with a surprise birthday picnic! Best office ever, I'm telling you. We were at Park Azadi which means freedom park. It's a place of both happiness and sadness. It's built over a place of devastation, where hundreds of people were executed and buried around the area over the last couple decades, but now it's a beautiful park full of flowers, families, and fun. I think it's a beautiful picture of recovery and growth. So after dinner the rest of the interns and I went to go ride some amusement park rides, located in the park itself! We hung out for a little while longer to relax with some chai tea and when it got late, we headed back to the house. A pretty awesome birthday in Iraq!

Work is going well, we're starting a new newsletter which I got to write and some more blog posts from the rest of the interns. It seems a little slow, but Matt assures me that we'll really start picking up when we start our summer Remedy Missions. I'm so excited for the Missions and I can't wait until we start covering them. Keep updated with our goings on at the PLC blog page!

One last thing before I go: all the interns have decided to make our conversations with everyone, including ourselves, more personal and impactful. I want to challenge you all to do the same and try to make every meeting with others significant.

Until next time,
Craig

1 Shower, 10 people – Not all at the same time

Our hammam. This summer I will be getting some strong thighs!

As Craig mentioned earlier this week we have a few more people living at our house and that brings the total to 10! For having that amount of people living under the same roof and only one shower, things are surprisingly calm. We all seem to get along pretty well and no major issues have broken out. Please pray for God's continued grace in this area because we will add one more to the crew in about a week and a half.

It has been nice to have Jeremy back from out of town this week and everyone in the office.  Jeremy and the rest of the staff have been very open with us about how PLC is run, the issues they run into, and how they make decisions. It has allowed me to take ownership of this internship and really become a member of PLC, which is exactly what they want. They also want us to become a part of the culture and one way they help us do that is with a couple of rules for making friends. One rule they have is say yes to EVERYTHING.

Some of my new Kurdish friends. 

Because of this rule and a crazy mountain climb I got to take part in last weekend I made my first Kurdish friend!  I met him at the bottom of the mountain I had just spent the last 12 long hours on and we hit it off right away. He speaks really good English and that day we were able to exchange numbers.  This past Tuesday he invited me to go hang out with his friends at a park so I took Craig along.  It was a great time hanging out and getting to learn about his life and the Kurdish culture. Please keep this relationship in your prayers.

Tonight we have another opportunity to meet local Kurds who speak English at a coffee night where we will help teach conversational English.  We have the opportunity to do this every Thursday night and it is a great way to make friends and exchange numbers. We would all appreciate your prayers on our behalf!

Lastly, I wanted to share a praise with all of you.  I know many of you have followed the story of my cousin’s baby, Madi. She was born with Congenital Heart Disease and has been battling for her life all of her life.  For the last 4 months she has been on top of the heart transplant list in Houston.  Earlier this week Madi received her new heart and she has been recovering nicely from a very intense surgery.  Praise God for her new heart and keep her in your prayers as well as the donor family. To follow her story check out her moms blog here.

I thank all of you for joining Craig and me on this journey.  It would not have been possible to get here without your support nor will it be possible to be effective without your support. 

Tyler

An awesome silhouette from halfway up the mountain. Can you guess which one I am?
Photo Credit - Matt Willingham

Industrious in Iraq!

Hello everyone,

It's been a wonderful week and a half in Iraq! I can hardly believe it's already been a week, everything just seems to fly by here. Working in the office is lots of fun; the staff is amazing, the other interns are the bees' knees, and the actual work material is awesome.

The staff members are all excited to have interns around for the summer and I'm excited because I get to work with these awesome people. The two founders of PLC are very well-spoken, have tremendous drive to do what needs to be done, and share a passion for healing children. Jeremy is often telling us about his stories about spreading PLC's work far and wide. I can't wait to hear more of what he's doing. Cody is the other face of PLC, working to help people understand what PLC is all about and how we accomplish everything. His wife Michelle is our financial advisor and helps the office get the resources it needs to save lives. Matt is the press secretary here and my direct supervisor, so I better not say much about him. He knows so much more than I could have imagined possibly even existing about social media, photography, and design. I don't know how I'll keep up with all this new stuff like blogging and the like. According to the PLC website, Matt's wife Cayla is the Remedy Mission coordinator, but it seems like she coordinates everything around the office. From intern duties to making sure everyone has everything they need, Cayla's the one who does what needs to be done. Awara is our culture guide, ensuring we don't do anything wrong this summer. I finally got to meet him this week because he was out with two of the other interns for a project, but now he's here and I can't wait to get to know him better. This summer is going to be amazing and the staff is a huge part of that. 

Some of us interns being goofy at lunch

I recently met two more of the interns, Alicia and Kendelyn! They were both in another town screening children for heart defects this last week and now they're back with all sorts of neat things to say. Kendelyn was there taking photos and she has some awesome photos from Iraq, which you can check out here on her blog. Alicia is a doctor-in-training and we've found her to be a great resource to have around. When you read all day about odd things like the tetralogy of fallot, it's great to be able to ask a person and not have to look it up on wikipedia.

I'm really excited because I've been given a project to work on! Matt has asked me to work on the biweekly newsletter PLC sends out and I'm stoked! I love all the stories of generosity I get to read about while I work and every part of PLC combines to make one amazing whole.

One week down, 9 more glorious ones to go! Until next time,

Craig

First Week Adventures

Choni? Bashi?


That is a common greeting here in Iraq and one we use often while meeting people on the streets, in the bazaar (market), or in stores.  Craig and I have already learned a lot of the language because on our first full day here we went out and did a scavenger hunt in the bazaar to get a few things we needed. It was also intended for us to learn how to ask for help and to learn useful phrases in the Kurdish language.

http://preemptivelove.org/

Our typical day looks something like this. We wake up and get ready in our sweet shower where we conserve water by turning on the water only to get wet and rinse off. Then we head out the door and walk to  the PLC office which is about 12.5 minutes away. After we get to work we start on our tasks for the day which for Craig and I have mostly consisted of writing, editing, and sending out press releases for us and the other interns. Yesterday the interns went out on our first lunch adventure without staff which proved to be very interesting and consisted of a lot of pointing and head nods. After lunch we head back to work until 5 and walk back to the house to start dinner.  Once we enjoy an amazing dinner there are many things we can do. Some of our nights have consisted of enjoying tea on the rooftop, hanging out in "common grounds" (a sitting area upstairs), or tonight we are going to meet friends at a local tea shop with a staff member Matt.

Craig and Tyler checking out "what's below" --Photo credit to Monique Ching

Living and working in Iraq has proven to be challenging and fun. I don't think I will ever fully adjust to the culture but it seems like everyday I learn something new about the culture that is different from our own, as well as something that we have in common. Thank you all for supporting me in this life changing experience.

Check out the Preemptive Love Coalition's blog here to see what they've been doing!

We're here!

Hey guys!

I'm done traveling and now I'm finally in Iraq! I've been here for only a couple of days, but I've already seen so many different things. The first day we arrived at the airport and went through security. I braced myself for the worst thinking the trip past customs and passport checks would be a trial, but instead I found myself walking through the airport, handing my passport to an officer and getting a polite nod to move along with no trouble at all.

Outside the airport Tyler and I met our gracious hosts for the summer, the Courtney family. We headed out to their home and chatted during the car ride about PLC's history and their vision for the future of the company. Once I got to the house, I met some of the other interns. David is a student from Texas who studies journalism and has been on many trips overseas. Monique is a recent graduate from New Zealand, Hong-Kong, and various other places. After going over the house ground rules, I went straight to bed and got ready for our next exciting day in Iraq.

Most of what I've experienced in Iraq has completely challenged my views about their culture, so this will be a tough first couple of days. I'm really excited though for the opportunity to be overseas and I'm having a great time meeting all the new people here.

Until next time,
Craig

First post!

Hello everyone!

Preparations are almost done and we're heading out in less than 3 days! We've been anticipating this week for the longest time and now it's finally here! In preparation for our trip, we've both been really busy. Tyler has been attending an Arabic class on top of all his other school work. I've been working on the language too, but at a much slower rate due to school. Everything from the past five months are finally coming together and I'm super excited for Saturday. Finals are wrapping up for both of us and it's only a matter of time before we're off for the summer. Thanks to everyone who have been giving support and encouragement as we've been planning for our trip.

Just a few more days!

Craig