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
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
Oh Craig!! I received and email about the post you left on my wall, thanks for always sporadically making me smile!! It was a great start to my Friday! As for this rollar derby business... I think think the part that made your day was the lack of coordination that I have and the thought of me doing it would be.... Hilarious to say the least, haha.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're having a great time over there! It's nuts to think that you, the 2 nmsu teams and TEA team are battling heat while Ryan and I are FREEZING!!! Anyway though, I keep up with emails more than anything, so lets kick it old school and keep in contact through there. My email is saved_by_grace12404@me.com love ya and praying for you, craigers!!!!