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