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!