The wall has been built now surrounding our community center, a total of more than 225 meters long, made entirely of cinder blocks – the way they build everything over here. It just remains to be finished out and painted, but all the blocks are in place. We’ve ordered 5 gates for the property which should be completed in the next couple of weeks. So, things are beginning to take shape.
And this week we completed a slab for our generator and a 5,000 liter diesel tank that was recently donated by the US Army. That’s right, there was a crew of 12 US Army personnel stationed on a hill overlooking our city for 10 months, up until just a few weeks ago. I happened to meet the Major in charge, on a happenstance visit with the Mayor of Soran. We immediately hit it off as he mentioned that he had worked with orphans in Egypt for over 2 years. It wasn’t long before he came to look at our community center. As we were walking through the facility, we stopped in the future room of our kitchen. He cocked his head and asked, “Would you be needing any kitchen appliances?” “Well, of course we would,” I said. It wasn’t long after that meeting that he asked us to come visit him on the base, and before we knew it, we were coming back again to celebrate Memorial Day with grilled burgers straight from America topped off with Dr. Pepper – a treat we won’t soon forget. Then, the Major began to take me through the base. He said, “Look, we are the last American soldiers on this base, and everything will either go to the Kurdish Army or to you. You tell me what you want, and we’ll see that you get it.” So, I made out a list, and come “clearing out day” we made out like a bandit! All that the Major offered us was practically new including: a washer and 2 dryers, a couch set, an oven, two 6 foot long deep freezers, 2 microwaves, a drink refrigerator, t.v., a large barbecue – partly made from the barrel of a 30 caliber machine gun, a vacuum cleaner, desk and chairs, folding tables, some tools including a DeWalt 18volt cordless power drill, 8 hand made and sturdy bunk beds, 12 mattresses, a medical issue stretcher with loads of medical dressings, bandages, etc that one of our team members intends on using in some EMT classes at our center one day, about 350 pounds of high grade lumber, loads of cleaning supplies, fly and mouse traps a plenty, packages and packages of food and desserts left over in the freezers, condiments galore, bulk bags of rice, Folder’s coffee, cans of green beans, fruit cocktail, corn, and Campbell’s soup, boxes of Gatorade packets, loads of individual Starbuck’s coffee packets, AND a couple 12 packs of Dr. Pepper straight from Texas! Can you hear me singing the glory of God!!! We hauled away 3 truck loads stacked to the gills of things for use in our new guest house and at the center once it is completed. They even helped us load up.
His abundant provision for us personally and for the Center defies the imagination. There was even much more that we just left for the Kurdish Army. But, that’s not all. The Major also said that we could have our pick from 2 generators, plus a 5,000 diesel tank for fuel. This gift alone, would have cost us in the neighborhood of $15,000 just for the generator.
Now, that the slab has been poured, the Major made an agreement with the Mayor of Soran to have a specially equipped crane and truck provided to move the units to our project site for free; which is no small business. Because World Orphans is also in the process of outfitting a guest house, these items couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. It’s unbelievable! We hope to have the generator moved at the end of this week. Praise the Lord with us for all that he is doing. We’ll post more pics soon.
And this week we completed a slab for our generator and a 5,000 liter diesel tank that was recently donated by the US Army. That’s right, there was a crew of 12 US Army personnel stationed on a hill overlooking our city for 10 months, up until just a few weeks ago. I happened to meet the Major in charge, on a happenstance visit with the Mayor of Soran. We immediately hit it off as he mentioned that he had worked with orphans in Egypt for over 2 years. It wasn’t long before he came to look at our community center. As we were walking through the facility, we stopped in the future room of our kitchen. He cocked his head and asked, “Would you be needing any kitchen appliances?” “Well, of course we would,” I said. It wasn’t long after that meeting that he asked us to come visit him on the base, and before we knew it, we were coming back again to celebrate Memorial Day with grilled burgers straight from America topped off with Dr. Pepper – a treat we won’t soon forget. Then, the Major began to take me through the base. He said, “Look, we are the last American soldiers on this base, and everything will either go to the Kurdish Army or to you. You tell me what you want, and we’ll see that you get it.” So, I made out a list, and come “clearing out day” we made out like a bandit! All that the Major offered us was practically new including: a washer and 2 dryers, a couch set, an oven, two 6 foot long deep freezers, 2 microwaves, a drink refrigerator, t.v., a large barbecue – partly made from the barrel of a 30 caliber machine gun, a vacuum cleaner, desk and chairs, folding tables, some tools including a DeWalt 18volt cordless power drill, 8 hand made and sturdy bunk beds, 12 mattresses, a medical issue stretcher with loads of medical dressings, bandages, etc that one of our team members intends on using in some EMT classes at our center one day, about 350 pounds of high grade lumber, loads of cleaning supplies, fly and mouse traps a plenty, packages and packages of food and desserts left over in the freezers, condiments galore, bulk bags of rice, Folder’s coffee, cans of green beans, fruit cocktail, corn, and Campbell’s soup, boxes of Gatorade packets, loads of individual Starbuck’s coffee packets, AND a couple 12 packs of Dr. Pepper straight from Texas! Can you hear me singing the glory of God!!! We hauled away 3 truck loads stacked to the gills of things for use in our new guest house and at the center once it is completed. They even helped us load up.
His abundant provision for us personally and for the Center defies the imagination. There was even much more that we just left for the Kurdish Army. But, that’s not all. The Major also said that we could have our pick from 2 generators, plus a 5,000 diesel tank for fuel. This gift alone, would have cost us in the neighborhood of $15,000 just for the generator.
Now, that the slab has been poured, the Major made an agreement with the Mayor of Soran to have a specially equipped crane and truck provided to move the units to our project site for free; which is no small business. Because World Orphans is also in the process of outfitting a guest house, these items couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. It’s unbelievable! We hope to have the generator moved at the end of this week. Praise the Lord with us for all that he is doing. We’ll post more pics soon.
I saw the reference to this in your newsletter and thought "how did I miss that??!!" Clicked the link and realized it happened while I was traveling so I wasn't keeping up with my blog reading. WOW - PRAISE THE LORD!!!
Posted by: Kate Borders | September 20, 2010 at 07:56 AM