I wanted to give everyone a chance to celebrate with us as we have completed the stone front of the building. Praise God!
If you would like to help us finish off the first floor of the building, we are in need actually of a $5,000 gift this very month. Click here to donate now.
While visiting my family in the States last year, the boys had a terrific time enjoying catching up with their cousins. After playing around awhile, one of their cousins asked them, "Where do you live?" and Jonathan promptly said, "We live in Eer ock." The proper way to prounce the country we live in, I might add, rather than "i" rack that is more commonly heard in the States.
Some moments passed and with a look of consternation, said cousin approached her mommy and declared, "I don't think they live in a rock. How could they live in a rock?"
Well, if you were to just spend some time out in the countryside in our neck of the woods, you might just notice that this land really is filled with rocks and stones everywhere. Farmers have such a hard time of it, having to clear the land of all the rocks piling them up along the borders of their land. We may not live "in" a rock, but we certainly are surrounded by them.
Just trying to plough through hard ground like this must just take it out of you.
But what makes life difficult for farmers makes buildings around here really beautiful. Stone, in particular, from the plains of Mosul is trucked all over the country drapping homes, businesses, and government offices in a modest sandy hue.
When we were considering the next steps in our building project, we looked around to see what other buildings were doing. Taking a hint from the Post Office next door we decided to do the same thing with the front of our building.
Here it is taking shape:
In a few days, it will be finished. We're really happy about the way the building is truly shaping up. Thanks for all your prayers and sacrifical giving that make this all possible.
Well with weather like this perhaps you can see why we've been having some delay in getting work done at the center.
But the clouds are starting to part and the sun is beginning to make a more substantial impression on our land.
With the funds that we received at the end of the year, we've finished the electrical system for the main floor, put up curtains in the women's center, and begun tiling the inside walls.
Here are a few pics to show you:
Next week is the Kurdish New Year, so I doubt we'll get much done then, but we have lined up workers to begin putting a stone facade on the front of the building and to finish plastering the outside of the rest of the building.
It really will be shaping up soon. Thanks for your continued prayers and support for this vital project in our region. Stay tuned as we begin to really put this building to work.
Already, we are having over 40 ladies in the neighborhood taking some basic English classes in the finished women's center, and we're slated to begin a sowing and knitting class towards the end of the month. Praise the Lord!
We have had so many visitors seeking to be a part of God’s work amongst the Kurdish people, just in the last year and a half we’ve helped host 15 international teams. This is in addition to having our own local friends stay with us on another 10 separate occasions. Our home has seemed like a revolving door sometimes as guest after guest pays us a visit and the shoes pile up at our front door.
God must be up to something.
One of the things that really makes this possible is the wonderful home he has provided for us. We have an entire extra floor with 3 spare bedrooms, bathroom, full kitchen, and living area so that visiting teams can feel more at home. Also, many in-country expat groups have made use of our space to hold their own team retreats, personal retreats, and even mini-vacations as we are located up in the mountains amongst some beautiful surroundings.
In addition to the extra floor we have a smaller top floor that naturally became our “Upper Room” where we hope to encourage all of our guests to sow seeds of prayer into this land.
Some of the activities that we’ve been a part of with these groups have been: prayer walking the neighborhoods, passing out Samartian’s Purse Boxes and other humanitarian aid, visiting with local Kurds in outlying villages as well as in the bigger cities, refugee camps, meeting with government officials, joining in local soccer games, hosting soccer camps and games for the children, even arranging for some simple diagnosis and treatment with the help of doctors from the States.
And now, that our community center is nearing its initial stage of usefulness with the completion of the conference room/women’s center, we have even bigger plans to reach out and help the local community with an emphasis on the widows and orphans in our region.
Please be in prayer for us as we begin to offer classes. Pray for wisdom to know what direction to take, the proper teachers for us to work with, and for God’s grace and favor to cover it all.
If you would like to take part in this ministry and get your shoes on the ground here in Northern Iraq, write us an email, and we’ll see what opportunities the Lord opens up.
Well, we wouldn't be touching the Kurdish soul if we didn't engage with them on some level with their love of soccer. So, this past fall, we coordinated with two Brazilian soccer players, one who used to play professionally to put on an incredible 5 day soccer clinic complete with a final, organized tournament.
We opened it up to the children that live all around our community center, and boy, was it a hit. We only wish we could have allowed more of them to participate.
The first 4 days focused on a different aspect of the game: passing, shooting, dribbling, etc. matching each skill to an important "life lesson" for the children to ponder and take away with them. Then, we divided up the children into different teams representing famous "soccer countries" that competed for the final prize.
All of them got a medal, with special awards given to the top goal scorers, top overall players, and the winningest teams.
Both girls and boys participated, so when the final day arrived the stadium was converged upon by masses of parents and extended family to root for their favorites. What a day it was!
Perhaps, you can capture a bit of the excitement in the following pics:
Checking email last night I was informed that we have received over $28,000 towards the building from one church in Niceville, Florida, (my hometown) the United Methodist Church. They decided to take up an advent offering all through December sharing about our work in Northern Iraq through World Orphans. What a joyous way to open up the new year! We are praising God for His abundant provision which continually flows down.
So, we are looking forward to getting to work.
As we finished out 2011, we literally used up all we had in the coffers to get the conference room ready which is really our welcome room right now. Here are a couple pics to show you the progress:
Next steps include finishing the electrical work for the rest of the building, then plastering the bottom floor, installing windows, then tiling. I'm so excited to see things coming together.
Thank you, Lord, for your abundant provision this New Year, and thank you to all who gave from Niceville First United Methodist Church. You shall surely have an inheritance in all the work that goes on here.
What great things 2012 will have in store for us all!
Well, you'd think that with all the activity we've seen along the border recently, we wouldn't have enough time to move forward with the building of our community center. Fortunately, progress continues on the building, I'm happy to say.
Here are a couple pics of our small conference room/woman's center taking shape.
Putting in electrical sockets and lights.
Funds, however, will only allow us to finish this room at present.
If you'd like to contribute to the finishing of our community center project, do not delay.
Here's a quick breakdown of the costs:
$3,500 per room (6 rooms remaining on the ground floor)
$7,500 for the kitchen (including appliances)
$4,000 -- outside wall plastering plus window sills and windows
$3,500 -- full length hallway/entryway (tiling and plastering)
$5,000 -- Waiting Room/Guest Room
$7,000 per Restroom -- (2 main Restrooms)
$25,000 - $30,000 (Grand Hall)
Call World Orphans at 1-888-ORPHANS if you'd like to make a donation.
Praise the Lord! Work continues down at The Refuge as we are completing the conference room and putting a proper skin on the entire building. Check out these before and after shots showing all that has taken place in just the past 3 months.
This week we'll be putting in 3 windows for the Conference Room, and next week hope to have the entryway door installed. God is good!
Because of some recent donations, we've been given the go ahead to finish out the conference hall on the first floor of the community center.
If you've been following along with us you know that we just finished pouring the concrete floors and 'sidewalks' around the building to stem any drainage problems.
Here is a before and after shot of the conference hall:
Now, we are proceeding with the electrical lines, plastering the walls, tiling the base boards, painting, installing electrical fixtures, windows, and doors. Pray for us as we move forward to complete the conference hall. And keep those funds coming in so the work can continue. Thank You so much!
