We always enjoy catching up with our friends Bob and Kristi in person when they're in the Country.
Bob & Kristi have been ministering in Africa for a number of years, most recently in South Sudan doing the work of teaching at a Christian seminary and Biblical conflict resolution. They share their hearts with us as we share ours, and our time of fellowship is so encouraging and inspiring, we truly liken it to Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
We love you, friends, and will continue to prayerfully support you in your ministry in Juba!
The kids always love it when Bob and Kristi come to visit ... we have to take our traditional picture crowded on the couch!
A couple from years gone by...
The girls and I scored a final hug from Kristi before they head to Chicago this afternoon... she stopped by to bring me a beautifully handmade basket from South Sudan for my birthday. ♡
2019 was a different year for us, not that we've had a year in the recent past that was "normal", but this year has left us in a new place in many different senses.
We've dealt with some new challenges, but are experiencing truths we have believed in for a long time.
Do the right thing and you will be vindicated, now or in the future, in one way or another, even if it is only peace in your spirit.
We are so thankful and blessed to be where we have been led to now and I think that Susi would agree this is a great song to summarize where our family is at the end of 2019.
Of all the pain that can be dealt from one human being toward another, betrayal deals one of the sharpest blows.
Betrayal is not a single act; its circles are vast reaching and the consequences are often irreversible.
Betrayal destroys trust; it severs relationships, breaks vows, demoralizes those upon whom it is rendered. Betrayal is the exact opposite of love. Sometimes betrayal can be the root cause of death.
One of the saddest things about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies; betrayal can only be done by someone close to you. Betrayal often comes out of no where and when you least expect it.
Our family is not immune to betrayal. But even as we've recently walked through one of the most painful seasons our hearts have known, our experiences are nothing in comparison to the multiple betrayals enacted on the Kurdish people; currently the largest stateless people group in the world.
Our family have supported and been inspired by the David Eubank family for many years. This tremendous family live to give their lives away; being the hands and feet of Jesus around the world. The founders of the Free Burma Rangers, they are currently ministering in northern Syria to our Kurdish allies, abandoned by America. This video update from Dave was heart wrenching and convicting.
We grieve with our Kurdish brothers and sisters during this ongoing slaughter and genocide in Northern Syria. Oil is never more important than human life.
Oil is never more important than human life. America's betrayal of the Kurdish people is a stain on our country's reputation, honor, and position as champions of human rights & freedom.
John 15:12 "This is Mycommandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
Thank you for joining us in praying for the Kurdish people and for those who bless them with their presence, shouldering their burdens along side them. May we all strive to live true to our word; especially when it's hard.
Another excellent family serving the Kurdish people is the Dalton Thomas family, through their ministry Frontier Alliance International. This is a recent update on the false Turkish "safe zone" the American media propagates.
A letter to Kurdish Soldiers from a US military wife :
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Editor's Note:This article was written by the wife of a Special Operations soldier, who has served throughout the Middle East. CNN is not revealing her identity at her request. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion at CNN.
(CNN) — Dear Kurdish soldiers,
You don't know me, but I have known of you for most of my adult life. When my military husband and I quickly married, knowing he was deploying to the Middle East to be part of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, I feared what he and his Special Operations unit would face when they arrived.
How bad would the fighting be? How long would they be gone? Would he survive?
Months later, he returned and recounted to me what he could about his experience. I asked how he had made it through. He replied, "We had help. We had the Kurds."
He told me stories of how the Kurdish people in Northern Iraq supported the troops, advised them, stood by them, fought shoulder to shoulder with them in combat, and became allies and friends. And I became grateful -- immensely, unwaveringly, and forever grateful for you.
Since then, the word "Kurds" in my home has meant something. It has meant "ally" and "friendship."
There are pictures of Iraqi Kurds alongside my husband and fellow soldiers in our home. I have a coffee mug with depictions of female Syrian Kurdish soldiers on it that I proudly use to remind me of you. My children play soccer in their Kurdistan jerseys.
The Kurdish people are not nameless, faceless people across the world. You hold a place of honor and respect in our home. It's important to me that all of you know that. I owe you so much. My husband is home safe today after years of fighting and I know you helped make that happen.
But now, I watch the news in horror. I see promises broken, progress destroyed, years of hard work and unimaginable sacrifice gone in a tweet. I see allies betrayed, their faces in my picture frame. While watching the news, my children turn to me and ask if those are our friends and I say yes. They have looks of confusion on their faces.
I can't imagine what your families are going through. I can't imagine their fear. I can't imagine these things because for the last 17 years you have fought to help us keep an attack off our soil, and I know that has now compromised your safety. It breaks my heart.
Where I come from, a person's word means something. Our honor and integrity are everything, as I know yours are to you. To read in international newspapers that the United States, my country, has abandoned the Kurds is absolutely heartbreaking.
Hasty decisions like this have not only put your people in terrible danger, they make the situation for our soldiers there on the Syrian-Turkish border much more difficult. My husband was with you on that border not long ago and I can't imagine what our soldiers' families are feeling right now.
And it's not just safety. It's hard to imagine how difficult it is for American soldiers to hear a partner and ally's calls for help and not be allowed to answer them. It's also hard to imagine you having to turn to Putin or the Assad regime for support because you could no longer count on Americans to keep their promise.
I worry for the safety of you and your families. I worry about the instability of the region and what that could mean for the future. I worry about the thousands of ISIS fighters we worked so hard to put in prisons, and who you must walk away from as you defend yourselves. I can't imagine the threat that now poses for us all. I see the look on my husband's face when he watches the news at the end of the day. The only phrase that comes to mind is "I'm sorry."
I write you today, on behalf of my family, to say thank you for everything you have done for us. Thank you for your friendship, for keeping your word and fighting alongside us, for staying the course year after year. Thank you for keeping my husband safe so he could come back home to me and my children. You have my sincerest prayers today that you too may safely return to yours. Thank you to your families that sacrificed without you, so you could make this partnership happen.
I pray we return to your side, that we stand by you, and that this has not all been in vain.
