Going Home
Isn’t there something wonderful about going home? For me it’s one of the best things about the holiday season. But after living in Iraq for several years, home has come to mean a lot of different things. Now, it’s often the place where I am not. When I’m at my parents’ house “home” is the [...]
Forgiveness in Iraq
There are candles lit in the living room, the wind is howling outside and we had a snow day last week. Were it not for the constancy of baklava and old men in huge pants, I could think I was in the US. (Though, honestly, my city in the US has baklava and big pantsed-men in spades.) This [...]
Help First Refugee Families Return Home
Last year thousands of families in Iraq lost their homes to ISIS and fled to nearby refugee camps. Our teams in Iraq have been working hard to love and serve these families. Today, ISIS has been pushed back and we are excited to help the first of these families return to their homes. To help, [...]
Kurdish Hospitality
The vastness of Kurdish hospitality floors me. If you go to someone’s house they give you the best food, the best seat, and make you eat everything until you don’t think you’ll be able to move. They aren’t satisfied with you being at their house for an hour, you should be there for three… minimum. [...]
The Sweet and the Bittersweet
(Sharing with us today is Katrina Winchester, who lived in Iraq and taught in the Medes School for 4 and a half years. Now back in Nashville, TN, she still has a deep love for the people and places she remembers.) Granola is one of the foods I began making while living and teaching overseas [...]
My Home in Iraq was Flooded
My home in Iraq was flooded with refugees. In less than 3 months the population doubled. There were estimates of over 2 million refugees living around us – in empty schools, unfinished buildings, and, if they were lucky, in someone’s home. Most of them were not so lucky and there was great debate over what to [...]
Changing Iraq, One Child at a Time
One of the many lives impacted by our teams in Iraq is this one. Kajan, a teenage girl at one of our schools. Hear her perspective on what her teachers from the United States have brought her. I need more and new Americans to come. With them I explore more, learn more, and love school more. Everything [...]
Our Teams In Iraq
We now have five teams serving in Iraq: at each Medes School serving over 3000 students, in refugee camps serving Yazidi, Ka’kai and Christian families, an English training center, and a prison ministry partnership.
I Will Miss Cheek Kisses
"I will miss the good-byes and "see you tomorrows!" at the end of the day, and the good morning cheek kisses at the beginning."