Awake Before Dawn I knew it was near daylight since the village mullah was giving the call to prayer over the loudspeaker. I thought it was considerate of him to call so quietly so that if you were awake you would know it was time to come, but there was no way that gentle voice [...]
Yarsani Religion The followers of the Yarsani faith are called by many names and scattered across at least three countries. The creation of this faith is often attributed to Islamic Sufism (the mystical branch of Islam) but the Yarsan themselves claim that their beliefs have always been and Islam is a heresy of Yarsanism. They [...]
It's been a long time coming, but after months of obstacles, the renovations for the school building have been completed and classes have begun for a hundred Yezidi children in an area reclaimed from ISIS. These are the first of hopefully many more that will eventually be able to rebuild their homes and return to [...]
As many of you know, there are several areas that have been reclaimed from ISIS in the last year. There's a lot of renovation to do before people will be willing to return, but so many want the opportunity to go home and rebuild. One of the key factors is providing an education for the [...]
For a few days this year Nashville was a winter wonderland. Snow fell for one whole day and it was glorious! Nashville isn't famous for having snow, but my daughters, born and raised in Nashville, love snow! Last January we were living in Iraqi Kurdistan. Every winter in Iraq we missed having snow. It snows plenty in Iraq, just [...]
Sometimes people ask what we do when we aren't teaching in Iraq. Here's one team member's day visit to a village. I got the text on Viber, "I am driving out to my village to get my mom back I was wondering if you would like to come with me.” I had been wanting to [...]
