Eternal Vigilance . . . and Liberty

Thomas Jefferson once famously quipped, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

His may have been the shortest expression of the subject. But he was by no means alone. I am given to understand that John Philpot Curran wrote, in 1790: "The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; and which condition if he break; servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."

However you want to put it, I saw that "eternal vigilance" in practice in Turkey and Iraq.

Everywhere we went, there were checkpoints every so-many kilometers:

 

 

 

 

Our drivers always got nervous as we approached the checkpoints. One never knew what might happen.

Most of the time, the Kurdish guards merely guessed that we were Americans, asked whether that was the case, then waved us through. But a couple of times they asked for our passports and made us get out of the car.

I first became aware of the security situation while driving through southern Turkey. Our driver was insistent that I take no pictures of any of the police ("Jandarme"--not spelled as the French do!) installations we saw along the way.

Fully enclosed, with machine gun emplacements at each corner, at least (plus, occasionally, additional machine gun booths in the centers of the walls), the Jandarmes' installations were protected with sandbags and guards. Occasionally they would stop you and check your ID.

No one was interested in helping me take photos . . . of those or many other sights. So, I never got pictures of some of the more "interesting" things I saw on my trip. But I surreptitiously took the risk of a few shots.

The photos I took, however, are only of installations in northern Iraq. People were still nervous about me taking pictures, but with my lens at 200mm, I think they felt I was far enough away I might get away with my activities.

You can tell these pictures are from within Kurdistan by the bright colors of the Kurdish flag with which they painted their installations:

 

 

In Kurdistan itself, you'd see emplacements not only on the road, but in small outposts off to the side--up in the hills or mountains surrounding you:

 

 

I'm particularly astonished, now, that I got this shot:

 

Where were we? Near the border with Turkey?

The colors on the pole tell me this was a Kurdish checkpoint, but I don't recall many (any?) Kurdish soldiers (peshmerga--"those who face death") wearing berets, and we saw relatively few heavy trucks during our forays in the country. . . .

******
At one point we thought we were lost, way out in the countryside. I mean, it felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere. But we knew we were near Mosul--an infamously unfriendly place to be. Had we taken a wrong turn? What was the right road?

We saw these peshmerga at a tiny outpost off to the side of the road. We stopped and asked for directions.

I wanted to take their picture, my driver went white: "No! No! Put the camera away!"

The peshmerga looked at me and smiled and waved a greeting, very much to say: "Please feel free!"

So I took their picture.

 

*****
Here's the guy who stood guard in front of our hotel at one of the cities we visited:

 

 

I was struck by how unaware he was of my presence and my photographic activities. . . .

*****
People ask if I felt "safe" while in Iraq.

Yes.

Personally, I never felt threatened. As the three men who have lived and worked in the region commented--with surprise and pleasure--at the end of our trip: "We never heard a gun shot! . . . That's a change!"

However, two days after we got into Iraq, I remember hearing on the news that the Turkish foreign minister or someone strongly suggested Turkey should invade northern Iraq and take out the Kurds, sooner rather than later. I thought, perhaps, we would be stuck in Iraq a bit longer than we originally anticipated!

And while we were driving through Turkey on our way to Iraq, I asked about all the heavily-fortified police emplacements.

"That," Bob said, "is so the Turkish government can maintain control of this road. They want to keep the road open. Just east of here, the PDK [Kurdish Democratic Party] is causing all kinds of havoc and has shut down the highway. . . ."

As I repeated Bob's statement to M, M refused to comment.

Our taxi driver, a Kurd (though from within Turkey), heard and understood my comment, and protested: "Kurdie! Democratie!" Loosely translated: "Kurds! [We are] democrats!" Or, "Kurds! We are in favor of democracy!"

He indicated that the Kurds never cause problems.

M rolled his eyes. "It depends on who you talk to," he said quietly.

It always depends on who you talk to.

Is it the Kurds who are causing problems for the Turks, or the other way around?

*****
One last series of shots. These are from the Turkish-Syrian border. From the Turkish side, of course. Looking across a barbed wire fence and "no man's land" (filled with landmines, I was told) to Turkish watchtowers . . . and beyond . . . right on into Syria.

 

 

 

Building Construction and Safety

Many people in the United States chafe under some of what they perceive as the more extreme rules and regulations of the federal government's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and so forth. Our local building inspectors, who enforce building codes, also drive a lot of people nuts.

Go to a place like Kurdistan, however, and you begin to appreciate what I would characterize as expressions of the practical extension of the reasoning we find in Deuteronomy 22:8: "When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof."

Should passers-by and users of one's facilities pay attention and take personal responsibility for their actions?

I think no doubt.

But after a while, I began to appreciate the attention to safety regulations in the U.S.

Here, for example, was a building site in the downtown district of one of the cities we visited:



You know how, when walking down the sidewalk in major cities, they build fences around such things? . . .



Several times, I was walking down the sidewalk and realized there was a hole in front of me, big enough to cause myself some real damage.

No warnings, however:



Watch your step! . . .



In daylight, it's relatively easy to see this hazard:



But what about at night?

And this one, when the sidewalk is crowded and/or you're preoccupied for some reason?





No warning signs. No space to walk on the sidewalk. You'd better have good balance and sure footing as you navigate this area immediately adjacent to the sidewalk on a busy street. . . .

*****
In one of the cities, a couple of us visited the site where the ambassadors for Jesus are hoping to open a new outreach center. They have signed a rental agreement on space that is, at this very moment, being constructed.

I am no expert on building construction or building codes, but, having learned a bit about construction with our own building construction projects over the years, I have a strong sense that the following items would not have been permitted to pass inspection.

*****
Here, for example, is a section of ceiling (or floor, actually, for the level above the proposed outreach center):



The exposed pebbles are not an intentional "design element."

*****The more I saw, the more concerned I became that if--or I should say, when--there is an earthquake (since northern Iraq/Kurdistan is subject to earthquakes), such construction problems pose a serious safety risk.

The building engineers I know call these pockets of relatively uncemented concrete "voids."

I saw a lot of voids in the buildings I observed being built. (And there was a lot of construction everywhere we went in Kurdistan.) . . .







My construction engineering friends tell me you don't want rebar (steel rods placed in concrete for the purpose of reinforcement) exposed, either. The moisture and air tends to cause rust, expansion of the steel, and, therefore, early failure of the concrete:









*****
Let's see.

Ah, yes!

Running a bit short on concrete?

Maybe some trash paper can fill the void? . . .



Oh, yes!

And if the void is really bad, a little patching cement might help . . .



*****
Okay. Here's another interesting problem.

Anything concern you about the floors in this building? (Are they straight? Parallel?)

 

 

There's a good reason for them to look as they do: all concrete forms are supported by thickets of free-hand cut-and-placed poplar poles:





Even on tall buildings! . . .



Oh, yes!

And one final picture:



You're permitted to build right next to your neighbor's building.

It appears the excavation contractor dug just a little too close for comfort on this project. . . . So maybe a few poles can shore up the existing building while the new neighbor gets his money together to finish the initial foundation-laying in his own building.

[We stayed in the hotel across the street from this site for a few days. We never saw any work being done. . . . Glad I'm not the neighbor to the person who seems to have begun building!]

*****

So one last story.

M told me about problems with building construction in Turkey. I forget when the earthquake occurred. For some reason 1986 or '96 sticks in my mind.

Anyway. A bunch of buildings collapsed.

Why?

Because the building contractor used smooth rebar (so the concrete was unable to "grip") and, perhaps far worse, he used sea sand . . . which means the granules were rounded--unable to interlock the way good building sand does--and it contained salt . . . which is absolute anathema to concrete.

My son-in-law, a building construction engineer, noted that building contractors often complain that engineers often "over-engineer" safety factors in the buildings they design. "The reason they do that is for the very things you saw in Iraq," he said. "The standards in the U.S. are much stricter than they are over there, obviously, but builders still make mistakes . . . and sometimes cut corners."

Gasoline in Iraq

Our tour sponsor, Bob, told us of purchasing gasoline back in the early '90s for two cents a gallon.

Not anymore.

And most service stations needed quite a bit of attention.

Here's a typical one:





Notice: we're not using the pretty modern pumps. Instead, we fill up from a pump that looks like this:



And the price?

Well. . . . Just before we headed back into Turkey, we filled up at one of the least expensive stations in northern Iraq:



That price is in Iraqi dinars. Except inflation has been so horrible, you're not looking at the actual price in dinars, but at one-one-thousandth (0.001) times the real price.

The price was not 0.825 dinars per liter, but, instead, 825 dinars per liter. We were able to trade our dollars at a rate of about 1300-to-1. (If I recall accurately, we could exchange a US$50 bill for 64,250 dinars).

We saw very few filling stations in Iraq. Far more common were scenes like these:







The different colored gasoline came from different countries.

No fuel is refined in Iraq itself. So some came from Turkey; some from Syria; some from Iran. . . .

Fishing off a bridge in Istanbul

On Friday, April 20th, we had the privilege of walking around Istanbul. I spent the day with M. Having lived in the city for many years, he had some ideas of where to go for good pictures.

"Now, look at this!" he exclaimed, as we headed toward the Galata Bridge.

A bunch of men were deeply involved in fishing off the bridge. Each one had a 3-meter-long pole.

I focused on this guy.







Oh! Oh! He's got one!



"Bring 'er in! Bring 'er in!"



Oh, yeah! See his catch? It's just visible over on the right!



No! Not just one fish. Can you count them?

. . . Click on the image and you'll see it full size.

I believe there are seven fish in this one catch!

. . . And so it went for most of the fishers. . . .



Here's an older guy cleaning his catch for the evening. . . .

And now retractions concerning the murders in Turkey?

I have received a number of emails and communications that confuse the news I conveyed concerning the murders in Turkey.

Prefacing a new letter signed by the same person who wrote the original "letter to the Global Church from the Protestant Church of Smyrna," a staff member of Turkish World Outreach wrote:

We received a few emails saying some elements in "A letter to the Global Church from the Protestant Church of Smyrna" were exaggerated. However, since none of the messages stated what was thought to be exaggerated, we did not send a retraction. Instead, we contacted the pastor and his wife who prepared the message and shared the negative email messages we had received.

The spouses of the men who were slain reportedly say they want people around the world to know what took place, and the real objections appear to be from foreign workers who understandably feel threatened by unwanted exposure to their work. In addition, some people felt the graphic details of the torture the men experienced (though apparently factual) should be omitted.

The following corrections were sent by Pastor D_____ and his wife, and we have made these corrections in the attached text. Thank you for your prayers. - S

Here is the text of the "correcting" letter:

Dear Friends,

We are amazed at how quickly the Global Church communicated the message of our friends' deaths. Thank you for your continued prayers for Semsa, Susanne and the Church in Turkey.

We need to make a couple of corrections on the letter we sent out.

First, if you forward the letter again, due to sensitivity issues please take all the details of the torture off, replacing it with "They were brutally tortured for 3 hours" and ask your friends who you have forwarded the previous email to do the same. Also, later in the article where it says their throats were slit "from ear to ear, practically decapitated" we are not sure of the actual size of the cuts, so please delete those words from the letter as well. We won't know actual details until autopsy reports are made public; news reports and articles we were basing our information on were possibly exaggerated.

Second, my faulty estimating mistake put the word "thousands" when in fact there were only about 800 people at Necati's funeral.

Third, I made mistakes in names. Susanne Geske (not Susanne Tilman), and Tilmann not Tilman.

If you can make those changes, and pass on the information I'd appreciate it.

As a wonderful follow-up, we know for a fact that three people in the last week have committed their hearts to Christ in response to the sufferings our friends went through: John 12:24-25:

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds. The man who loves His life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Blessings,

S_____ D_____
for The Protestant Church of Smyrna

[NOTE: In order to protect the innocent, I (John Holzmann) have replaced the full names of most persons identified in the correspondence quoted in this post with false initials and underscores.]

And then, from another correspondent:

I have been forwarded a correction of the . . . "letter from the church in Smyrna" . . . written by eye-witnesses of the bodies of the three men. They say [the victims] were not tortured and stabbed multiple times . . . , but merely had their throats slit and some bruises. They are asking that we do not pass on the former letter, which they fear will only create more problems.

I will quote this subsequent letter in a moment. Before I do, however, I would like to note the final sentence in what my correspondent wrote: "They are asking that we do not pass on the former letter, which they fear will only create more problems."

My question: Are they backtracking due to concern about potential fallout . . . or as a result of a real concern for truth and justice?

Not living in a country where I fear for my life every time I say something that may offend a certain portion (and in the case of Turkey, potentially the vast majority) of the population, I have to confess my inability to discern the truth. I cannot imagine living under the kind of pressures to which the Christians in that part of the world are subjected.

But for the sake of full disclosure, I will quote the letter, purportedly from a pastor in Diyarbakir--a city, as I mentioned in my first post, a little over 100 miles northwest of the place in which the murders took place.

From: G_____ Z_____, pastor of Diyarbakir Church
30 April 2007 Diyarbakir, Turkey

Dear brothers and sisters,

I greet you in the peace and love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May the Lord abundantly bless you, your families, your churches, and your work.

We know and appreciate very much your heart for us.

Brothers and sisters, in the last ten days we have experienced very painful moments, which words cannot begin to express. Our painful experience has shown us that our lives are as the Lord describes: “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” For this reason we have understood one more time how holy and close to the Lord we should live our lives.

We have also understood that our society is easily given to emotion and that in such painful moments some people, whether intentionally or not, report certain events inaccurately and we have not prevented this or have not been able to do so.

When the Malatya massacre happened, we, the brothers from Diyarbakir, besides those already on the scene at the time of the crime, were the first to get there. When we got to Malatya, our brother Ugur was still alive, but his condition was critical. Around 5:30 PM Ugur entrusted his spirit to the Lord.

Dear brothers and sisters, that painful moment has slowly come into perspective for us so that now we have begun to see some things as we should. For example, it appears that those who murdered or arranged for the murder of these brothers are getting what they hoped for. By means of our reactions we may unwittingly help them. If we do not bring the facts into the light, these people will end up getting what they desired.

Brothers Tilmann, Necati, and Ugur were murdered in a bloodthirsty way. This is a fact. But there are also some inaccurate claims about this massacre and one of these is the extent of the torture. According to rumors, brother Tilmann was stabbed with a knife 156 times. Brother Ugur had countless knife wounds, it has been said. These rumors, however, are unfounded. At the morgue we wanted to put brother Tilmann’s body, which was in a plastic bag, into the coffin, but the officials and police did not like this. “It is sinful to do it this way, we should wrap the corpse in a shroud,” they said. I accepted this idea and did what was right in their eyes. I asked them for a shroud (white cloth) and the officials moved Tilmann’s body out of the plastic bag, which they placed to the side. I took advantage of this opportunity to examine brother Tilmann’s body as far down as his stomach. I did not see any knife wounds. Only Tilmann’s throat had been slit 8-10 centimeters and there was the stitched autopsy incision down the middle of Tilmann’s chest. Unfortunately there are very different rumors circulating about brothers Tilmann and Necati. It has been said that their noses, lips, and ears were cut. These rumors do not reflect the truth.

I telephoned our brother D_____ M_____ in Adana because I knew he had seen brother Tilmann’s body. I asked him about the knife wounds on brother Tilmann’s body. D_____ said to me, “Brother, I came across three or four knife blows in the chest area. I didn’t see his back. On his face I can’t say there were knife wounds, but scratches, maybe from hitting his face when he fell down.”

I knew that A_____ P_____ from Ankara had seen bodies. I asked him which bodies he had seen and he said, “I saw the chest area of both Tilmann and Necati. I saw purple [from bruising] on Necati’s lips and chin, but I did not see knife wounds. I looked at brother Tilmann’s chest, but I did not see knife wounds.”

These are the statments of those [who] saw the bodies of these two brothers.

It is true that our brothers were knifed and tortured. But it was not to the extent of statements such as “too many wounds to count, beyond description.”

Apparently, D_____ M_____ looked more carefully than brother A_____ and I did. D_____ saw three or four knife wounds in the chest.

No one saw brother Ugur’s body because on the night of the same day the murder happened, around midnight, his family took his body for burial.

I believe that brother Ugur had knife wounds similar to those of our other two brothers.

It has been said that Ugur was stabbed all over his body, including his genitals. I do not believe this. You may ask why I don’t believe this.

I think someone stabbed this much would die on the spot. Ugur would not have been able to remain alive until 5:30 PM if he had been stabbed so much. That nothing abnormal happened to Ugur can be understood [from the fact that] exaggerated statements have been about our other two brothers, too.

Therefore, we reach the following conclusion: yes, these brothers were tortured, but not to the extent that has been explained.

We are sons and daughters of the truth. Unfortunately unfounded news reports and media exaggerations have now gone out all over the world. Our brothers and sisters and people sensitive [to such news] have been misinformed. We do not intend to offend anyone. But wh[atev]er the true facts are, let us report them without exaggeration. Let people everywhere think about the plain facts.
Who started these exaggerated facts [about the Malatya massacre]? We purpose two possibilities:

1. Those who perpetrated the crime planned this [the spreading of exaggerated facts] from the beginning and the murderers were simply tools for these people [who had planned to blow the murder into exaggerated proportions]. The goal of those who planned this murder and the exaggerated claims was both to frighten the Christians living in Turkey, causing them to shrink back and be timid, and to humiliate Turkey as a country that invites and causes such bloodthirty massacre, thereby damaging Turkey’s chances of entering the European Union and making matters worse in the country. Furthermore, [the planners of this massacre] wanted to give the government and our people the impression that Christians distort and exaggerate everything.
2. In every situation we see that the media either totally disregards something we say or totally exploits it. We investigated the bloody clothing that was submitted to the public as the underclothing of our brothers. None of this clothing belonged to our brothers. That clothing had been taken off the bodies of people shot to death weeks earlier. But what did the media do? They took this clothing and presented it as freshly removed from the bodies of our brothers. Is there anyone who does not yet know about the exaggerations and sometimes boldfaced lies of the media?

Therefore, brothers and sisters, if we do not explain the true facts to you our hearts will not find peace. I have written this report because I have read exaggerated or unfounded facts in news both home and abroad. The true facts are those in this report. Before sending these facts to you, as you will see below, I have requested statements from our brothers A_____ P_____ and D_____ M_____. I have had these statements translated from English in order to pass them on to you.

May the Lord bless you abundantly.

G_____ Z_____, pastor of Diyarbakir Church

Brother A_____ P_____’s remarks:

Brother G_____,

Your report of my testimony is entirely accurate.

I have no problem with anything else you have written in this report.

Thank you for writing this report. It would be good for everybody to read what you have written.

Peace,

A_____ P_____

Brother D_____ M_____’s remarks:

“Brother G_____,

Thank you for writing this report. It is necessary for wrong information to be corrected.

Everything you have written is correct.

May the peace of the Lord be with you,

D_____

M_____ L_____’s remarks:

“Dear G_____,

I cannot make any firsthand comments on the subject. But I have spoken in person with Necati and Tilmann’s wives, Semsa and Susanne. Their impressions link up best with yours.

Unfounded exaggerations about the wounds and torture are circulating and apparently some brothers and sisters, still affected by the shock of the massacre, are repeating these exaggerations to others everywhere. This is unfortunate.

The report that you have prepared in order to correct wrong information has been done well and at the first opportunity should be sent to all interested people at home and abroad.

Peace,

M_____

There you have the full story as best I can communicate it.

But/and having communicated the story as completely and accurately as I can, I would like to reiterate what all those who sent these reports requested. Quoting the specific words of the last correspondent:

Pray well. Pray in wisdom. Pray without ceasing for the true Jesus to be known and loved in Turkey.

The Church in Northern Iraq, III--The Problem of "Authority"

So we visited the Kurdzman [Kurdish language] Church of Christ in Erbil/Hawler.

The pastoral staff members spoke to us, one of them through an interpreter:

We go everywhere, to the villages. We tell our wives, "We do not know if we will be back."

The Islamists tear up our literature, spit on us and push us out of town. But we go anyway.

The pastors reported the church had recently baptized 11 new believers: three from Iran, one from Syria--10 Kurds plus one Arab. There are, at this time, 15 groups in Erbil and nine outside; a hundred believers in one city, 10 in another, 20 in another, 30 . . .

The Kurdzman Church is growing. Yet, said the pastoral staff members,

Some missionaries cause us problems. They say, "Don't go to the public [i.e., Kurdzman] church. Go to the house church."

We say, "Okay. If you prefer to be underground, that is okay. To each his own."

The [critical] missionaries speak against the public church because they say we will become a proud people. . . .

The Kurdzman Church sponsored a conference for all the Christians in northern Iraq. They invited the missionaries to come as well. Next thing they knew: there were two competing conference on the same weekend . . . and the sponsors of these competing conferences invited the same people!

"There are a million people in Erbil!" one of the pastors exclaimed. "Why couldn't they schedule their conferences on different weekends?"

With no ill-will, but with obvious concern, he said,

Coming from different backgrounds, the missionaries do not get along. They try to make the church in their own image. They do not trust the church to simple people like us (untrained, no university degrees). [Someone from our group commented: "But look at those whom Jesus called: fishermen! He did not call pharisees to do His work!"]

The Kurdzman church is producing fruit. Where is the fruit from the other churches? We have no dollars. We have no education. But we have a church [and a church building]. Where is their church?

Perhaps I should comment a bit on these last statements.

I noticed, not only in Erbil/Hawler, but in the other cities we visited: the Kurdish believers were far more inclined to permit us to take their photos and speak openly about their faith than were the western "missionaries." To put a Scriptural spin on the language: "This, too, was a mystery to me." And I want to speak as one for whom this is a mystery. I do not live there. I do not face the pressures and risks that those who are present in-country face. Who am I to even hint at possible criticism of any of the players in the drama that is now playing itself out among the Christians in northern Iraq--Kurdish, western, or otherwise?

But I think it is worthy of notice and worthy of our prayers: some believers are far more retiring than others. And it is not always the national believers who need encouragement to "speak up." Sometimes I wondered--and felt (and still feel) the need to pray about--the western believers possibly encouraging the national believers into a state of fear.

Anyway.

With all of the things I've already reported, I was particularly astonished at the prayer requests of the pastoral leaders of the Kurdzman Church:

• Mobile Discipleship materials. "We need a system or course. [Think of all the new believers in Erbil and beyond.] These people need discipleship. Sometimes we invite them here; others, we go to them. So, we need a system or course. We need financial support for translation, printing, distribution and transportation.
• Seminary for Leaders. [This one, particularly, shocked me. Especially after the pastors' observations about how God has blessed the "simple" people! --Are the Kurdish church leaders looking for the very thing that will stifle their growth? Yes. Study the Bible. But establish a formal, western-style seminary? . . . But back to the pastors' comments . . . ]
• More diaconate-style leaders. "Leaders shoudl be ministers of the Word, but we are heavily involved in accounting and administrative responsibilities."
• Christian marriages and families. "Pray for young men and young women to get married and create families so the young women can come. . . ."

Oh. And then there was one last "theme" that struck me while we spoke with the Kurdzman church leaders and after.

Question: Who should have authority to make decisions about the Kurdish-language church in Kurdistan/northern Iraq?

Here, now, there is a growing, established church in Erbil/Hawler and it is led by Kurds. To what extent should missionaries exert influence upon this church? What right do they have to even attempt such influence?

But now move beyond what we might consider "external" influence upon this church. What about the fellowships of believers in other cities? What about the 12 believers who are meeting in the first city we visited many dozens of kilometers away? The Kurdzman Church in Erbil/Hawler has had virtually nothing to do with the creation of this fellowship . . . though many of the participants in City 1's fellowship participated in the Erbil/Hawler church's weekend conference.

So what kind of authority should the Erbil/Hawler church's leaders exert over the church in City 1? And what of churches established in other cities? And what of the "underground"/"house" churches in Erbil/Hawler itself? Who is "in charge"? Who ought to be in charge?

I found these questions rising in my mind several times over. How do you avoid a papal-style "central authority" on the one side without falling into total chaos on the other?

Finally, an interesting story.

A brother and sister are among the leaders of the church in Erbil/Hawler. They are from an Assyrian Church background. They are present in the Kurdish church partially at the encouragement of their father.

Remember, as noted in a previous post, most Assyrian and Chaldean churches are more creatures of ethnic and political realities than they are strong testimonies of Christ among the Kurds (or other nationalities in which the Assyrian and Chaldean Christian communities survive).

So someone once asked the father, "How is it that you have come to love your enemies [the Kurds]?"

"Is that not what Jesus taught?" he replied, without a moment's hesitation.

But the brother and sister--not to mention their father--have had to leave their church in order to reach out to the Kurds.

As I mentioned in my previous post, "Pray that God will raise up more Assyrian and Chaldean Christians who are willing to rise up against the prejudices and fears that currently hold them back from witnessing to their Muslim neighbors."

The Church in Northern Iraq, II--The Problem of "Ownership"

With all the good news I have had to share about the growing Kurdish church in northern Iraq, there are some very difficult realities I feel compelled to discuss as well.

In the city where we met the gathering of 12 believers, the western ambassador for Jesus told me the story about one of the young men present. He (the ambassador) noted that the young man and his brother had caused him much grief over the years. At one point, he (the ambassador) had felt compelled to cut off fellowship with the young men: their behavior was simply inappropriate.

Eventually, both young men had made solid commitments to Jesus and had begun to behave in ways appropriate to those who claim the name of Christ.

And so, at one point, the ambassador made a plea to the young men: "I am concerned that a time will come where someone will offer you a lot of money to devote yourselves fulltime to 'ministry'--working as evangelists or church-planters. I plead with you, brothers: don't accept the offer! Work within your chosen professions. Work as examples to your fellow Muslim-background believers. They need to see men working within the culture, rather than as foreign-paid 'religious workers.' . . ."

As it turned out, the young men were made "an offer they couldn't refuse" just three weeks after the warning. And the offer really was "too good to let go."

And so they are now evangelist/church-planters sponsored by a western mission agency.

My informant is obviously deeply conflicted about the whole situation. And there was pain in his voice.

I report what he said neither to criticize him, nor the agency that has hired these young men, nor the young men. I report, instead, to give you a sense of the kinds of issues the young church in northern Iraq faces.

In no particular order, let me note:

• It is painful for an evangelist/church-planter to go through the kinds of pains that my informant went through with these very young men: to take the risks, hold them accountable, work with them through their rough spots, accompany them to a certain level of maturity . . . and then have them "taken away," as it were, to become the "poster children" of another ministry. --Put another way: it's tough to have someone else "reap," as it were, when you've done all the tough work of planting, watering, cultivating, tending to the young plants. . . . Now, all of a sudden, the "other group" seems to "get the reward." [Once more, please understand: I am not seeking to criticize or hold up for special recognition. I am "merely" attempting to observe . . . so that we, on the sidelines, might pray in behalf of those who experience the deeper hardships.]
  
  My informant said he has to remind himself and pray often according to the pattern St. Paul provides us in Philippians 1:15-18: Whether "some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry [while] others out of goodwill"; whether they "do so in love [or] out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me . . . : what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached."
• The young believers face enormous pressures. And, truly, what is the "right" thing to do when you love Jesus? Do you remain in the job you have and talk about Jesus occasionally? Or do you accept a [generous] offer that will not only improve your standard of living but enable you to talk about Jesus much more freely than you could when you were more dependent on local (potentially offended) sources of income?
• What should mission agencies do--or refuse to do--when it comes to "hiring" or "utilizing" national believers in outreach ministry?
• Strange, isn't it, how quickly and easily we--any of us--can begin to feel a kind of "ownership" over another person? He's "my" disciple, "my" convert, "my" coworker, "my" evangelist. . . .

--On this last point of "ownership," I should note another entire thread of comments I heard, from numerous sources, while present in Iraq. I was admonished many times to refrain from taking pictures of local believers not because of concerns over security and safety (though such concerns were certainly present), but, far more, due to concerns about offense: the use different groups had made of photos they had taken of local believers.

"I'd like to take your picture," said the visitor from America. Harmless enough.

But then a few months later that picture appeared in a mission agency's publication with captions that implied the agency had some significant hand in the presence of that Christian--or that group of Christians-- being there. Or the caption implied, "these are 'our' [spiritual offspring]."

Ownership. A real problem.

Another letter from the church in Turkey

The following comes from Scott Winter, the Middle East Regional coordinator for Foursquare Missions International.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Thank you so much for your outpouring of love and support concerning the horrific events in Turkey, where a pastor and two of our church members were brutally tortured and murdered. I would like to give you an update on the situation and to give you an idea of the impact that this is having on the church in Turkey, and thus help you partner in prayer.

The Impact of the Murders

It is like the Virginia Tech shootings in regard to the national attention that these murders are gathering in Turkey’s national press.

Just as 9/11 impacted us profoundly, these murders created a similar sense of shock, vulnerability, and “no return” in the lives of believers in Turkey—shock not just in the deaths themselves, but in the degree of savagery by which the killers tortured and mutilated their victims one by one as the others looked on.

The sense of vulnerability comes from the fact that in Turkey, there are fewer than 2,000 evangelical Christians in a country of over 70 million Muslims and where the media is increasingly fueling anti-Christian sentiment.

The sense of no return comes from the fact that these are the first Christian Protestant martyrs in modern Turkish history. These were not just Christians who were killed for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, but specifically because of their witness. No one is quite sure if this is just the first of similar future attacks.

The Universal Body of Christ Triumphant

As we mourn with those who mourn we know that God is able to take actions that are clearly sinful and in no way part of His will (God would never will for men to carry out such brutality), but in his great power and sovereignty to take evil and turn it into good.

In an act that hit front pages in the largest newspapers in Turkey, one of the widows in a television interview expressed her forgiveness. She did not want revenge, she told reporters. "Oh God, forgive them for they know not what they do." One columnist wrote of this comment, "She said in one sentence what 1000 missionaries in 1000 years could never do."

The funeral was covered by at least five major Turkish news networks. The main message was given by Ihsan Ozbek, our national leader in Turkey, and was a very powerful sermon on our faith and hope in Messiah.

What Can You Do to Help?

Continue to pray for the strength and witness of the church and that as a result of this tragedy many would come to Christ.

The widow of one of the martyrs said, "I want people to pray that the blood of my husband will bring many to Jesus."

The missionaries in Malatya will most likely move out, as their families and children have become publicly identified as targets to the hostile city. The remaining 10 believers are in hiding. Pray for wisdom, that Turkish brothers from other cities will go to lead the leaderless church.

A Turkish pastor requested, "Please pray for the church in Turkey. Don’t pray against persecution, pray for perseverance."

The Church in Northern Iraq, I

It is my understanding that fifteen or twenty years ago, there were no known Christians among the Kurds in Iraq (or anywhere else, for that matter). There were churches among them: the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, otherwise known in the West as the "Nestorian" Church or, simply, the "Church of the East." However, you'll get an idea of what this "presence" meant (and means even today) in a moment.

In the first city our group visited, we had the privilege of meeting with a group of about 12 MBBs--Muslim-background believers-in-Christ plus one Yezidi . The group included three or four women and eight or nine men, Farsi-speaking Iranians and Kurdish-speaking Iraqis. I believe one or two members were from the non-Kurdish, Arabic-speaking population as well. In other words, an astonishingly diverse group, all things considered. One of the women, an Iranian, found herself stuck in northern Iraq when she came to faith in Christ and realized she could not return "home."

How did these people come to faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior? Obviously, through different means. But dreams and visions played a significant role for many of them. One man, a member of the Iraqi Army, said he realized God intended something for him (and wanted something--his life!--from him, when he was once hit by three machine gun bullets in an ambush. The bullets knocked him down. And, in falling, he broke his leg. But he survived the assault.

Later, while not yet recovered from his broken leg, an officer a couple of ranks up from him asked to see him.

"Are you [so-and-so]?"

"Yes."

"And you say you survived an assault with a ______ machine gun?"

"Yes, sir."

"That is impossible!"

"Sir. . . . "

"You were wearing a bullet-proof vest, but we have since done tests. We placed a vest in front of a wall and fired bullets at it from the same distance from which you were shot. --The bullets not only penetrated the vest. They went through the wall as well!" [As I will show in another post, all buildings in northern Iraq and eastern Turkey are built of poured concrete and solid concrete blocks. If the bullets went through one of those walls, I can understand why the officer would have no faith that the subject of this story would still be standing in front of him.]*****Our group went to a second city where the agency that sponsored our trip was actually decommissioning a team: a Kurdish church is so well-established, they are sponsoring their own church planting efforts; it is time for the missionaries to do something else.

Our experience in this second city was quite enlightening.

Three years ago, while another group like the one I was with was present, the Kurdish leaders of the church said they wanted to register with the government and build a church building.

You have to understand: there is no way a Western missionary would suggest such behavior. But when the nationals say they want to do something, what are the Westerners supposed to say?

"Go for it!" they said. And prayed wildly that God might grant the Kurdish believers favor with the government.

Completely unexpectedly, but with great joy, the Kurdish church leaders came back to report that they had acquired the license. And now, during our trip, we got to see the building they had erected. Located immediately behind an Chaldean Catholic Church, the Kurdzman [i.e., Kurdish Language: i.e., unmistakably, "Muslim converts"] Church of Christ building can easily hold over 150 worshipers.

Now for the "funny" part.

For many years prior to the erection of the building, Kurds would visit the Chaldean Catholic Church and ask to learn about Christianity.

"Why do you want to know about Christianity?" the priest would ask. "Islam is a fine religion! Stick with Islam. You do not need to know about Christianity!"

There were strong reasons for the priest to discourage inquiry. As noted elsewhere, the minority Christian population, though tolerated, is at risk of severe retribution if the majority Muslim population takes offense at its behavior. --And contributing to the potential "ruin" of a Muslim's faith is clearly the kind of behavior for which the Muslim population could readily take offense.

So the Chaldean Christians sought to keep Muslim inquirers out.

[NOTE: People comment that "the church is already present" in an area. "Why do we need missionaries?" --The experiences I have just summarized ought to provide at least a beginning answer to the questions: "Because many of the churches that are 'already present' in so many parts of the world are more creatures of ethnic and political realities than strong witnesses to the redeeming power of Christ."

One of the Kurdzman Church leaders urged us: "Pray that God will raise up more Assyrian and Chaldean Catholic Christians who are willing to rise up against the prejudices and fears that currently hold them back from witnessing to their Muslim neighbors."]

But now that the Kurdzman church has appeared, the Chaldean priest has been pleased to send Kurdish inquirers to the Kurdzman Church: "Oh! You want to know about Christianity? . . . Go to the Kurdzman Church," he says. "That is the church for you."

And the Kurdish seeker knows the priest is telling the truth. And the Kurdzman church leaders are grateful for the Chaldean Catholic priest who send the inquirers their way. And the Chaldean Catholic priest is grateful for the Kurdzman Church of Christ that takes the potential problems off his hands. . . .

Early education

My daughter sent me a link to Prep courses ready kids for kindergarten, and I think I began to see why so many parents come to our homeschooling booths at different conventions all in a tizzy about their 2- and 3- and 4-year-olds needing quality education.

We have always shaken our heads in wonder: have they never read Better Late Than Early by Raymond & Dorothy Moore?

Read the article, however, and things begin to become clear. Just one snippet:

Being kindergarten-ready means more than it did even a decade ago. In the 1990s, states began drafting "learning standards" setting out expectations for their schools, including prekindergarten classes. At the same time, new brain research linked children's early exposure to language, books and music to their later success in school. And by levying embarrassing sanctions on schools failing to produce fluent readers by third grade, President Bush's No Child Left Behind program pushed districts to require more from younger pupils.

As a result, in many districts, skills once thought appropriate for first or second graders are being taught in kindergarten, while kindergarten skills have been bumped down to preschool. . . .

Amy Barnes, who is the mother of four-year-old Sylvan pupil Hank . . . "panicked" last winter, she says, when Hank's preschool teacher reported that he couldn't write his name, identify his letters, count to 30 or wield his scissors -- skills that the local school district tells parents it would like to see in incoming kindergartners.

"I feel we read all the time, but whatever I was doing at home wasn't working," says Ms. Barnes, who enrolled Hank for two reading lessons a week. . . .

Ms. Barnes, who is paying $4,000 for 10 months of tutoring, says that after six months, Hank is kindergarten-ready. "We're being proactive," she adds. "I don't want my child to be the one who always struggles."

Click the article link to learn more horrors. . . .

A letter from The Protestant Church of Smyrna

While in Iraq last Wednesday, we heard news of three murders that had taken place in Diyarbakir, Turkey--the city from which we had driven to enter Iraq, and to which we intended to return for our flight on Thursday back to Istanbul. The victims: all Christians, all involved in Bible translation or Bible printing work. One was of German background; the other two were Turks--Muslims who had chosen to follow Jesus.

M, one of the men who accompanied us, knew the German fellow and debated whether he should extend his stay in Turkey in order to pay his respects at the man's funeral.

He decided against it.

The news of the murders filled the Turkish press for days. It was certainly front page news and the leading story on television through last Friday, when our group was in Istanbul.

I got the distinct impression that almost nothing was heard of these murders elsewhere in the world. Seung-Hui Cho's mass murders at Virginia Tech held the spotlight.

I want to mention the murders in Turkey for several reasons.

1) To bring them to light, in case you had not heard of them.

2) To help you, perhaps, gain some perspective on what life is like--or may be like--for many Christians in Muslim countries.

3) To share something I heard last Friday while I sat in the offices of the International Bible Society in Istanbul.

First thing I should acknowledge: I just found out the murders did not take place in Diyarbakir. They occured in Malatya, a city a little over 100 miles north and mostly west of Diyarbakir.

My brother just forwarded me a letter written by a Christian who lives in the area where the even occurred. She explains the situation in detail.

Dear friends,

This past week has been filled with much sorrow. Many of you have heard by now of our devastating loss here in an event that took place in Malatya, a Turkish province 300 miles northeast of Antioch, the city where believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).

On Wednesday morning, April 18, 2007, 46-year-old German missionary and father of three Tilman Geske prepared to go to his office, kissing his wife goodbye taking a moment to hug his son and give him the priceless memory, “Goodbye, son. I love you."

Tilman rented an office space from Zirve Publishing where he was preparing notes for the new Turkish Study Bible. Zirve was also the location of the Malatya Evangelist Church office. A ministry of the church, Zirve prints and distributes Christian literature to Malatya and nearby cities in Eastern Turkey. In another area of town, 35-year-old Pastor Necati Aydin, father of two, said goodbye to his wife, leaving for the office as well. They had a morning Bible Study and prayer meeting that some other believers in town would also be attending. Ugur Yuksel likewise made his way to the Bible study.

None of these three men knew that what awaited them at the Bible study was the ultimate testing and application of their faith, which would conclude with their entrance into glory to receive their crown of righteousness from Christ and honour from all the saints awaiting them in the Lord's presence.

On the other side of town, ten young men all under 20 years old put into place final arrangements for their ultimate act of faith, living out their love for Allah and hatred of infidels who they felt undermined Islam.

On Resurrection Sunday, five of these men had been to a by-invitation-only evangelistic service that Pastor Necati and his men had arranged at a hotel conference room in the city. The men were known to the believers as "seekers." No one knows what happened in the hearts of those men as they listened to the gospel. Were they touched by the Holy Spirit? Were they convicted of sin? Did they hear the gospel in their heart of hearts? Today we only have the beginning of their story.

These young men, one of whom is the son of a mayor in the Province of Malatya, are part of a tarikat, or a group of "faithful believers" in Islam. Tarikat membership is highly respected here; it's like a fraternity membership. In fact, it is said that no one can get into public office without membership in a tarikat. These young men all lived in the same dorm, all preparing for university entrance exams.

The young men got guns, bread knives, ropes and towels ready for their final act of service to Allah. They knew there would be a lot of blood. They arrived in time for the Bible Study, around 10 o'clock.

They arrived, and apparently the Bible Study began. Reportedly, after Necati read a chapter from the Bible the assault began. The boys tied Ugur, Necati, and Tilman's hands and feet to chairs and as they videoed their work on their cellphones, they tortured our brothers for almost three hours.

---NOTICE: The following paragraph contains GRAPHIC DETAILS of the torture---

Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and Ugur's stabs were too numerous to count. They were disembowelled, and their intestines sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated and watched as those body parts were destroyed. Fingers were chopped off, their noses and mouths and anuses were sliced open. Possibly the worst part was watching as their brothers were likewise tortured. Finally, their throats were sliced from ear to ear, heads practically decapitated.

--- END GRAPHIC ---
Neighbours in workplaces near the print house said later they had heard yelling, but assumed the owners were having a domestic argument so they did not respond.

Meanwhile, another believer, Gokhan, and his wife had a leisurely morning. He slept in till 10, ate a long breakfast and finally around 12:30 he and his wife arrived at the office. The door was locked from the inside, and his key would not work. He phoned and though it had connection on his end he did not hear the phone ringing inside. He called cell phones of his brothers and finally Ugur answered his phone. "We are not at the office. Go to the hotel meeting. We are there. We will come there," he said cryptically. As Ugur spoke Gokhan heard in the telephone's background weeping and a strange snarling sound.

He phoned the police, and the nearest officer arrived in about five minutes. He pounded on the door, "Police, open up!" Initially the officer thought it was a domestic disturbance. At that point they heard another snarl and a gurgling moan. The police understood that sound as human suffering, prepared the clip in his gun and tried over and over again to burst through the door. One of the frightened assailants unlocked the door for the policeman, who entered to find a grisly scene.

Tilman and Necati had been slaughtered, practically decapitated, with their necks slit from ear to ear. Ugur's throat was likewise slit and he was barely alive.

Three assailants in front of the policeman dropped their weapons.

Meanwhile Gokhan heard a sound of yelling in the street. Someone had fallen from their third story office. Running down, he found a man on the ground, whom he later recognized, named Emre Gunaydin. He had massive head trauma and, strangely, was snarling. He had tried to climb down the drainpipe to escape, and losing his balance had plummeted to the ground. It seems that he was the main leader of the attackers. Another assailant was found hiding on a lower balcony.

To untangle the web we need to back up six years. In April 2001, the National Security Council of Turkey (Milli Guvenlik Kurulu) began to consider evangelical Christians as a threat to national security, on equal footing as Al Quaida and PKK terrorism. Statements made in the press by political leaders, columnists and commentators have fueled a hatred against missionaries who they claim bribe young people to change their religion.

After that decision in 2001, attacks and threats on churches, pastors and Christians began. Bombings, physical attacks, verbal and written abuse are only some of the ways Christians are being targeted. Most significant is the use of media propaganda.

From December 2005, after having a long meeting regarding the Christian threat, the wife of Former Prime Minister Ecevit, historian Ilber Ortayli, Professor Hasan Unsal, Politician Ahmet Tan and writer/propogandist Aytunc Altindal, each in their own profession began a campaign to bring the public's attention to the looming threat of Christians who sought to "buy their children's souls". Hidden cameras in churches have taken church service footage and used it sensationally to promote fear and antagonism toward Christianity.

In an official televised response from Ankara, the Interior Minister of Turkey smirked as he spoke of the attacks on our brothers. Amid public outrage and protests against the event and in favour of freedom of religion and freedom of thought, media and official comments ring with the same message, "We hope you have learned your lesson. We do not want Christians here."

It appears that this was an organized attack initiated by an unknown adult tarikat leader. As in the Hrant Dink murder in January 2007, and a Catholic priest Andrea Santoro in February 2006, minors are being used to commit religious murders because public sympathy for youth is strong and they face lower penalties than an adult convicted of the same crime. Even the parents of these children are in favour of the acts. The mother of the 16 year old boy who killed the Catholic priest Andrea Santoro looked at the cameras as her son was going to prison and said, "he will serve time for Allah."

The young men involved in the killing are currently in custody. Today news reported that they would be tried as terrorists, so their age would not affect the strict penalty. Assailant Emre Gunaydin is still in intensive care. The investigation centers around him and his contacts and they say will fall apart if he does not recover.

The Church in Turkey responded in a way that honoured God as hundreds of believers and dozens of pastors flew in as fast as they could to stand by the small church of Malatya and encourage the believers, take care of legal issues, and represent Christians to the media.

When Susanne Tilman expressed her wish to bury her husband in Malatya, the Governor tried to stop it, and when he realized he could not stop it, a rumor was spread that "it is a sin to dig a grave for a Christian." In the end, in an undertaking that should be remembered in Christian history forever, the men from the church in Adana (near Tarsus), grabbed shovels and dug a grave for their slain brother in an un-tended hundred year old Armenian graveyard.

Ugur was buried by his family in an Alevi Muslim ceremony in his hometown of Elazig, his believing fiance watching from the shadows as his family and friends refused to accept in death the faith Ugur had so long professed and died for.

Necati's funeral took place in his hometown of Izmir, the city where he came to faith. The darkness does not understand the light. Though the churches expressed their forgiveness for the event, Christians were not to be trusted. Before they would load the coffin onto the plane from Malatya, it went through two separate xray exams to make sure it was not loaded with explosives. This is not a usual procedure for Muslim coffins.

Necati's funeral was a beautiful event. Like a glimpse of heaven, thousands of Turkish Christians and missionaries came to show their love for Christ, and their honor for this man chosen to die for Christ. Necati's wife Shemsa told the world, "His death was full of meaning, because he died for Christ and he lived for Christ. Necati was a gift from God. I feel honoured that he was in my life, I feel crowned with honour. I want to be worthy of that honour."

Boldly the believers took their stand at Necati's funeral, facing the risks of being seen publicly and likewise becoming targets. As expected, the anti-terror police attended and videotaped everyone attending the funeral for their future use. The service took place outside at Buca Baptist church, and he was buried in a small Christian graveyard in the outskirts of Izmir.

Two assistant Governors of Izmir were there solemnly watching the event from the front row. Dozens of news agencies were there documenting the events with live news and photographs. Who knows the impact the funeral had on those watching? This is the beginning of their story as well. Pray for them.

In an act that hit front pages in the largest newspapers in Turkey, Susanne Tilman in a television interview expressed her forgiveness. She did not want revenge, she told reporters. "Oh God, forgive them for they know not what they do," she said, wholeheartedly agreeing with the words of Christ on Calvary (Luke 23:34).

In a country where blood-for-blood revenge is as normal as breathing, many many reports have come to the attention of the church of how this comment of Susanne Tilman has changed lives. One columnist wrote of her comment, "She said in one sentence what 1000 missionaries in 1000 years could never do."

The missionaries in Malatya will most likely move out, as their families and children have become publicly identified as targets to the hostile city. The remaining 10 believers are in hiding. What will happen to this church, this light in the darkness? Most likely it will go underground. Pray for wisdom, that Turkish brothers from other cities will go to lead the leaderless church. Should we not be concerned for that great city of Malatya, a city that does not know what it is doing? (Jonah 4:11)

When our Pastor Fikret Bocek went with a brother to give a statement to the Security Directorate on Monday they were ushered into the Anti-Terror Department. On the wall was a huge chart covering the whole wall listing all the terrorist cells in Izmir, categorized. In one prominent column were listed all the evangelical churches in Izmir. The darkness does not understand the light. "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also."(Acts 17:6)

Please pray for the Church in Turkey. "Don't pray against persecution, pray for perseverence," urges Pastor Fikret Bocek.

The Church is better having lost our brothers; the fruit in our lives, the renewed faith, the burning desire to spread the gospel to quench more darkness in Malatya: all these are not to be regretted. Pray that we stand strong against external opposition and especially pray that we stand strong against internal struggles with sin, our true debilitating weakness.

This we know. Christ Jesus was there when our brothers were giving their lives for Him. He was there, like He was when Stephen was being stoned in the sight of Saul of Tarsus.

Someday the video of the deaths of our brothers may reveal more to us about the strength that we know Christ gave them to endure their last cross, about the peace the Spirit of God endowed them with to suffer for their beloved Saviour. But we know He did not leave their side. We know their minds were full of Scripture strengthening them to endure, as darkness tried to subdue the unsubduable Light of the Gospel. We know, in whatever way they were able, with a look or a word, they encouraged one another to stand strong. We know they knew they would soon be with Christ.

We don't know the details. We don't know the kind of justice that will or will not be served on this earth.

But we pray--and urge you to pray--that someday at least one of those five boys will come to faith because of the testimony in death of Tilman Geske, who gave his life as a missionary to his beloved Turks, and the testimonies in death of Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, the first martyrs for Christ out of the Turkish Church.

Reported by Darlene N. Bocek (24 April 2007)

Please please please pass this on to as many praying Christians as you can, in as many countries as you can.

Please always keep the heading as: "From the Protestant Church of Smyrna" with this contact information: izmirprotestan@gmail.com, http://www.izmirprotestan.org (in Turkish).

I have just one more detail to add to this story.

While sitting in a Christian office in Istanbul last Friday, one of the men from the office came into the room in fury. "The Anglicans are worse than the Muslims!" he declared. "Yesterday morning I announced the funeral [for one of the murder victims] was going to be held in the Anglican church. Yesterday evening, the bishop told us there were to be no more than 125 people present, and there were to be no cameras!"

I didn't understand the import of his comments. Were such requirements not appropriate for a dignified funeral?

"No!" several people present replied in unison.

"Just last year--maybe six months ago--a western journalist was murdered here in Turkey. 300,000 people marched through the streets of Istanbul to demonstrate solidarity and to register their protest. But now the Anglican bishop is trying to suppress the news of these murders from leaking out! It is an outrage! With friends like these . . . !"

Storing Bottles: Business in a Kurdish Muslim context . . .

I must be careful not to speak beyond my knowledge. So please understand that my comments, here, are based on the small observations I made during 10 days in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey . . . and the testimony of several people who have lived in this part of the world for many, many years. *******A few observations:

• Walk up and down the streets in almost any community in northern Iraq or southeastern Turkey and you will find dozens of shopkeepers and artisans all selling very much the same items. No prices listed. All "just" waiting for someone to do business with them. In Diyarbakir, Turkey, I took photos of about 20 shoeshine men and boys all lined up, one next to the other, beside the railing in a public square.
  
  Talk about competition!
  
  But it's actually more like the automobile rows you find in the United States--you know, where all the auto dealers locate right next to each other.
  
  I found it was the same way in almost every marketplace we went. All the hardware shops were lined up, one right next to the other, in a single block; all the fabric stores; the spice shops; the women's garments; men's garments; . . . even a row of mannequin stores!
  
  Anyway.

• There were very few large stores. In fact, I can't remember seeing any that were over maybe 2,000 or 3,000 square feet, total. And those felt empty!

I asked about this phenomenon.

Answer?

• First, there is no lending at interest permitted in this society. Which means it is difficult--almost impossible--to get more money than is available within your own extended family.
  
  Second, you can't trust anyone, especially if they are outside your own family.
  
  Result: No enterprise can grow bigger than the extended family.

Bob told a story from his time in Iraq in the early 90s.

Bob was involved with an NGO (Non Governmental Organization; i.e., a charity) that sought to vaccinate Kurdish families' animals.

One day, a doctor came to him. "Brother," the doctor greeted him. "I speak the truth in the Name of Jesus: Dr. ______ of such-and-so city [about 80 miles away] is selling the [donated] vaccines to the government and pocketing the money. . . . I tell you the truth, as God is my witness."

Well, this put Bob in a terrible position.

Back in the early 90s, there were no inter-city telephones in northern Iraq: not land lines and definitely not cellphones. So to check out the allegations, Bob had to devote a day to go to City B, speak with the accused doctor, and return.

When he arrived, he challenged the doctor, who immediately denied the charges and said, "Here! I will bring you the proof!"

He then proceeded to bring out his paperwork and all the spent vials of vaccine.

"See!" he said. "The bottles. . . . We must always store the bottles in case anyone ever charges us with wrong-doing. . . ."

Question, now: Who was telling the truth?

Bob could not be sure, but he was tending to side with the doctor who had been accused.

"Why do people do these things?" he asked, hoping, perhaps, to gain some insight.

"It is the way we do things here," said the man. "And so we store bottles. For proof of innocence." And Bob had spent a day to ensure integrity of distribution.

TCKs--Third Culture Kids

Several years ago, David Pollock and Ruth Van Reken wrote a seminal book called Third Culture Kids. It describes and offers wonderful, practical, helpful advice to those who grew up in--or are now growing up in--a cross-cultural environment . . . and to the parents and others who associate with and may be able to influence these special people.

While in Iraq, I've had the opportunity to associate with some TCKs--and TCK parents.

I think of D. Born in Thailand of American parents. She lived four years in Thailand/one year in the U.S. all through her growing up years. When it came time for college, she headed off to Boston, then taught third grade for two years in an American school, and is now finishing a six-month term in northern Iraq.

"What do you plan to do when you leave Iraq?" I asked her.

"I look forward to going home to visit my parents for a few months," she said.

"Home?" I asked, unsure whether she was saying her parents happened to be in the U.S. at the moment or whether they were in Thailand.

"Thailand," she said. And then, more philosophically, "Home is . . . wherever I am or wherever I have been. Chengmai (Thailand) is home. Boston is home. Sulaimanya is now home. The house where I live is home. Our office is home. In fact, one time my colleagues laughed when I said, 'It's so good that our house is so close to our home'--meaning our house is so close to our office!"

After D, there was H. H is closer to my age. He was born in the U.S. of Southern Baptist missionary parents. After birth, however, he spent almost his entire life in Tel Aviv, Israel. That's where he grew up.

Now he lives in Beirut, glad for the fact that he wasn’t born in Israel. Otherwise he would be a hot target for the Hezbollah marauders in his area.

Of all the TCKs or close relatives, I spent the most time with M, a guy who grew up in the U.S., but went to Iraq in the early '90s. Since then, he and his family have lived in Iraq (3 years), Turkey (5 years), Germany (5 years), and the U.S. (2 years).

He said his son, now a sophomore in college, has had a hardest time adjusting to life in America. In fact, he seriously considered moving back to Germany. The American kids he bumped into just seemed so . . . narrow or . . . parochial or . . . unaware or something. . . .

"Give it time," counseled M. "This is your opportunity to help expand their worldview."

M's son illustrates the kinds of problems TCKs face and why Pollock and Van Reken wrote their book. Many years before Pollock and Van Reken wrote Third Culture Kids, several researchers had noticed and begun to write about the unique characteristics of children who grow up in countries and cultures that their parents don't call home.

If your parents have immigrated to the country where you live, you may face discrimination and the taunts of longer-term inhabitants. But you still know where you belong.

When your parents, however, keep talking about "home 'back in [the United States, Britain, South Africa, or wherever],'" then your identity is not so clear. You realize your "main" culture (where D spent four of every five years) isn't home; but when you go "home," that's not home, really, either. You don't quite "fit" the way the other kids do. Your interests are different. Your values, too. You look at the world differently.

So you're not a first-culture kid. You're not a second-culture kid. You're from a third culture. And strangely, noted the researchers, that "third culture" was similar for all kids no matter what they or their parents identified as their first and second cultures. Your parents are from Britain and you live in Papua New Guinea? You will find more in common with kids whose parents are from the United States and are spending most of their time in the Philippines than you will with either other Britons or natives of Papua New Guinea! --Same thing with the American kid growing up in the Philippines--he'll feel far more at ease with you than either other Americans or Filipinos. . . .

Squatty Potties

This is one of those subjects you don't really want to talk about, but have to. At least, you do if you're in a country like Iraq.

If you will be offended by frank discussions of bathroom necessities, I encourage you to find another post to read. You need not bother yourself with this one!

Thank you.******Two weeks before I left on this trip, I wrote to my host, Bob:

One of the most mentally burdensome issues for me as I think about this trip: The squatty potties.

I have confronted a squatty potty two or three times in my life. I hated the very thought of using it. Talk about filthy and smelly! . . .

As I contemplate a week and a half of being in an area with such facilities, I realize it is almost impossible that I will avoid facing some extended periods near a hole and . . . messiness. And all kinds of questions arise:

• How do you balance yourself for such extended periods?

• When my system is acting up, I can't tell where the [unmentionables] will fly . . . which means, if I leave my pants down around my calves, I worry about possibly soiling them. . . . But to remove them completely (considering the filth that was on the floors of the h*ll-holes I recall!) . . . I can't imagine such a thing. So then I wonder: what does one do? Is there some kind of discrete "instruction book" to which you could refer me? Any coaching someone can provide? . . . I have this sense that a person who grows up in such a society is taught early on how to deal with all extreme circumstances. But I did not. . . .

Also:

• What are the "rules" and conventions concerning "public" v. more "private" potties? (I have been in an airport in India (???) that had no doors . . . )

Perhaps some others would appreciate "hearing" answers. Or maybe I'm the only true neophyte.

THANKS!

He wrote back very graciously:

John,

Let me see if I can set the squatty potties problem in its narrow context. First, the use of squatty potties begins after we leave Diyarbakir. . . . We will be staying at hotels in [Iraq]. In every hotel, I believe, there is a western toilet. So we are talking about problems during the day, when we are with our friends, and when we are traveling. When I use a squatty potty, I balance myself by putting my right hand on the wall behind me. There should be privacy, including a door, in each place. . . .

I am glad you are coming, and proud of you for coming despite the dread of what you may have to face. You can ask me anything at anytime without embarrassment.

His answer put me at ease, and I was fine with what he had said . . . until I got to the Turkish/Iraqi border and I was finally ready to have a movement. I brought a small quantity of toilet paper into the stall with me but found it barely adequate. Adequate, definitely. But barely so.

Meanwhile, someone came into the stall next to mine. He finished his business much more rapidly than I did and I could hear him using the water: sloosh, sloosh, sloosh!

"What is he doing? How is he doing it? How do the natives make this work?"

I got out and asked Bob for the details. "I mean, if I had grown up in this society, I would know. But I did not. Someone has to teach a child how to deal with all these kinds of things when she or he is growing up: 'What you do when you have to go #2. What you do when you vomit. . . .'" [As I said: excuse me for the details. But these are real concerns!]

Bob, ever the joker, said, "Come on! In America, with sit-down toilets, no one had to teach you! . . ." [Ri-i-ight! --Sarcasm.]

Bob answered straightforwardly and without embarrassment.

"You use your left hand. You wet it, then wipe yourself. Wet and wipe until you're clean. . . . Just be glad that you have water and don't have to use sand!"

"'Sand'!" I said in amazement. "What do you mean?"

"If you don't have water, then you use sand. And it gets really itchy on your backside until you get someplace where you can use water again. . . ."

[!!!!!] "Did you ever have to use sand?!?" I asked.

He shrugged yes and walked away. . . . ******Confession: I've "gone native" a couple of times since. Water on the hand, hand on the rectum. . . .

Yep.

You get to know yourself in a whole new way. ******I was talking with one of the men we met, a civil engineer who works on water and sewer projects. He was quite willing, himself, to talk about the relative advantages and disadvantages of the different restroom mechanisms in the world today. He mentioned Thomas Crapper ["Oh, yes!" --He's the guy who invented the modern airlock sit-down toilet system like what most of us use in the United States. Yes. Last name Crapper. Where we get our word cr*p and why a certain place is called a cr*pper . . .].

He noted (what I already knew), that it is due to the understood use of the left hand (to wipe one's bottom) that one should never pass food in this part of the world by means of your left hand.

"It also puts a different spin on the significance for a criminal of having his right hand cut off. . . ."

"Of course, they cut off thieves' right hands not in order to force them to eat with their left hand. But it is because they understand the right hand to be the strong hand," I commented.

"True enough," he agreed. "But it does add a new dimension of understanding." ******And then one final meditation semi-related to this subject.

Someone commented yesterday: "This is a stooping, squatting society. You squat to go to the bathroom. You kneel or sit on the floor to eat. . . ." [I don't remember what other activities he mentioned one does on the ground or on the floor. But it resonated. . . .] "We can't minister effectively in Jesus' name unless and until we are willing to stoop to join those to whom we want to minister, just as Jesus squatted to minister to us. . . ."