Paying Our Condolences to Bayan's Family
By Philip Berg
It is quite humbling to see how the Lord can use you when
you go on a journey in the name of Jesus. I don't speak Arabic so I was
traveling with Jonathan to observe and to learn how things are done in
Iraq. Our first night in the home of baby Bayan's parents will long be
remembered. After a delicious dinner, guests began to arrive from around
the village. For the next six hours we saw the simple naive faith of so
many mothers, dads, and relatives as they brought their sick to us. First
there were more babies with serious heart defects, then a father brought
in three sons all who have been deaf from birth, and then late in the
evening a tall young man was carried into the room in the arms of his
father and laid at Jonathan's feet. The young man had been shot in the
spine during a battle with Saddam's army some years ago. I am not sure
what was in Jonathan's mind at that point but for me tears were welling
up in my eyes. I was wishing with all my heart that I had the kind of
faith that could tell this young man to "rise up and walk."
Maybe it was something about the primitive setting in this poor impoverished
village that made me feel like we had been transported back two thousand
years . And it was this setting that seemed to cry out for those words
uttered by Jesus. Jonathan would ask
on several occasions that evening if he could pray for different ones
and the parents would always agree wholeheartedly.
This first evening was just a taste of what we would experience over and over again as we journeyed throughout the country. Whenever we would arrive at a hospital a small crowd of concerned parents would gather around Jonathan and he would begin to take down the information needed to get them checked by a doctor.
We were impressed over and over again just how thankful the "man on the street" was for the Americans and the rest of the coalition forces coming to free them from the tyranny they have been under, I asked an Iraqi believer if he was happy that the Americans were there and he said that they have been waiting for 35 years for the Americans to come. Once again the small minority that feel otherwise are the ones that get all the attention on the evening news.
What is exciting about being involved in the work of God's kingdom is that one is constantly reminded that what each of us is doing is only a very small part of a huge masterpiece that the Lord is putting together. This journey has rekindled that truth in me. We can leave it to the politicians and news services to discuss whether there were or were not WMD's in Iraq. The fact is that there has been a deep fundamental change in this country. The people have hope again. The Iraqis and the Kurds have hearts that are wide open to the West. The believers in Bagdad have already seen a rapidly increasing interest in spiritual things among the local population. The church that we visited had 400 in attendance and it was an alive and happening place.
The care and love that Bayan's parents received in the Israeli hospital
and by believers all along their journey has deeply affected them. They
have shared this experience widely in their village. A level of trust
has been established. Our prayer is that we will be able to keep that
trust and build on it in the months ahead. These little ones are precious
and the Lord is opening a way for us to be bridge for them. Pray with
us as we deal with the difficult logistical problems we face in our efforts
to help these children on their journey to the various hospitals outside
Iraq.
