Carla wrote:

Hi all,
I visited our family's friends, Bhula and her husband and two sons just briefly tonight. Gave her some learning games for her kids that my little friends have outgrown and told her Savers and Goodwill often have great used teaching tools. Bhula taught kindergarten in Nepal and loves to engage her kids in games and learning. I invited her and her family to church, but she said that First Christian Church's team takes them to church. Then she pulled out a Nepali-English New Testament!! Wow. There is a Nepali Bible Society that publishes Bibles, so perhaps we can find one online? I think what Bhula was saying also is that there is a missionary couple at First Christian that is going to Nepal for two years, or actually going BACK to Nepal to continue serving there in the mission field. Those missionaries are here for now and are the ones who gave her the New Testament. She said she would share it with the Achyara's since they read Nepali pretty well. So another option would be to contact this couple and get their help in getting our family a NT. What an amazing thing to find right down the "hallway"....the scripture in Nepali! Perhaps we could get this couple to meet with our team and give us some insights?

Also, Ganga said that for now the Achyara family did not get picked for the matching grant program so they will not have that extra money or their rent paid in full for three months. Soon their DES general assistance should arrive, with which they will pay their rent but have not much at all left over.

Also followed up with the Iraqi family that is in need of some furnishings. I took over the loveseat and a cabinet from Paul and Beth Dreshel. Emery, he may need some help re-building the cabinet if you would have time....all the parts and hardware are there, but no instructions. The Dreschel's have a couch also, but this family has a very small apartment and there are only three in the family so they are okay with just the love seat. They also have a nice sofa chair. I am sure I can find another family within a few days who is in need of the couch. My mother had a roll-away bed stuck back in a closet so I took that as well, since they live in a one bedroom and one of them has been sleeping on the floor in the living room. Took a sheet set and two comforters, and a pillow. I asked them what they would like or need and they were very reluctant to ask for anything, but finally got out of them that they would like an iron, ironing board, vacuum and a blender. So if anyone has any contacts for those items please let me know. I will keep their case manager apprised of everything that is donated.

This family also has an amazing story. They are from Baghdad originally. She worked for the government for many years doing data entry until she had her son 12 years ago. He ran a restaurant at Baghdad airport, called Ishtar's. Once our military arrived and took over the airport, he returned to his restaurant and kept it open by feeding our guys great food. He made a lot of friends among the US troops. He said it was extremely dangerous to keep his restaurant open, and every day he told his wife goodbye as he left for work, and would think that it could be goodbye forever because the threat of death was all around. She got misty eyed as he was talking about those days of saying goodbye like that. Some days the military would not let him go home as it was too dangerous, so he would spend several days at the airport. His son was not in school very much during these months since it was so dangerous, and later when he rode the bus to school he would hear machine gun fire and bombs going off. He and his family were also in extreme danger for helping the US military. He showed me his airport ID card, and said if the extremists had ever found that in his possession, they would have killed him on the spot. Three of his friends who ran the business with him were killed because of their associations with American military. Soon after he was able to escape with his family to Jordan where he lived with his brother. His brother may be able to immigrate here within the year. In Iraq, he had a nice house with a garden, two cars, computers, tv's, etc., but he said that he is happy to be here "starting from zero" so that his son and wife can be safe and his son can have a better life. In Jordan he was able to work in a multi-national business, so he seems to be very skilled.

Again, this family, like our family, was so gracious and insisted that I stay to eat even though they had already eaten dinner. And when I say insisted, I mean insisted....I think he actually would have been mad had I left, so I stayed but then I insisted they eat with me. So she served up beef kebab, something like a little egg roll, some flat bread, salad and really great tea. I wasn't the least bit hungry but tasted a bit of all but the salad...it was pretty good. I figured if I didn't touch the salad they could put it back into their supplies! He said he was given $75 upon arrival, but he didn't know how long it was supposed to last him. I didn't have the heart to tell him how long things take to get going because just like Tika, this man wants a job TODAY!!! I am going to put out a broader email to hopefully get him some "payback" from patriotic Americans who feel like I do, that he helped our troops, and now we should help him!! Maybe some veteran will give him a job!

This family lives on 28th Street and Indian School. There are four other Iraqi families in the complex, one of whom is Christian. He asked me again if we'll help anyone or only the Nepalis. I told them a bit about the conditions that the A. family came out of and they were quite impressed with what the Achyara's have been through. Isn't that amazing, considering what they've lived through??? But they realized and we talked about how far "ahead" of the Nepalis the Iraqi's are, since at least these folks had so much technology, work experience, literacy. The wife even drove, which surprised me, given all we heard on the news about the strict rules there in Saddam's day. Their last name is Hussein, but I get the idea that they are changing it, for obvious reasons! But that might change after Barack Hussein Obama is inaugurated....then it will have a better connotation, maybe. I saw a news piece not long ago that Iraqi school children in Phoenix are the target of bullying more than other ethnic groups, especially in areas with higher numbers of military families. So I would change my name too, if it were Hussein.

So what an adventure this all is.....fascinating how God is bringing the world to our very doorstep. Carla