Alive and Hoping

Last night when we arrived in the airport we waited in the passport line for about an hour.  While waiting I noticed that we were the only people laughing.  The other folks were not angry or acting irritated, but there was no joy.  As it was 3AM it is understandable that we were delirious and the rest of the people waiting in line were exhausted after traveling.

But after thinking back to my time in Jordan and seeing the similarities here, I realized again the reason we are both here in Iraq and here on this earth: to bring hope.  Not hope in a system, not hope in avoiding troubles ("in this world you will have trouble"), but hope that all of this will soon be over and we will spend eternity in a new heaven and a new earth, when there is no failed political system, no broken families, no more death.

We are here to be alive and hoping in the midst of dying and despair.

Here is where we will be teaching English for the next week, along with doing repairs, constructing an additional classroom, and sleeping.

photo credit: DJ Bradley