Jane Cook - Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq and Afghanistan

Lord, thank you for your promise that our labor is not in vain; help me trust you for the results.

“Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

The significance of January 30, 2005, is summed up in inked-stained forefingers. This was the day Iraqis voted for themselves.

“The Iraqis who came out to vote did so to say thank you to the coalition,” said our cultural advisor, Kadeem an Iraqi ex-patriot from St. Louis who fled Saddam’s revenge after Desert Storm. It was somehow a validating event for all the work, pain, and suffering of the soldiers here, and their families back home. Kadeem called his three brothers and asked them who they voted for; all three voted for someone different. And he said, “Never before has anything like this happened in Iraq, where people can determine their own future.”

Yet such a thing comes at a cost one that I will never forget, but will always honor. From February 1, 2004 to January 31, 2005 (the time I was in Iraq), we’ve suffered more than seven thousand wounded, almost seven hundred killed by enemy action and another nearly one hundred fifty who died from non-enemy causes and those are just the U.S. military figures. There were many more when you include our coalition partners, civilian contractors, the friendly Iraqi security forces, and the many innocent Iraqi civilians.

“I don’t understand why your soldiers die for my people,” an Iraqi National Guard soldier told one of my chaplains. I hope Sunday’s actions by the Iraqis begin to tell the reason why. With blue fingers as badges of courage, a tidal wave of Freedom began that desperate terrorists could not stop as more than nine million free citizens voted.

Is this the dawning of a new age in human history? I don’t know the answer to that. But it is a new age in the lives of Iraqis, and many other nations are looking to see what it means to them. For us as democratic freedom lovers, it gives hope that the incessant evil of terror is waning. The struggle against such evil as terror brings isn’t over the Devil doesn’t give up easily. So we must persist and continue to pursue the objective of eliminating the demon of terror.

Lord, renew my hope in you above all else.

“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” (Job 13:15a)

It wasn’t part of their official mission in Afghanistan, but it was the most rewarding Col. John Gessner and his Base Engineer Team sponsored an orphanage in nearby Charikar. This humanitarian project was going on when they weren’t reconstructing the Bagram Air Base in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Orphans are part of the terrible cost of warfare, and in Afghanistan, this is particularly pronounced. There are more than thirty thousand orphans in the Kabul area alone.

When they arrived at the orphanage in Charikar the first time, about seventy-five children and staff hesitantly greeted these Americans in uniform.

“They were a little leery of us when we first met them but warmed to us in time,” recalled Gessner. “What I first noticed was the lack of shoes and lack of glass in the windows in the sleeping rooms.” Summer temperatures in Afghanistan reach higher than one hundred degrees but drop to the teens in the winter.

When we left the orphanage on that first day, a rather large Airborne Ranger sergeant major, nicknamed Big Jim, looked at me with tears in his eyes and asked, “What can we do to help these kids?” We decided to write a few letters home hoping that perhaps people would send us some donations.

The letters worked. The sergeant major’s contacts sent numerous pairs of shoes. Jim Powers, a friend of Gessner’s in Rockford, Illinois, mobilized his Kiwanis group to support the orphans. Powers also established a website for the orphans’ plight and landed a front page story in the local paper. After the article in the paper, the orphans’ website received more than four hundred hits the first two days. The donations began flowing in.

“In three months, we received eight thousand dollars and three hundred fifty boxes of goods,” said Gessner. “The first donation came from a friend’s grandson who volunteered up his own shoes. While his grandma convinced him he needed his own shoes, he volunteered up his change totaling fifty-seven cents.” Other significant donations included coats from J.C. Penney’s and eighty hand-sewn quilted sleeping bags from a ladies’ church group.

“I was asked by a reporter once what we had received from the orphans for our work,” Gessner remembered. “My response was: ‘A lot of hugs and the satisfaction of leaving the place a little better than we found it.’”

Lord, instill in me a desire to give to others out of the abundance with which you have blessed me.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” (James 1:27)

The anticipation of distributing the donations to the orphans was contagious especially on Sunday afternoons. This was typically the day Gessner’s team of fourteen engineers plus some other soldiers helped with the deliveries. Civil Affairs officers and interpreters also escorted them on the forty-five-minute journey by armed convoy.

“Some of the soldiers who volunteered to drive the trucks for us had spent most of their time on base on engineer missions,” Gessner said. “They were extremely excited about interacting with the kids and volunteered to go back several times. One told me it was the greatest thing he had ever done.”

Initially, the orphans and staff were cautious around the Americans, because they had been told that Americans were “The Great Satan” and other stories that would soon be proven false.Interpreters explained why the Americans were there and that they had gifts for the children. After a few visits they got used to having us around. Several of the kids picked out their favorite soldier and the soldiers had their favorite kids.

Donations included toys, stuffed animals, and candy along with school supplies, clothes, socks, shoes, underwear, and coats.

“One little girl used to run up and jump into my arms,” said Gessner. “There was never a loss for helpers to unload the trucks. One of the things that fascinated the kids was digital cameras. They could see the images immediately and the following week we would bring back copies of the photos we took.” Some of the female staff members allowed the Americans to take their pictures, a very rare opportunity and honor in a Muslim country.

“When the Taliban or other terrorist groups return to recruit young people for their evil plans, I suspect the kids will remember the American soldier who brought those blankets, food, and kindness,” said Gessner.

Lord, help me earn a reputation that is pleasing, honoring, and glorifying to you.

“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” (Proverbs 22:1)