Into the furnace....

Yesterday was filled with firsts for me.
First time seeing the city that God has burdened our hearts for
First time donning a bullet proof vest (those things are really heavy)
First time being in a VIP convoy where being an American got us a free pass whereever we went
First time seeing the first project I will be engineering
First time shooting a M4 and M5 (just for fun)
Seeing the oldest things of my life
I climbed a 1000 year old minirat that was leaning and trembled when we were at the top.
I saw the tombs of Daniel and Hosai the prophets.
I walked through crumbling homes of Ottoman aristocracy with semblance of their former lavishness surviving to varying degrees.
Amongst many other things.

As we drove through the city considering the various security threats we passed cars filled with kids looking curiously out at us, we passed fathers selling produce, sisters holding hands as they ran to the playground, mothers with babies going to get groceries. I thought this is were bombs go off...these are the lives that get shatterd by violence. They are not terrorist, or Osama look a likes wielding AK-47, they aren't "ragheads" they are families and children and I cry. They don't deserve it and God loves them. I pray they may know Jesus and the peace that He offers.
-Wes