Dear Friends,
The latest round of bombings in Baghdad have knocked out
many communication options. We have tried to get in touch
with Shane for many hours over the past few days. Tonight,
before I went to bed, I checked my e-mail and (happily!)
there was a message from Shane. He said that he was paying
someone to call our house for hours with no luck. The
bombings in the city are reaching their worst yet. He
went with a team to see the effects of a US bombing gone
awry as bombs fell into a crowded market place. The full
story is graphic and on-line at www.electroniciraq.net.
Shane also said that Leah and Jonathan made it to Baghdad
all right. It was a very hard ride for them as they drove
past battle zones and military targets. For those of us
arrested here in Philly, we are meeting on Monday at the
Friends Center to discuss legal plans and the next wave
of civil disobedience. almost every day, there are marches
and speak-outs and rallies against this war. Check www.phillyimc.org
for the latest news and information. Please be in continuous
prayer for the safety of all in Iraq, Israel, Jordan,
and the US during these times. May God's peace prevail.
~michael
An Update from Shaner in Baghdad,
Iraq
Most
of us here in Baghdad are spending our days visiting hospitals
and bomb sites (homes and neighborhoods hit by missiles)
, and trying to tell these stories to the press, to the
Church, and to the world. Here are a few stories along the
way...
We have constant calls from reporters. Much of the media
is sensational and melodramatic, very discouraging. So I
have decided to spend most of my time with people -- in
the hospitals, neighborhoods, and streets, and to rely on
people I trust to spread the story of this war... like you!
I did have a live interview on CBS this morning where they
asked what I thought about America, and within the first
minute they hung up on me. Hmm. They have been very interested
in the dramatic fact that we could face up to 12 years in
prison if we are convicted of treason... so they have been
asking if we are "traitors". I wrote this little
ditty in response.
"Traitor?"
If this bloody, counterfeit liberation is American... I
am proud to be Un-American.
If depleted uranium is American... I am proud to be Un-American.
If US sanctions are American... I am proud to be Un-American.
If the imposed "peace" of Pax Americana is American...
I am proud to be Un-American.
BUT
If grace, humility, and nonviolence are American... I am
proud to be American.
If global democracy is American... I am proud to be American.
If sharing to create a safe, sustainable world is American...
I am proud to be American.
If loving our enemies is American... I am proud to be American.
REGARDLESS-
I would die for the people of New York but I will not kill
for them... my Kingdom is not of this world.
I would die for the people of Baghdad but I will not kill
for them... my Kingdom is not of this world.
I will stand in the way of terror and war... my Kingdom
is not of this world.
I will pledge an allegiance deeper than nationalism, to
my God and to my Family... my Kingdom is not of this world.
I will use my life to shout, "Another world is possible"...
for my Kingdom is from another Place.
"My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would
fight... but now my Kingdom is from another place." --Jesus, John
18:36
"Happy
Birthday Amal"
We had
a birthday party! One of the children we are close to, Amal,
decided to celebrate her 13th birthday with us! So we had
a feast, grilling out in a park nearby. We played all kinds
of crazy games, blew bubbles, juggled, turned flips, and
ran in circles until we couldn't stand up anymore. As we
were playing a little game of balloon volleyball, bombs
began to explode in the background. The adults all looked
uneasily at each other, and but we kept playing. Then one
explosion hit very close. A couple of us huddled down with
the little children. I looked at this young teenager who
had courage I could only dream of - she looked deep into
my timid eyes and said, "It's okay don't be scared."
And she smacked me on the head with the balloon. These children
were raised hearing bombs, in 1998, in 1991... and yet they
will still play in a park with the people who's country
is destroying theirs. Amal joked about how she might think
differently about the war if Bush would bomb her school.
When we asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she
said, "Peace." And it wasn't because we told her
to. She believed that someday people might not kill each
other. As bombs continued to thunder in the background,
I was reminded once again that life is more powerful than
death, that children can teach old tyrants and cynics how
to love.
I wish George Bush could've been at this birthday party.
"The
Blood of Christ"
God lives
so clearly in the children inside the hospital... dying
of the depleted uranium of US dropped bombs, bodies split
open by my country's war of liberation... destroying the
temples. These children are God's temples. God camps out
inside of our bodies. "We are God's building (v.9)
You yourselves are God's temple and God's Spirit lives in
you. If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy them;
for God's temple is sacred and you are that temple"
(1 Corinthians 3). God have mercy on us.
I had a chance to visit one of the first targets of the
war. She was four years old. That's exactly how the doctor
introduced me to Doha, a little girl who was hit in the
back by fragments of a missile, and is now paralyzed. "This
is the first target of the US war," the doctor said
with tears in his eyes. He explained that within the first
10 minutes of the first bombing, Doha and her family of
seven all arrived at the hospital because a US missile hit
their home.
We have been visiting four hospitals daily. Last week, the
hospitals began to clear room for civilians injured by the
war. Many of the regular patients were sent home, and many
of them will die. One doctor explained, "Because of
the past 12 years of sanctions, we have no medicine for
pain, or for cancer." As he said this he showed us
a small closet about 10 feet by 10 feet that held all the
medical supplies for the entire hospital, with 300 patients.
He continued, "Many of the patients would rather die
at home with their families, and many of them are scared
this hospital will be bombed, again" (as it was in
1991). Within days, many of the beds have been filled by
families hit by bombs. One doctor told us that their hospital
alone had brought in 108 people in three hours, and he had
not slept in two days. Hundreds of people are being injured
and killed, and it has only been three days. The hospitals
are filled with entire families whose homes have been hit
by "strategic smart bombs". I hope the world can
see their faces. One 17 year old boy with a big smile was
hit while playing in the street with his brother. One little
8 year old was trying to run out of the house and the wall
fell on her. A one year old baby just died yesterday. A
63 year old man was shopping for his family and missile
fragments flew into his chest - he kept groaning, "God
save us from this aggression, God save us, God save us."
A mother cried as sat next to her daughter whose body was
completely scarred and swollen from the bombs. Her daughter
cried out, "Why are they killing us? What have we done?"
The mother sobbed harder as she whispered that she could
not tell her daughter that her sister had died from the
bomb. One father held up the x-ray of his son's body, which
we could see was filled with pieces of metal. And holding
his son's hand, he told us: "I want the world to see
my son... I want America to see his face. Maybe then they
will stop this madness. What crime has he done? We did not
attack the US, why do they attack our children?" I
will never forget the desperation of another father who
looked into my eyes and pleaded: "Is this liberation?
Is this democracy? We are brothers and sisters to the American
people. Ask them why they are killing our children. Tell
them this is invasion not democracy. Tell them if this is
liberation we do not want it."
Suppose
there is a family with a very abusive father. Would it make
sense to liberate the children by setting the house on fire?
I believe in global
disarmament. Here's a proposal -- every country should begin disarming
proportionately, with each nation getting rid of a certain percentage
of their weapons. The US has, by far, the largest stockpile of weapons
of mass destruction, with our 369 billion dollar military budget - so
we should lead the way. In fact it would take the next 25 countries
combined to add up to the military budget of the US - so let's get it
started. Maybe Russia, with the second biggest military budget, would
get rid of 30 billion if we'd get rid of 135 billion (50%). I am just
brainstorming here, it's time to throw out some options. Let's lead
the world in disarming weapons of mass destruction by turning some swords
into plowshares at home. Hmmm.
"Liberate
us from this war of liberation." --one of the doctors
in the Al Keenda hospital
I
wish everyone could see the face of the manager of the children's
hospital as he showed us the hundreds of death certificates
he signed each month, for children that should not be dead.
"Violence
is for those who have stopped using their imagination."
--Vice President of the Al Keenda hospital March 24, 2003
As
we continue to accompany the families here in Baghdad, I
draw courage Ruth as she stood by Naomi during tragically
difficult times. "Don't urge me to leave you or to
turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you
stay I will stay. Your people will be my people." --Ruth
1:16
