3-4-07

Today is Yak shanbe (Sunday) the charoom (4th) roz (day) of mars (March). Ha! I'm sure there's a more proper way to put that, but I have to put my new Dari language dictionaries to use sometime, eh?

Well, thanks to a Marine I met on Friday night at a campfire on base, I found out there are church services on Yak shanbe at 1100 and 1900 hours at the Camp. Given that we work on Sunday here, I was able to make the 1900 service (7:00pm) and I'm glad I was able to go. The worship was contemporary with a small praise team and the Word was delivered by one of the new chaplains on base. Chaplain Shaw is a gospel minister from Alabama and I promise you, he almost broke loose a couple times and we came really close to havin' us some CHURCH! It was extremely refreshing. The passage that he used for his message is one of my favorites, from Ex. 33:13-23 where Moses asks God to show him the Glory!

The format was very camp meeting like. The Chaplain asked after the worship time if anyone had anything to testify and folks did. We took communion after the message, and he asked for prayer requests before a brief prayer time.

On that subject, please keep a young Naval officer in your prayers. A few days ago, Lt. Rob (I won't post last names) was in the infirmery with what he thought was a cold. He left there in a coma. He was airlifted to Germany where his condition did not improve and now he is at Besthesda Naval Hospital. His wife is with him, but there has been no change in his condition. I'm sure there are a hundred other stories like this, but this is one I heard of tonight. Please add this family to your prayers. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get any updates, but I am going to try and find out where the Chaplain's offices are and pop in on them from time to time, so maybe I will.

Let's see...what else. Oh, I did mention about my laptop crashing. The good folks I work with in Atlanta are getting me a new one out on Monday I do believe. I've had a webcam up for about 1 day, so when I get the chance to get a new cam, I will and I'll try to get a short film of our offices and inside of the villa, maybe getting some of the faces I work with as well. I've never done anything like that so it may take me some work to figure out, but I'll do what I can. I wish I could take pictures on the base, because I've seen some great opportunities to capture the geography surrounding Kabul with an Army tent or flag or sand bag wall or armored HumVee. I understand the reasoning, but it would still be nice to capture.

Okay, I know I've spoiled you all with pictures so here are a few more. We had the chance to buy some local things at a bazaar on Friday so here are some of my findings.

See those marble goblets and vases? They cost me less than $40 total! Don't feel skimped if you're one of the lucky ones to get a marble vase as a gift, though, remember I'm the one who has to carry 'em home! The blue and gold thing there is a bedspread and matching pillow cases which I got for $5.

Here's my Ghengis Khan warrior helmet! It'll be a good thing to hang on a shelf. I'm not sure how old it REALLY is, but it's cool nonetheless. The thing in my hand is a tool used to harvest vegetables, not a tool of war, but it just looks cool with the helmet!





Is he French or Afghani? The hat was made popular by Masud, the "Lion of the Panjshir", Tajik mujahed commander of the JIA and then top military chief of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. He was assassinated in 2001.




Okay, that's enough for tonight. Oh, and in case you're interested, the attack that you're hearing about on the news today occured on the Jalalabad Rd near the city of Jalalabad. It was not near Kabul, but over the mountain from us. Everything is still quiet here. And I'm keeping you guys back home in prayer as well. I saw the results of the tornados that ripped through south GA and I'm about to call home and check on my folks. I spoke with my sister earlier and she said there was some damage in Macon at my parent's house. I also heard that a friend in Americus sustained some damage to their home and business.