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Current
Bishop's Notebook Page 2003 |
The Bishop's
Photo Notebook
The Bishop's Notebook 15 May 2003 I thought I would give you an update and some observations about Iraq and our mission here at ORHA. The first thing that one needs to grasp about Baghdad is that it is hot, hot during the day and hot at night. Yesterday it reached 106 degrees. There is no escaping the heat. This simple fact has changed my perception of the scriptures. I have always viewed the Adam and Eve story from a theological perspective. What I am beginning to comprehend is that their expulsion from the Garden of Eden wasn’t merely a theological predicament. Driving from Kuwait City to Baghdad was an eye opener. There is nothing for hundreds of miles. Yet, there are people living in mud huts without doors or windows. It is hard to imagine how they survive. Powdery dirt covers everything. To be expelled from the relative security of the Fertile Crescent produces unimaginable hardship. I can only begin to wonder what life will be like here when we get to the truly hot days of July and August and the temperatures reach the 130s.
I know that there has been quite a bit written about the arrival of Ambassador Bremer (by the way he sat down beside me yesterday at breakfast and we were able to chat for a few moments). It has been suggested that things weren’t moving quickly enough under Garner’s leadership. The fact of the matter is that the transition taking place now was forecast months and months ago. While I do not wish to be an apologist for anyone, I think you might find the following facts interesting. There are almost seven hundred people attached to ORHA. We share 16 shower stalls (eight of which were added only three days ago). Seventeen days ago there was no electricity in the palace. Less than a week ago water was restored in the palace. We received paper six days ago (try running any bureaucracy without paper!). The Ministry of Education support team is still without an office and computer support. Less than two weeks ago twelve hundred civilian workers spent three days cleaning the palace to make it habitable. The dining facility has been fully operational for less than a week. I could go on and on, but I think you grasp my point. We are living in a very “immature environment”. Nightly there is gunfire and daily the de-mining teams are blowing up large stores of unexploded ordinance near the palace. Less than a week ago a soldier was approached by a civilian, shot at point blank range, and killed. This was five hundred yards from our location. The folks here are doing an extraordinary job based upon the situation in which they find themselves. Let me share with you an observation about the Iraqi people. They are wonderful. They have lived under brutal oppression for a more than a generation. There is not one person we’ve met who hasn’t been awakened at 2 a.m. by the secret police and had a loved one taken never to be seen again. The people are overjoyed to have American soldiers here. Perhaps the following will help to explain what I mean.
I work with another Chaplain, Rex Williams. His primary responsibility is to support the Ministry of Education. Yesterday he accompanied a team making emergency payments to teachers. In the course of the morning, a woman approached him and began to share her story. As she spoke, Rex became more and more depressed…she has had a very difficult time. When she recognized the change in Rex’s expression, she asked if he was angry. “No,” he replied, “I’m sad.” She said, “Don’t be sad, we’ll get through this together.” Later she brought an old woman over to meet him. The woman handed Rex two flowers to cheer him up. People who have basically nothing were sharing with him the little they have.
In closing, let me share with you that we have a weekly Eucharist for Episcopalians, Anglicans, and Lutherans. Our first service was two weeks ago in one of the palace rooms used by Saddam. I was struck by the words that remind us that it is a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give praise and thanks to God. This was especially powerful in a place where terror has reigned for such a long time. Following the service, someone approached me and mentioned that this was probably the first Christian service ever conducted here. Our Iraqi Americans concur with this observation. God bless, Frank E. Wismer III
The Bishop's Notebook
They are from his ongoing experience at Camp Doha.
The woman in the single photo with Bob is a friend of ours by
the name of Diana Skelton. Diana is an Army civil service employee
and human resources specialist who normally works at Ft. Monroe
in Hampton, VA, and is a parishioner at St. Andrews Episcopal
Church, Newport News. She was with Bob in Kuwait for a couple
of months for the purpose of developing civilian manpower policy
in that operating area. Diana was absolutely ecstatic that she
found an Episcopal priest in the person of Fr. Bob clear on the
other side of the world!
The Bishop's Notebook Chaplain Cravens is a Naval Reservist living in Lincoln, IL. On March 26th, he accompanied a Marine Casualty Assistance Call Officer to notify the parents of Marine Pvt. Jonathan L. Gifford, of Decatur Ill., that their son was missing after his squad vehicle was ambushed near An Nasiriyah on March 23. The area was hotly contested for some time after the initial engagement, and it was more than two weeks before it was confirmed that Pvt. Gifford had been killed. During that period Chaplain Cravens continued to provide pastoral support to the family, as well as the Marines working with the family. Chaplain Cravens again accompanied the CACO team to notify the family on April 13, when it had been confirmed that Pvt. Gifford had been killed. He was also present when his remains arrived at the airport in St. Louis, and accompanied the military escort - which included Missouri and Illinois State Patrol Troopers and numerous local police and fire departments - to Decatur. The major thoroughfare leading to the funeral home in Decatur was lined with hundreds of supporters who held flags, banners, and candles in the cold late night darkness to honor one of their own. Chaplain Cravens worked with the family and Marines to organize the funeral, and officiated at a Rite Two Burial attended by several hundred worshipers at Maranatha Assembly of God Church in Decatur on April 23. The service was a blend of traditional liturgy and contemporary multi-media presentations. After the service, people again lined the streets of downtown Decatur, standing quietly and waving American flags as the funeral procession left the church on its way to the cemetery, where Pvt. Gifford was buried with military honors. Jonathan Gifford was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine
Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade based in Camp Lejeune,
N.C.
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