Yesterday was a very eventful day here in Afghanistan. Our luggage FINALLY arrived and we now have all of our bags except for one. We also met a new kid from Georgia. His parents live somewhere else in Afghanistan, so he is staying at the guest house for the night before he flies out tomorrow.
Yesterday was sort of a down day here in Afghanistan. Friday’s are most peoples day off from work and therefore our day was full of tourist activities. Before we even arrived at our first site, we saw the troubled past of these people. As we drove, our host showed us a warped and torn piece of metal. It was a large metal crate (like the ones that you see on shipping yards) that had been used by warlords. The warlords filled these crates with hundreds of people, then the crate was filled with petrol fuel and fired at. Basically, these crates were giant bombs that were used to kill hundreds of people at a time. It was so hard to see just how malicious these warlords were and just where these people had come from. Our first adventure was to the palace of the former king of Afghanistan. His palace was an immaculate place that unfortunately was taken over by one of 7 warlords after the kings reign at the start of Afghanistan’s Civil War. The palace was used as a base of operations for this warlord and therefore it was constantly attacked. You could see the bullet holes and bombed out columns on the building and you could tell that many people had died in that very spot. As we were leaving the area, we came across several buses and cars that had been bombed. It was eerie to see the vehicles that had been used to kill so many people. I could feel the hurt and pain of so many people by just looking at those buses and it truly drove home the idea of why we were here and why these people needed our help.
After the palace we traveled to the Intercontinental Hotel. On the way, we viewed a large camp of nomadic people that had settled in a opening for a time. These people seemed to be much less affected by the Taliban, mainly because they didn’t have a home to leave. They simply traveled from spot to spot with their tents and animals, and therefore they remained unaffected by the war around them. When we arrived at the hotel, I was amazed at the size. This hotel was used by the government officials that came to Afghanistan, so it was much nicer then the town that surrounded it. We took pictures of Kabul from a large hill that overlooked the city, and saw the amazing view of the city around us. We then went to have a nice cup of tea with our host and he told us more about Afghanistan and it’s past. This part of the trip sort of made me feel guilty. I mean, the world around me at the moment is in political and social turmoil and I am sitting in a nice chair in a nice hotel, drinking tea. I guess that’s what the hotel was meant to do, remove you from the world around you. Make you forget the people and country that needed so much help.
We then traveled back to the house to relax for a bit. While hanging out, I sort of started what is turning out to be a large water fight with out host. With just 3 little splashes, I started a large scale war with our host and his cook. After being sprayed down with a hose, I had to retaliate. I took a glass of water to the roof and attacked back. At first, our host was confused about where the water had come from, but he soon found me out. I was then attacked again later on that day while innocently tossing a ball around the living room. This war is turning out to be a lot larger then I expected. But I guess that’s what happens when you attack someone with so many connections.
After the war was at a cease fire, we headed out to a local Lebanese restaurant called”The Grill”. The food there was amazing. We all had a ton of food and just joined in some good old fashioned fellowship. I have to say that the food here has been some of the most amazing food that I have had. We have had so many new things, all of which were delicious. I can honestly say that Afghanistan has some of the best food in the world…. You should really come and try some!!!!!
When we got back from the restaurant we started to pack our relief bags for the IDP camp. We packed over 300 bags with notebooks, cap erasers, pencils, and crayons. I think that it’s going to be amazing to hand these out in a few days and I cannot wait to travel to the camp to help the people of this country that are most in need. Nichole baked some cookies and brownies tonight as well. Aparently the oven here is super hot because our brownies that were supposed to take an hour to make, only took 18 minutes. Good thing that the cook caught that our food was done our else our brownies would have been extra crispy.
Overall, it has been an amazing day. It really helped me to get acclaimated to the country and just get a feel for the people and place that need so much help. I am so glad that I have had this experience and I cannot wait to see what the remainder of this trip has in store for all of us. We are headed out to help some children tomorrow and I am excited to start helping the people that really need us the most. I am sure that these people are going to touch me more then I can touch them. The people of Afghanistan have truly found a place in my heart and I know that I will make any effort possible to return here to continue this aid.
THINGS TO PRAY FOR:
1. There were 23 Korean missionaries that were taken off of a bus by the Taliban. The Taliban is demanding that Korea remove all of their military personell. The issue is that Korea does not have military here and this could cause huge issues with these peoples release. Another issue that arises from this capture is that Korea might demand all of their citizens to come back home from Afghanistan and the Middle East.
2. One of our friends, Stephanie, has recently lost her father. This is of course a huge loss and we would like to pray for her and her family. Also we would like to pray for her safe return home from Poland to be with family in this difficult time.
3. Please pray for our fellow ex-pats in Afghanistan who are here for like reasons. It is becoming harder every day to be here and be an ex-pat and we pray that Afghanistan would become more open to our love and help.
4. The safety of our team and the safety of our staff.
5. Our host especially, he is a very gracious and kind person and we pray that God would continue to bless him and his work here in Afghanistan.
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