In pictures

We have come to the end of our time away. After 3 months in India followed by 3 months in Iraqi Kurdistan we are back in Aotearoa, New Zealand. It has been a tremendous 6 months with many highlights, and lowlights, many times of laughter and of tears, being shown how to love and learning the hard way. God has shown us a lot about himself and ourselves and he has also brought us closer in our marriage along the journey. Praise Him!

As a summary of our time in Kurdistan we thought we'd put it up in pictures rather than more writing. We also learned a lot from the proverbs of the Kurdish people, so we have added some where we thought they were appropriate. Many of the proverbs are open to interpretation. ;-)

"A home without guests, a village without shepherds, both are hopeless indeed."

 

Traditional Kurdish clothes. "Many women, many words." :-P

Backstreet Boys... Kurdish style. "God has created us brothers but has given us separate purses."

"He who loves a woman is a nephew of the sun."

Lake Dukan. "The man is a river, the woman a lake."

Forever spoiled for Pomegranates after this. "Patience is bitter, but it bears sweet fruit."

Our colleague and friend Nazm and his wife.

"If skill could be gained by watching, every dog would become a butcher."

Our good friend and taxi driver, Chya. "A good companion shortens the longest road."

"Eat and drink with your friends but do not trade with them."

"An illness comes by the pound and goes away by the ounce."

Test day for the students. "Study from new books but from old teachers." :-P

Some of our colleagues. "To speak is to sow, to listen is to reap."

Kids who are often playing football at  the centre.

"Those away from the battlefields boast about their swords."

Arbat, Syrian Refugee Camp.

600,000 pairs of shoes to be distributed to those in need at the Syrian refugee camps.

Syrian refugees queuing for operation Chirstmas Child boxes. "What you give away, you keep."



The little one whose mother Karina walked alongside during birth. "One can never repay one's debt to one's mother."

Jeremy's top student, Germyan, and his family.