[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Fwd: Iraq Peace Mission

Thanks for the info!
--- Begin Message --- 
SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS ON JOURNEY TO IRAQ!

(Please pass this e-mail on to everyone on your personal list.)

JAMES TWYMAN will be leading a group of elders from the major religions of the world, as well as aboriginal and native leaders from the five continents, to Baghdad for an international vigil for peace. Millions of people will participate in small gatherings held in churches and private homes. The event will also be broadcast via the Internet around the globe.

The journey will take place within six weeks, and we will likely only have a short period of time to pass the word. An e-mail list is being developed to instantly alert millions of people when the trip begins and how you can track the group's progress. (If you are already on James Twyman's e-mail list, then you are already registered.) A special webpage will also have regular audio and video updates from the group as it winds its way toward Baghdad. Our goal is to shift the world's attention toward a postive event in Iraq, EVEN FOR A SINGLE DAY, and to demonstrate that a spiritual movement of peace can have a profound impact on the whole world.

HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE?

1. Pass word about this important trip to everyone you know. If you would like to join the e-mail list simply go to www.emissaryoflight.com and add your contact information.

2. Sponsor a group in your area for the prayer vigil. We will provide you with information on options.

3. Though some have already been contacted, if you are a religious leader, particularly from outside the US, and would like to join the group, please send an e-mail to http://www.belovedcommunity.org/~Iraqvigil.

While in Iraq, the leaders from the different religions will pray the peace prayers from their particular tradition, showing solidarity with everyone who believes that the complex problems in today's world are spiritual problems, and require spiritual solutions. The aboriginal leaders will share a ceremony of peace from their tradition. Spiritual leaders in Iraq have agreed to attend and will play an important role.

We will send periodic updates as the trip develops. Once again, if you would like to be part of this journey, please join the list and encourage others to do the same.

(James Twyman has been to Iraq twice before, beginning in 1998 when he was personally invited by Saddam Hussein. While there he performed the Peace Concert on national television. As the "Peace Troubadour", he has traveled to many war zones around the world to focus prayer vigils and perform the peace prayers from the major religions of the world.)

UPDATE ON CHILDREN'S CENTER IN BAGHDAD: PLEASE READ

The Beloved Community, James Twyman's spiritual organization, recently helped establish a center for homeless children in Baghdad. Donna Mulhearn runs the center and periodically sends these very moving updates. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS ONE!

>From Donna:
The "GANG" is a motley crew of about ten dishevelled young 'men' in their early 20s. They live on the streets of inner city Baghdad and steal, extort, sell drugs and exploit others to survive. Others like our boys.
 
Prior to our boys coming into the shelter the gang used them to attract food and money from westerners. They also pushed drugs onto them: glue and solvents for sniffing, as well as amphetamines. They let the boys stay with them in their dirty basement in a bizarre set-up which made the boys feel dependent on them. Violence was the norm.
 
It was in the interests of the gang that our boys stay on the street.
 
They were not impressed when we came along.
 
In hindsight, I now realise how brave it was for our boys to come off the street and into the shelter with us. They would have faced immense pressure from the gang not to leave.
 
At first the gang didn't put up too much of a fight to our face - just some dirty looks and abuse in Arabic. It was lucky for them we didn't understand their insults, so we ignored them. Weeks later, when they realised we were serious about working with the kids, they started coming around to the shelter. They would sit in a mob directly across the road and intimidate us and the boys with their stares and snickers. I could tell the boys were often scared, but tried not to show it. The caretaker of the house was also scared of the gang and didn't ward them off for fear of reprisal. Perhaps it's a cultural thing, or just stupidity, I don't know, but we were not scared or intimidated by them and so told them to 'sod off' on several occasions.
 
When the gang heard that we were taking the boys to a new house away from the city, things got serious.
 
They came around to the shelter one night and demanded the boys go with them back to the street. We had to physically place our bodies in between the gang members and our boys as they tried to take them away. One of our boys, little Ahmed, even volunteered to go with the gang if it meant everyone else would be safe. We didn't let him go and held out until the gang left. "We'll be back," they warned. We spent the rest of the night hugging the boys and convincing them they would be safe, assuring them we wouldn't let them go. 
 
We had been negotiating for some time to join forces with an Iraqi group to move the boys into long-term accommodation in a nice house far away from 'gangland'. The group had the house, we had the boys. We formed a partnership and then slowly introduced them to the boys and showed the boys the house. We didn't want the boys to go unless they wanted to. The common response from them was: "Will you still be with us?" We assured them we would and soon they became keen to go. We talked about it every day and tried to get them all excited about the next step in their lives.
 
But we were frustrated by delays on the other end, 'the house isn't ready' we were told day after day. So to hurry the other group along, some days we went over to randomly drop off one boy at a time so they would be forced to make the house ready!
 
The boys were getting restless. The gang was looming larger outside our door each day. We needed to move.
 
As promised the gang came back to try to take the boys again. In a bizarre twist, at one stage they also demanded to go and live in the same house the boys were going to. It was at that stage that I realised that these tough-taking gang members were more like little children who were jealous of the attention and care our kids were getting and wanted some attention and care of their own!
 
When we explained they were too old to go to the new house with our boys it was the final straw for them. "We'll be back tomorrow night," they snarled. "There will be trouble".
 
It just so happened that the day of the showdown, we had organised a circus troupe to come to the shelter to perform for the boys and play games with them. When we turned up in the afternoon, the gang was already there, earlier than we expected. We ignored them as the circus did its thing so as not to ruin the occasion for the boys with an all-in brawl involving clowns!
 
After the performance, the threats came out. The male members of our team, Gordon and Kevin, were away in Nasiriyah so it was Uzma, Helen and I that had to face the gang. We didn't back down. Neither did the gang.
 
They spat out insults and threats.
 
When I asked one Iraqi what they said to us, he looked at me gravely: "I cannot tell you Donna, it is too bad."
 
When we reached the usual stalemate, the gang said they would leave and come back with knives and other weapons. They pointed at me and the other girls as if we would be the first to pay. 
 
When they left our Iraqi friends panicked. They understood what the gang members were saying and they were terrified. We were later told that they wanted to kill us, but at that stage we were protected by our ignorance and tried to think clearly.
 
"We have to leave before they get back! We have little time. Where can we go? Do we book rooms in a hotel? We need to go to the new house. Now. But it's not ready. There's no staff there. There must be a caretaker? But there's no beds etc etc." Everything raced through our minds.
 
'We have to go,' I said suddenly. 'We'll grab all our blankets, sleep on the floor and we will stay all night with the boys.'
 
The circus troupe offered their vehicle, we just had to wait for them to empty their car and return. The 30-minute wait seemed like hours - who would make it back first: the gang or the clowns?? When the circus car came back we screamed in relief and we piled the kids in, our hearts beating a hundred miles an hour.                  
 
As we drove away from the lights of central Baghdad, my whole body breathed a sigh of relief. The boys started to sing. They sang loud, and clapped and laughed. We'd made it out.
      
The old house had served its purpose. It made the first step off the street easier for the boys. They could leave their basement, without leaving their familiar neighbourhood. The ram-shackled feel of the place made them feel at home and no doubt made it all less daunting. It worked for a time, a time which was crucial in the boys re-habilitation.
 
Now they are ready for the new house, the next stage.
 
Your pilgrim
Donna 



Your e-mail address on record with us is 
http://www.aol.com/~kellydesmore

You are receiving this email because you registered with Emissary of Light (The Beloved Community). 

If you would like to unsubscribe from this list, open following link into your web browser.
 
http://courses.emissaryoflight.com/MailingList_Unsubscribe.aspx?l=1&i=61706&http://www.aol.com/~e=kellydesmore

--- End Message ---


Why do you want this page removed?