It was a journey to Iraq

On our way to Iraq we made it as far as Istanbul on schedule but our connecting flight to Iraq was canceled.  Being "stuck" in Istanbul for 2 days turned out to be not such a bad thing.  Our friends from TACO graciously hosted us for 2 nights and we were able to plan and pray over our multiple tours with them this year.

Eventually we made it to Iraq and had 3 great shows between rain, wind and even hail that kept us watching the sky and praying hard.  This festival, organized by our friends from Egypt, was the largest outreach event Iraq has seen and it was a privilege to be part of it.  The festival was 3 days and offered a variety of "stations" including the UniShow, trick shot billiards, a strength team, drama, kids tent, the Better Life music group, and a large rally to wrap up each day.  God was obviously at work during this festival, drawing people to Himself and opening eyes to see Him for the first time.  Many told us Dustin's message was just what the audience needed to hear.

During our visit, we were able to make contact with local leaders and we hope to return later this year for more opportunities to share God's love!  Thanks for praying with us for growth and protection of the many seeds planted during this festival as well as for our future outreach there.

To Iraq and Back

Iraq has been our most adventurous and interesting country visit so far! Summing up all we saw and experienced is impossible. A few pictures and videos will hopefully help to share a taste.

We entered the country without much of a set schedule. Basically the organizers didn't take us seriously until they saw the whites of our eyes. Once we arrived in Duhok, however, things were set in motion. A nice hotel and all meals were provided for us by the president of the city and a wealthy business man. They kept us busy with newspaper and TV interviews and promotion, banners, armed security and transportation, plaques and presentations.

We had 2 events in Erbil. One for 1,000 students and another in a city park. Our Duhok event was in the city center and open to all, but surprisingly the entire audience of 1,500 was male.

Over and over again the municipality and other locals told us that nothing like our program of illusions, unicycling and dance had ever come there before and they were so thankful. We were able to share openly and thousands heard good news.

We have had to show our passports more times than we can count in the past few days. Our government escorts (that liked to drive in the 100+ MPH range) helped greatly at the numerous, heavily armed Iraqi military check points along the roads. A special letter from the president of Duhok helped cut in half our border crossing back to Turkey. It still took us 3 hours but we had military escorting us to the front of every line. They are extremely thorough and scan and search everything in, on and under the vehicles.

It was definitely a ground breaking trip and we hope to return in the future.

(If you are viewing this in FB please go to our blog to view the videos)