Bryan's Big Adventure...

Good Evening All,

Well Mike and I took Bryan to Catfish Air, which is our helicopter airport, and we sent him on his way. He will be covering for a physician who will be coming here for a few days. Steph, I don't want you to worry about Bryan, he will be fine. There will only be two things that will concern Bryan when he gets there; Is there internet service, so that he can talk to you and is there mold on the shower curtain. He tends to be a little germaphobic so it will be a muxt that he has sterile showering quarters. In all seriousness, he is just up the road and will be back and a couple of days. I want to thank him for stepping up and taking on this mission.

Well, LTC Tim Barnard came by last week for a visit. Tim is one of our Indiana providers and he is stationed at Camp Buerhing in Kuwait. He was up for a conference. He came by to hang out with us. He is a great guy and has a story for everything. We came up through the officer ranks together. He has always been a couple of years ahead of me. That just means he's older.

We took a few photos together while he was down. They are kind of blurry but there not to bad. I will post them below.

Kudos to Travis as he was interviewed by a television station to talk about orthorpaedic injuries, more specifically about non-combative ankle injuries. Apparently, the interview will be picked up by the Pentagon channel and broadcast all over the world. Yes, he is going around asking people if they want his autograph.

It turns out that my little article on skin cancer went out over UPI and has been picked up by some papers in the United States. So, that is exciting. The article if fluff but hey it is something worth bragging about.

Well, everyone it is March Madness time. It is an exciting year. There are about 6-7 teams that could win it all and about 4-5 Cinderella teams that could spoil their chances. One of the teams that we are watching closely is Butler University. Mike teaches there and Travis and Bryan graduated from there. So, we are rooting for this small school of 3,000 or so to make their impact this year. I think Pittsburgh and Memphis are the teams to watch, although Memphis is struggling right now against CS Northridge.

Weather has cleared up and it has been very nice. We have had a hiatus in the mortar attacks, so pray that that continues. I am getting excited about going home. I almost forgot what it was like to go to see a real tree. Karen and Karis showed me our cat Tybalt on Skype the other night an he has gotten so fat. I need to get home and get him to work. He waddles around like a penguin.

Today is Dr. Mike Jones birthday, so happy birthday to him. We will celebrate tomorrow. He is having some difficulty urinating as his prostate is getting so big and he has had some difficulty finding his socks in the morning, so we send over a soldier to help him dress in the morning. Yesterday, he asked if Truman had been re-elected. It is sad...but we take care of him.

Samantha Hatfield and Beth Theiman just stopped by and wanted to borrow my 9mm. They wanted to go over to the PX and they thought it would look 'cool' to wear a pistol. I am going to make them clean it for me before they return. Today was also Hatfields birthday. She is 20 years old. Can you imagine...They are just babies.

Getting back to business. We will be having a cook out on the 24th of March. That day will be one of the two days where we will have all of the providers together at the same time. We are tasked out so much for other missions that we are hardly ever together. Hopefully, I can get some pictures up of that next week.

Well, I want you all to know that we appreciate the support that you provide for us while we are hear. It is so nice knowing that we have you all to come home to.

God Bless You,

Jeff

L-R: Travis, Tim, Me, Mike, Bryan

Mike and myself

Mike having a 'needy' moment. He's very touchy feely.

10 Days To Go...

A quick note.

Firstly, I hope you are all well. Secondly, I will be leaving here on the 26th to head home for leave. I am excited. I look forward to going around to see you guys. Karis has a birthday coming up so we are going to have a birthday party for her and of course, a sleep over. Entertaining a household full of ten year old girls is kind of like being caught in a tornado. Stuff flies through the air, landing willy nilly everywhere. Sometimes you have to wrap your hands around your head and duck and cover. Then when the storm passes you have to get out and assess the damage. Maybe I should upgrade my home owners insurance. :o)

On the 9th, I believe, Beef and Boards in Indy is presenting the play 'Treasure Island.' So, we are going to take Karis and a friend to that. So, I am excited to be able to be home for her birthday. I missed Thanksgiving and Christmas this year so I am eager to be there for her special day. I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming. She has a sensitive heart and she loves the Lord. What more can a father desire in a daughter.

As far as activities here, Andy will be back on the 20th and Mike should be back around Wednesday of this week. Bryan has a mission that he has to go on for three or four days, please pray that he returns safely. I am sure he will do fine. He is a veteran of the Somalia conflict and so he is on top of things.

Later this month, we will be having another medical conference with Iraqi physicians. In January, we led a conference for them. This time they will lead the conference for us. It will be interesting to learn the protocols that they use in their practices.

We have had several sand storms over the last two weeks. Sand lingers in the air like fog and the day becomes orange as the sun filters through the dust. The other day it actually rained during the middle of a sand storm. The droplets of water mixed with the floating sand and as a result it was raining mud. Our uniforms were covered in little drops of mud. These limited visibility days are also an opportunity for our enemies to launch attacks on our base. I believe everyday that we have had a sand storm, we have been mortared or received a rocket attack.

The sand storms here are not exactly what you think they are. What happens is that sand is blown around many miles away from us. The result is that a large cloud of dust will float lazily over our base and simply hang around in the air. The dust is so fine that it actually floats in the air. Ther is no wind involved like in the movies. It is more like a heavy fog, except instead of water mist, it is sand. It can play havoc on our atopic troops who are prone to allergic antigens.

The mood here is good. I am so proud of our medics. Many of them have come so far since our arrival. We have done so much teaching and mentoring of these soldiers and they have sucked up the knowledge like a sponge. I remember when I couldn't get enough of medical information. I wanted to do everything and I looked for anyone to teach us something new. We have a saying in medicine that goes: 'See one, do one, teach one.' Basically a soldier observes a procedure, then performs the procedure under supervision and then teach that procedure to other troops. Most of our soldiers are at the point of teaching others. We have invited medics from a unit in Washington, State over to have our medics teach them the skills needed to run a clinic. The Washington medics are glad to learn new things and our medics are eager to show them. I have said this before but it is worth repeating. Medicine is not ours to keep but ours to give away. Our soldiers are giving back to their profession. I love seeing that.

Dr. Sami who is an Iraqi/American came by today to share good news with us. He is a practicing physician in San Diego and he came back to Iraq where he was raised to try and build a stable health care system. He says that the State Dept. will be setting up a multi-service clinic in Balad where doctors and health care providers from around the world can come and volunteer their time in two week rotations. What a wonderful opportunity for our profession to give to those who have the greatest need. Short term missionary work has such an impact on the local population. I was in Haiti a few years ago with my brother in law and I worked in a small clinic and provided care to local villagers. These poor people were so grateful to receive care for their children and family. They would walk miles through rough terrain and wait for 2-3 days just to be seen in the clinic. The people here are in similar situations. They simply want to have a normal life and take care of their family. I pray that Dr. Sami's program goes well. He has such a passion for this mission and he is a blessing to us and to his fellow country men and women.

Well, that is a quick update. I hope you are all doing well. I can't wait to see you guys when I get home and I pray that you are all well.

God Bless,

Jeff

"How wonderful it is that nobody need to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

Anne Frank

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few years ago I took Karen, Karis, and myself to Amsterdam Holland to visit the house that Anne Frank and her family lived in during their flight from the Nazi's. The house is a reminder of a sanctuary in dark places. In her diary, young Miss Frank put her thoughts down in writing. Her words are well articulated and to the point. She was living in times of persecution and fear. One would think that her thought would gravitate to the anger and hopelessness that often comes with those in similar situations. This was not the case for Anne. Her diary is full of quotes that revealed her heart. Despite living with death at her door, she remained optomistic. Her diary is filled with quotes like:

"Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart."

"I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains"

"I simply cannot build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death...I think...peace and tranquillity will return again."

And

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be."

I thought about Anne Frank today and remember the day that we went through her house. I tried to imagine living for two years knowing that at any minute they could be discovered and their lives taken from them. I tremble when I think of my family being in a similar situation. Yet here was a young lady who had faith that the Lord knew what he was doing and that the world would one day be a better place. The first quote on this blog, Anne says that, 'no one needs to wait a single moment to help improve the world.'

I have to admit that I had a rough week this week. We have been so busy, we are all feeling a little on edge and I have had recent situations where I am reminded that my actions have caused harm to those that I cared for. I have spent a great deal of time wondering how to reconcile wrongs and yet the answers have not always been readily available. I realize that trying to fix things without Godly direction rarley works things out effectively. I am reminded of an old statement that goes..."If you want to make the Lord laugh, tell him your plans." I have, on so many occasions tried to do that which seemed right to me but failed to consult the Lord on my plans. I was reminded this week to listen to the still small voice that provides guidance. So, I accept that what has been cannot be undone, but despite this, good can start today. Praise the Lord that he has given us his Holy Spirit to guide our actions.

So, getting back to Miss Franks Diary; As I read Anne's statement, I was encouraged to understand that despite our sinful past we can no longer waste time thinking about that which we cannot change. We can start this day to improve the world by leaving those hurtful things in the past and utilizing every opportunity to make our world a better place to live.
The Gospel of Christ will only be shared by those who utilize the now to take the Word to those who are lost. It is our mission and the reason that our Lord created us.

Take sometime this week and read some of Anne Franks diary. You will be amazed and encouraged to service by this young preteenager. Her wisdom was years ahead of her time.

When you think of those things that Anne Frank wanted to do to make the world a better place but could not because of her hiding, we have to feel encouraged to carry on this special childs dream. Wake up today and ask the Lord to use you to change the world. To use you to be a blessing to someone today. Ask the Lord to guide your path and place you on the road to another journey. May the road rise up to meet you as you carry the Word to the world.

I hope you are all well and God Bless.

Jeff

Dust Storms and Sunburns...

Good Evening Everyone,

Well we are again in the middle of a dust storm. The dust is so thick that our hair gets covered in sand just by walking to the gym. As usual, the enemy uses this opportunity to launch attacks. When the weather is like this the tower guards can't see them and so they launch motars and rockets. Our drones patrol the skies but they can get their attack off before the drones can get to them. Tonight we were hit just down the road from us. I am not sure if anyone has been hurt at this time as the attack just finished. We have not had any casualties show up in our clinic. Let's pray that they didn't hit anyone.


Well we should be getting Andy back on the 20th. This will be great help for us as it could free us up to actually have a day off. Right now we get one day out of eight off and that is our post call day. So we generally sleep that day.

Below I added an article that was written for a military news paper. I was interviewed about skin cancer. As you can see, I talked about wearing sun screen and protecting your skin. Well, three days ago, I was post call and so I went up to the roof of our clinic and layed out on one of those long fold out lawn chairs. Well, I fell asleep and I was out there for an hour and a half. Now, I am as red as a lobster. I have taken so much heat for this as everyone saw that irony of me ignoring my own articles advise.

Working with the guys that I do is sort of like riding the bus in Jr. High School. Everyday someone is going to get picked on by the others. Well, yesterday was my turn. It's a little like the Lord of the Flies. Tomorrow I'm guessing it will be Bryan's turn to take the heat.


Below is the article about skin cancer. It is that time of year coming up so protect yourselves and wear sunblock and limit your time in the sun.



As far as our time here goes it is going quickly. The weeks go by quickly but the days tend to drag out. Today, I received some very tastee snickerdoodle cookies from Monica Allen. She is a Nurse Practitioner that I work with. Despite her being a Nurse Practitioner she is a very nice person. ;0)


I want to thank Mike our dentist for his work. Since he has been here he has provided orthodonic care for many of our troops. The Army does not pay for orthodonic care for soldiers in theater, but he has provided these services on his own time and has paid for the orthodonic supplies out of his own pocket. As you know, retainers and braces can be very expensive. So, he does us a great favor and we are so appreciative of his work.

Above is a picture that I received from my daughter. She colored this for me. All I am saying is that she is a genius. I think this is right up there with Monet, Picasso. If you ask nicely, I can get her autograph for you. :o) I am so proud of Karis. She has been such a blessing to us and we could not have asked for a more compassionate and well mannered child. Her honesty and positive outlook on the world humbles me and at times I feel like she teaching me valuable lessons in life. I am reminded of the scripture when Jesus invited a child to him and said, "Unless you become like a child, you shall not enter the Kingdom." I pray that I can become like that. Innocent and optomistic, honest and open, Godly and full of wonderment. As we grow and age, we end up knowing things and experiencing things that we wish we could forget about. Those things can harden hearts and prevent us from being child like. I pray for the innocence that my daughter has.






Well, I have talked about Maj. Jones and LTC Perez. Well here they are. Dr. Perez is on the left. He is such a blessing to us. Dr. Jones is on the right. You probably can't see it but he has a this magical dimple on his left cheek and all the girls just love it. I personally think it is nothing more than a facial deformity and have encouraged him to get it fixed. I think it is a deadly weapon and there is a chance that his dimple can be used for dangerous purposes. That large deformity has made him the Golden Boy of the Medical Corps. He gets choice duty assignments, promotions, and preferential treatment every time he whips that thing out and uses it. I have encouraged him to use his dimple for good and not evil, but it has gone to his head and he puts it on display regularly for everyone to see. Now, I am not jealous. I am just concerned about his well being. I want to get him help. Because I'm a giver. I think he needs dimple counselling. I will continue to help him through this and make sure that he is able to reaclimate to the world of normal people.

I have a favor to ask. We have become friends with a group of contractors from Turkey. We go over to their compound and have dinner with them every Sunday. The problem that they have is that the military will not let them utilize the post PX or the dining facilities. As a result, they have to obtain basic essentials from Turkey. When I say basic essentials, I am talking about soap, shampoo, toothpaste, feminine products, etc... They have ordered these products from Turkey but the Iraqi customs will not let the products enter the country. I believe there are tensions between the two countries. So, I would like to ask if any of you are willing to send some of these basic items to me so that I can dispense them to these kind people.

My address is:
Major Jeffery S. Romig
215th ASMC
Joint Base Balad
APO AE 09391

Any help that we receive would be greatly appreciated. We have sent them some things already but it fall short of what they need.

Well, I will close for now. You guys are awesome and I have appreciated your e-mails and encouragement. Please continue to pray for peace.

God Bless,

Jeff

A Quick Update...

Good Evening All,

I want to thank you all so much for checking in. I hear almost daily about how many people are checking in to see how we are doing. So, thank you for your interest. If you have any ideas or suggestions about this blog please let me know.

First of all, we would like to welcome Dr. Mike Jones to our staff. He arrived last week. Mike is one of our guys. I have worked with him for over ten years and he is a stand up guy and a good friend. When he arrived, I was quick to let him know that I was his boss. He just chuckled and then informed me that he was taking the afternoon off to go take a nap. So, much for a doc respecting authority. It is a time honored Army tradition for medical officers to disregard authority. In fact, it is well known that George Washington's doctor at Valley Forge would actually show up at the clinic wearing a bath robe and fuzzy slippers. So, this is what I have to work with.

Our NCO's this week went down to the medical school house and graded the EMT's final practicum. We are in the process of training up more soldiers to be EMT certified. So, even here we continue to teach and learn.

We have had a rough February. A few days ago, we lost three soldiers and an interpreter outside of our gates. They were ambushed and lost their lives in the battle. One of our medics, worked on one of the soldiers at the hospital, but it was too late. Additionally, two weeks ago, we had three other soldiers who were hit with and IED. One of the soldiers lost his legs and the other two were air evac'd from our base to Germany. We also had 8 Iraqi soldiers shot during a mission. They were transported to our base and triaged. It truly breaks my heart when a soldier loses his life. I pray that the Lord will make our efforts worth the cost.

I have had some people ask me to update them more on military matters. The problem is that we cannot divulge any information unless cleared by command or has already been released for public viewing. The information I shared here has been posted in the Stars and Stripes. But for the most part, much of the details concerning military missions or soldiers injuries or deaths, I normally will not speak about. I hope you understand our position.

I had a gentleman come in yesterday with a case of what I believe to be Shistosomiasis. He is one of our soldiers and was in Ethiopia recently. He returned with a complaint of having worms in his stools. I obtained a stool sample for parasite and ovum, but I won't get those results back for a few weeks. So, I treated him empirically with Praziquantel. He had a bad reaction to that medication so I switched him to Vermox. I hope that will do the trick. If his lab result do return as Shistosomiasis, it will be the first and perhaps the last case of that, that I will probably see. So, from a medical stand point, very exciting.

Finally, I will be coming home for a two week leave. I leave here on the 24th of March. I look forward to the break. It will be nice to breathe fresh air and get a good nights sleep. Karis has her birthday on the 6th of April, so I will be able to be there for that. She will be ten years old. I can't believe it. Time is going by so fast. I look forward to going into the office and seeing my coworkers. They are awesome people!!! and I can't wait to pet my fat cat, Tybalt. Karen, says that he has gained a lot of weight since I have been gone. I think I will put him on a diet.

Well, I will let you all go. Thank you again for checking in. I really do appreciate your support and encouragement. You are all very important to us and knowing you guys are back home waiting for us, gives us strength to carry on.

I pray that the Lord fills you with His Holy Spirit and I pray that the Lord will calm you troubled hearts. We all have things in our lives that we bring to the Lord and ask for His guidance. Please believe that he will answer your prayers according to His will and will bring you peace. I would ask that you all pray for me. I too have a concern that has troubled me for years. Please pray that the Lord guides me and brings closure for me on this issue. I have had a conflicted heart and I need peace and resolution. So, your prayers would be wonderfully accepted with gratitude.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12

Please take care and have a great week.

Jeff

Sincerely...

2 Corinthians 4:7-10 &16-17
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed…Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

I took the pictures on this blog when I was at Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, Canada. The city where Butchart Gardens is located is Victoria, Canada.

Good Evening Everyone,
Tonight I am on call so I was in the clinic a little later than usual tonight. We had a couple of meetings still ahead of us when I sat down in our office to have a chat with Dr. Perez. Now to understand Dr. Perez you have to know that he is a man of few words. He is kind and gentle and full of wisdom. He also is a treasure chest of useless information. He is your typical Jeopardy contestant. Anyway, we were talking when suddenly he said, “Do you know the etiology of the word ‘Sincere?” Well, I am no dummy so I said, “of course I do… It comes from the word, sincerely.” He just stared at me with a stoic look. I think he was trying to discern weather I was worthy of the information that he was about to provide me.
After a few seconds of his silent contemplation, he must have decided to take a chance on me and so he continued... He said that one theory of the origin of the word comes from one belief is that the word sincere ultimately derives from Latin _sine cera_, meaning 'without wax'.
I nodded my head politely, wondering why in the world he was telling me this. I thought well he is old and maybe his mind is drifting :0). He must have heard my thoughts because he slapped me in the back of the head and said, “Pay attention.” He then went of to say that the word sincere means ‘without wax’. Sincere" is sometimes said to derive from Roman quarrymen's temporarily concealing imperfections in marble blocks, vases, or jars of clay by rubbing wax on them. The item would still be useful but the value of the item would be less as it is no longer perfect. The word 'sincere' then would be the opposite of rubbing wax to cover a defect. Therefore, sincere describes a vase that has no flaws. Now, I am not sure why he decided to share this with me, but immediately I thought about 2 Corinthians 4.

I started thinking about verse 7 that says that, ‘We have this treasure in jars of clay that this all-surpassing power is from God.’ What a fitting comparison. We are jars of clay fragile but useful, practical yet plain, replaceable but very much needed. But to the Lord, we are like a priceless vase… elegant, beautiful, and priceless. Over time however, we allow sin to cause us to stumble and fall. As a consequence we crack and sometimes break. We try very hard to cover our cracks with wax, hoping to hold water again and to have a purpose. The trouble with this type of repair job is that the wax may seal the vase but it fails to hide the small crack that was formed when we fell. What sin does to our body is very much like a vase. Sin beats us, shakes us and roughs us up, and as a result we develop cracks. Now, we can try to take matters into our own hands and try to repair the damage using our own wisdom. This type of repair will not, however, cover the obvious flaws that are left behind. Or we can submit ourselves to the one who can make us like new again, flawless and useful, honored and valued.

I often wonder what we would look like if our body showed the wear and tear of sin. What if every time we sinned a small laceration formed on our body? And what if those wounds never heal or if they heal but a scar is left behind? What would our bodies look like then? I would venture to say that we would be almost unrecognizable.
The wounds and scars left behind by sin are noticeable to everyone and as a result our value as a Witness is tremendously reduced. But praise our Lord that he does not repair our sinful wounds with wax. He removes the cracks completely so that we can maintain our value as a cherished piece of art.
I would ask you all to take a moment and perform a self-evaluation. Look at the sins in your life that are beating you down and get rid of them. Cast your sinful nature to the foot of the cross and become a useful witness again.
I praise the Lord that he does not allow sin to permanently damage us. We have all sinned and blown our Witness as some point in our lives, but through Christ we can be renewed. I can’t imagine where I would be if not for the redemption through Christ. I have made many mistakes in my life and rightfully I should be covered in scars. But the Lord did not give up on me. He remolded me and made me feel cherished and useful again. He is ready and willing to do the same for you.
Well, I pray that you are all doing well. I am so thankful to you for checking in on this blog. Your encouragement has really been important to me and I value your friendship dearly.
God bless you all and may our Lord fill you with His Holy Spirit.

Jeff

A Quick Update...

Good Evening Everyone,

I haven't really updated you for a while on what has been going on with us, so I want to give you a quick review.



We had a nice decrease in the number of patients that we treated in the month of January, however, February has not been so kind. Our numbers have increased as new units move into the area. We have also been short of medics. Our numbers have decreased because several have been sent home secondary to injuries and one of our finest soldiers who was our Personnel Clerk went home on leave and returned pregnant. So, she was sent home. We are also rotating leave among the troops. So, at anytime 10% of our troops are home on leave and so others have to step up and cover them while they are gone. Currently, our medics are working between 48-72 hours a week. But I have to say, not one of them are complaining and their quality of care is still top notch.


As far a providers go, we are still short. Travis went home on leave in January and Andy was sent to another base at about the same time. Travis finally returned, thank goodness, as we desperately needed him. But Mike is getting ready to take his leave and Andy has yet to return.

So we are going to remain short for approximately another month.


We did receive a new physician who has been a God send. His name is LTC Perez and he is a physician from Guam. He is a wonderfully gifted man and has served as a mentor to us and has provided us with his calm assurance and his timely wisdom. I will get a picture of him a little later. He is like a father figure to our troops and to us providers and we are trying to see if he will stay longer. Wish us luck.


We received a new pharmacy tech. named SPC Smith. She is getting her legs here as she is used to working in a large hospital pharmacy. Here she has to get used to the bare essentials so it is quite and adjustment.


We will be having another summit with some Iraqi physicians towards the end of this month. We are trying to evaluate their needs and attempting to bring their clinics up to speed as far as equipment and personnel training goes.



One of our most dedicated NCO's, SSG Julian, was sent home last week. This has been devestating to us as he is perhaps our most competent NCO. He was having pain in his neck and then lost feeling in his arms and so we air evacuated him to Germany where it was determined that he had a cervical nerve root compression and he needed surgery immediately. As a result of his loss, we have had to have others step up and take a leadership role among our enlisted troops.

We also had Tim, our RN, go home for emergency leave as his father had a stroke. We miss him tremendously and we are praying for his father and his family.

We received a new dentist within the last few weeks. His name is Dr. Mcleary. He is a good ole boy from Alabama. He actually did some work on me today and I got a little nervous when he looked into my mouth and goes, "I didn't know that adults had 32 teeth." Apparently in Alabama he has never seen such a mouthful of teeth. Seriously though, he is awesome and fits right in with us delinquents.



Finally, we have found out that Dr. Mike Jones is coming next month for a rotation. Mike is one of our own. I have worked with him for over 10 years and he is going to be a great fit. He used to be the commander of this unit, so most of the soldiers have worked with him. He is even more of a trouble maker than we are. So, our command is going to have their hands full when we all are here at one time.

Well, as far as our mission goes, we are staying busy. Everyday is like Ground Hogs Day. It is the same everyday. But the Lord has blessed us this month as we have not had to treat any war injuries this month. I did notice that a young man from Beardstown, Illinois was killed recently and that just breaks my heart. We all get so angry when we hear of another soldier who has given his/her all. It is the life we have chosen but it is still a tough pill to swallow.



I want to thank everyone for your prayers and for your words of encouragement. I want you to know that the Lord is working and moving here in Iraq. I believe that as long as a servant is willing to carry the Word, then their is hope. We have hope for this country and faith that the Lord will change the heart of our enemies. I pray for them.


I hope you are all well and I will keep you all in my prayers.


Thanks,

Jeff