May 20, 2001 — Mudeif Productions

Didn't realize until this morning what a spectacular view we had of the Tigris! There is far more to this country's scenery than the desert, as we are quickly learning. The Conference had scheduled two visits today to churches in the north. As we headed up into the north, the fields got more and more lush and gave way to mountains that sprang up like America's Badlands. Two years ago, when the Conference got to this part of Iraq, military escorts joined the group as this approaches Kurdish lands. We did have soldiers with us for the last leg of our journey, but the tension was not as palpable as it clearly once was.

The busses stopped below the Monastery of St. Matta, originally built in the 4th century. We wandered among the shepherds while we waited for our smaller cars to take us up the mountain (too arduous a journey for the busses). Once we arrived, we were greeted by the Patriarchs of this Syrian Orthodox Monastery, and by the monks who live, worship, and work there. The monastery once had over one hundred monks in residence, but this has now dindled to one bishop and three monks. The view, of course, down the valley was unparalleled - those monastics knew the basic rule: location, location, location. One item that caught our eyes was in among the photo gallery of patriarchs was His Excellency's visage.

*Flowers at the Syrian Catholic Church in al-Kouth.*

Our second stop for the day, and the Presbyterian delegation’s last stop with the Conference, was the Syrian Catholic church of the Virgin Mary in nearby al-Kouth, one of many Christian villages in Iraq. While their walls were decorated in Aramaic and Arabic, the liturgy had a far amount of French in it. We were treated to a wonderful meal in the magnificent flowering courtyard before our little delegation hustled East to Kirkuk.

We stopped at the old walls of Nineveh long enough to say, "Forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown," but not long enough to understand what implications that might have for us. On the road to Kirkuk, one of our GMCs broke down (bad fuel pump). Elizabeth wandered off to explore a little creek (with green reeds and long-legged birds, nestled in the brown brown desert) as everyone else stared under the hood.

*Worshiping at Kirkuk Presbyterian Church.*

Finally, we decided to flag down a taxi or two and get to the church 30 minutes late. The warmth of our reception was palpable. Part of that was due to the groundwork laid by First Presbyterian Church of Houston in their family-to-family program which has paired families in the two congregations in a letter-writing relationship over the past few years. The spirit in the worship service was palpable. One of our group, a Presbyterian pastor and college professor, spoke about the Biblical metaphor of the desert. The words rang as true for us as Americans as they surely did for our fellow Iraqis, and our Palestinian brothers and sisters as well.

*American-Iraqi Presbyterian fellowship.*

We continued the evening in the graciousness of food and fellowship. It's always good to be fed, even if we do not live by bread alone. We then made the long drive back to our hotel in Baghdad.