My family is part of an ancient Kurdish tribe in the Middle East; one that believes certain aspects of several religions. Our tribe believes that God never makes mistakes, so whatever tribe or faith you are born into, that is where you belong for your entire life. To try to change would be a great shame and a horrible thing to do against God. 

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My father’s first wife died a few years before he met my mom. To this day, my mom’s face lights up when she talks about the day she met my dad, and how soon after that he asked for her hand in marriage.  

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I was born in 1977. My dad died suddenly in his sleep when I was just three years old. I don’t really remember him though I have seen pictures and heard stories about him.  

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I have many horrible memories of the war between ours and a neighboring country. We had to worry about bombs and move the place where school was held, alarm sirens were always going off and many people died. I remember watching a plane get shot down right behind my house when I was six.   

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At age 18, I was drafted into the national army. I served for three years and it was a hard time for me. 

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I met Nahid at a picnic. She’s from a neighboring nation, but all of our people love picnics where we can eat and dance all day. I noticed Nahid and we both sensed some kind of connection between us. I am very thankful God brought us together, and that he gave us our two daughters, Mery and Tabi. 

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I met Jesus through a Christian man named Ashty who patiently answered my questions, prayed for me and encouraged me to pray. Soon I knew for sure that Jesus had answered my prayers and come to live in my heart which made me very, very happy.   

 

Then, as a driver for Christian school, I met American Christians. I attended meetings about Jesus and was amazed at all I learned. It was such a joy to find out that Jesus loved everyone and anyone who was willing could in fact be saved.  For so long I had heard that it was impossible for someone who was not born a Christian to choose to become one.  I shared all that I was learning with Nahid. In 2002 Nahid gave her heart to Jesus as well.   

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In 2005, I started taking Entrust training classes because I wanted to learn about the Bible in a more structured way.  

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I joined Entrust as a staff member in 2008. One of the most impactful activities of our ministry is the family camp, bringing believers together from many backgrounds, ethnicities and denominations. We have held trainings and conferences for pastors. We provide humanitarian aid for 36 village schools who often don’t have basic items like pens and notebooks, office equipment, whiteboards for classrooms or heating. 

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The most recent area of growth in our ministry comes from construction of a high-quality soccer field on land near six villages settled by IDP and refugee families. Village teams and even the military have already played over 100 matches on the field, but the official dedication and league play won’t happen until the end of March/early April. Recently I traveled to the earthquake zone in a neighboring country as translator for a group bringing aid to Kurds in the area.   

 

Prayer requests

• Pray for us to use the soccer field well and for God to be glorified and made known through it.  

• Pray the annual re-registration of Entrust-Kurdistan would be approved soon. It gets more complicated each year. As an NGO, there are restrictions on how much we can evangelize. Pray for continued good partnerships with local churches who can evangelize easier. 

• Pray for funding so we can hold family camp this year. So many people are begging to be allowed to be a part of it and say it has been of great benefit to them, their families and their churches.  

• Praise for people affected by the recent large earthquake which registered 4.5 in the city where we live. Pray for those who have lost family, homes, jobs. Pray that all who feel anxious fearing another quake would have peace that God is with them.