What I Will Miss About Afghanistan

I originally planned to sit down and provide the list of things that made Afghanistan a place to visit and what won't ever leave my memory soon after the last post. However, work got busy and I haven't forced myself to sit down and provide the 2nd half of the first post. So here goes:

1) The People: The majority of Afghans I met are amazing people doing their best to survive and really just want people to leave them alone. They are resilient and will thrive if given the chance. It is my prayer that the sliver of freedom they glimpse through our work takes hold and they run with it and design a way of life that works for them while allowing their natural gifts to flourish. I have many memories of conversations over tea with smiles as well as meeting the children when out and about.

2) Children: Regardless of where you go, kids will always be kids. They are the same everywhere. It was so much easier to communicate with them despite the language differences because you just knew what they wanted. They were rarely shy about coming up and interacting with us and their presence really helped most of the guys realize why they were sent 7000 miles from home.

3) The Food: I ate some of the most amazing food I have tasted overseas. While the meals were always pretty much the same of chicken, rice, bread and fruit it was always sumptuous. The spice they use for the chicken is wonderful and the bread is highly sought after with many Marines buying that whenever they had the chance. And the fruit convinced me that local, organic produce is the way to live. The produce came from close by and was grown with natural fertilizer with a taste much better than what I usually obtain in a store.

4) The Marines: Serving as a chaplain in a combat zone is a special honor and I am glad to have been given that responsibility. It was a once in a lifetime chance to really be with the infantry. I can't fully describe the respect and love I have for my Marines and sailors and they will always hold a special place in my heart. They endured so much for each other and for people they didn't really know and I hope the experience changed them in a positive way as much as myself.

There are many other things I will miss, but I don't want to ramble on and on. Plus, I have to work on a presentation for my Presbytery for next weekend. I get to speak to church leaders about what chaplains do and how they can assist us as we minister to service members.