When they arrived at the orphanage in Charikar the first time, about seventy-five children and staff hesitantly greeted these Americans in uniform.
“They were a little leery of us when we first met them but warmed to us in time,” recalled Gessner. “What I first noticed was the lack of shoes and lack of glass in the windows in the sleeping rooms.” Summer temperatures in Afghanistan reach higher than one hundred degrees but drop to the teens in the winter.
When we left the orphanage on that first day, a rather large Airborne Ranger sergeant major, nicknamed Big Jim, looked at me with tears in his eyes and asked, “What can we do to help these kids?” We decided to write a few letters home hoping that perhaps people would send us some donations.
The letters worked. The sergeant major’s contacts sent numerous pairs of shoes. Jim Powers, a friend of Gessner’s in Rockford, Illinois, mobilized his Kiwanis group to support the orphans. Powers also established a website for the orphans’ plight and landed a front page story in the local paper. After the article in the paper, the orphans’ website received more than four hundred hits the first two days. The donations began flowing in.
“In three months, we received eight thousand dollars and three hundred fifty boxes of goods,” said Gessner. “The first donation came from a friend’s grandson who volunteered up his own shoes. While his grandma convinced him he needed his own shoes, he volunteered up his change totaling fifty-seven cents.” Other significant donations included coats from J.C. Penney’s and eighty hand-sewn quilted sleeping bags from a ladies’ church group.
“I was asked by a reporter once what we had received from the orphans for our work,” Gessner remembered. “My response was: ‘A lot of hugs and the satisfaction of leaving the place a little better than we found it.’”
Lord, instill in me a desire to give to others out of the abundance with which you have blessed me.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” (James 1:27)
June 25
DEBUNKING THE “GREAT SATAN” MYTH
Col. John Gessner, Army Corps of Engineers, Afghanistan (2002)
The anticipation of distributing the donations to the orphans was contagious especially on Sunday afternoons. This was typically the day Gessner’s team of fourteen engineers plus some other soldiers helped with the deliveries. Civil Affairs officers and interpreters also escorted them on the forty-five-minute journey by armed convoy.
“Some of the soldiers who volunteered to drive the trucks for us had spent most of their time on base on engineer missions,” Gessner said. “They were extremely excited about interacting with the kids and volunteered to go back several times. One told me it was the greatest thing he had ever done.”
Initially, the orphans and staff were cautious around the Americans, because they had been told that Americans were “The Great Satan” and other stories that would soon be proven false.Interpreters explained why the Americans were there and that they had gifts for the children. After a few visits they got used to having us around. Several of the kids picked out their favorite soldier and the soldiers had their favorite kids.
Donations included toys, stuffed animals, and candy along with school supplies, clothes, socks, shoes, underwear, and coats.
“One little girl used to run up and jump into my arms,” said Gessner. “There was never a loss for helpers to unload the trucks. One of the things that fascinated the kids was digital cameras. They could see the images immediately and the following week we would bring back copies of the photos we took.” Some of the female staff members allowed the Americans to take their pictures, a very rare opportunity and honor in a Muslim country.
“When the Taliban or other terrorist groups return to recruit young people for their evil plans, I suspect the kids will remember the American soldier who brought those blankets, food, and kindness,” said Gessner.
Lord, help me earn a reputation that is pleasing, honoring, and glorifying to you.
“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” (Proverbs 22:1)
June 26
HOME IMPROVEMENTS
The donations of clothing and toys were only the beginning. In the next three months the Americans rebuilt the orphanage kitchen, replaced the missing windows, provided funds for food, and purchased new kitchen utensils, cookware. and a one-month supply of firewood.
Not only was the staff thrilled, but the interpreter was so impressed at the support given to the children of his country that he purchased a one hundred-pound bag of rice for the orphanage.
Gessner turned over some of the cash he had received to a non-governmental organization (NGO) called the Knights of Malta, who developed a menu and purchased food for the orphanage on a weekly basis. “Rather than buying in bulk, this reduced the possibility of loss, waste or diversion of the food intended for the orphanage,” said Gessner. “The Knights of Malta also outfitted three school rooms with desks, chalkboards and other supplies once we had repaired them.”
With no water in the orphanage, the kids and staff walked to a nearby irrigation ditch and brought the water in by buckets. One day, while standing in the orphanage, Gessner noticed water running in through the back gate. The owner of the next property had already drilled through the dike and water was running freely on to his property.
“I asked the owner if we could put a spigot on the end of his pipe and let us run a water line into the orphanage,” Gessner said. “He agreed and with a few hours work by the plumbers, the orphanage had running water for cooking and personal hygiene.”
Several of the rooms in the orphanage had collapsed roofs and the windows and doors were knocked out. A local Afghan contractor initially asked for $4,000 to do the job but when Gessner told him he only had $1,000 to spend, he agreed to rebuild the rooms at that price for the kids. “It was one of the easiest contract negotiations I’d ever done,” said Gessner. A few weeks later, the rooms were ready.
“You Americans are nothing like they [Taliban and Al Qaeda] said you were,” the staff told Gessner. Then they placed their hands over their hearts and nodded in a gesture of respect.
“When we saw this,” said Gessner, “we knew we had made an impression.”
Lord, help me find joy in meeting the needs of others in your name.
“Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)
June 27
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
