Message from Stinky
(Click on photos to see a larger version.)
Solomons Porch,
 greetings from an extremely busy Afghanistan! Things have been so busy, that I think I forgot what sleep is. It's great though, God
gives you the strength to stay up for 48 hours straight in order to
be able to get the job done. We just supported the Afghan
National Elections which were going on while you guys were asleep on Saturday night and Sunday morning. On election day we were
in charge of overseeing the security. The first three months we
were in country was all about making sure the elections went off
without a hitch.
Our immediate area was a success, because the
group of men i am with are determined to find the problem here
and fix it. We have come across many Taliban fighters who have
wanted to kill us and even their own people. I would be lying if I
said they were not successful, but when one of ours gets killed or
an innocent Afghani is hurt, it only hardens our drive to eliminate
the Taliban from terrorizing this area and our beloved country. I
have encountered much death in the course of the first three
months here and God has helped me cope with it appropriately.
Fortunately, only a small number of the deaths have been US
soldiers, or Afghani Soldiers. I used to think that I didn't have the
power to decide if someone's life should be taken, but when they
shoot a Rocket Propelled Grenade at you, or an AK-47, your
reflexes tell you otherwise.
 God has been in my life more so than ever. I will conceed that i
rarely ever read the bible or spend time in quiet prayer, but that is
the great thing about God, he does not care. God has put many
people in Afghanistan in my life, and they are how I connect with
God. When i go out on missions, i talk to the locals as much as I
can and I try to let me love for Christ and life show. There is a
man who had his left leg blown off,and part of his
right let got shrapnel from an Improvised Explosive Devise(IED)
that was placed in a local road in order to kill the District Chief that
he was guarding. He comes to our medical clinic everyday, along
with 50 other locals. We change his dressings everyday, and
everyday I visit him, talk to him, and give him butterscotch candies.
The sheer joy that radiates from his soul, is pure motivation for me
to love life and be thankful for what God has blessed me with.
I am getting the chance to learn many new things about my job,
learn about new weapons and even more about life. The things I
have done and seen here and things that I cannot wait to tell you
all about and show you all pictures. There is no doubt that we are
in danger everyday, but I can physically feel the presence of
Guardian Angels protecting me and the guys I am with.
God Bless you all for praying for me. I am so blessed to belong to
such a great community, but will admit that I get extremely sad
and homesick everytime I look at the Porch website and see new
pictures and read about the fun things you all do.
But this is my new life, this will be the next four years of my life,
unless i decide to make this a career, and then it will be the next
20 years.
I love all of you so much and enjoying hearing from those who
continue to email me and send pictures.
I hope you enjoy the pictures I have attached.
 God Bless you all and I cannot wait to see you all
STINKY |
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