Hello everybody! Welcome back to another
episode of Anabaptist Perspectives.
This is Chad, and the last time we were on
camera together was actually in Iraq in Sinjar.
I was over there on a film project, and we were traveling
around doing some filming.
Reagan: Peshmerga there, and then these buildings were
Isis.
Chad: Yes they...
Reagan: Wow! They could shoot each other
with a handgun they're so close.
Chad: Yeah, and that is why there's so much damage in
this area, just to give you an idea
of what we're driving here.
Chad: This is the final spot Isis was in.
Reagan: Final...
Chad: This was all no-man's land.
Peshmerga was in that structure right there.
Reagan: Right. Ok.
Chad: Isis had snipers in these buildings here.
Reagan: That used to be apartment complexes.
Chad: They were buildings, but they weren't finished.
Reagan: Unfinished apartment complexes.
Chad: That's what they were going to be.
Reagan: Blew them to smithereens. My goodness.
That seems crazy!
You had been there in Sinjar for a while and at that time,
at least when I was there, Isis was only about one mile
away or something like that.
The front line was really close.
There was the no-man's land, the barrier
with all the military there.
Reagan: Okay, so those two villages right there are both
under Isis control.
Chad: Yes.
Reagan: Woah. Right there it is, people.
The very front of the front of the front line, right here.
The question is, Why were you there?
Why did you have a team, especially as a Conservative
Anabaptist, to be there serving in, maybe not a war
zone, but really really close to a war zone?
Well, yes, it was a war zone.
That's what we considered it.
What motivated me is, where would Jesus go?
What would Jesus do?
That was the people that are hurting.
That was the people that really need help at that
point, and I think that's what really
motivated me. It's about them. It's about
how we can show the love of Christ to them.
It's a little bit unusual, isn't it?
Oh, yes!
What was it like, first getting in there? I remember when
I was there, your team had already been there for a
while, and it felt like we were completely off the map,
like we were way in.
The first time you got in, what was that like?
Well, the first time I got to the city there, I didn't know
the front lines were so close until later that day.
I remember the first night we slept there. So, our whole
team was sleeping there in the one room we had.
So, we're all a little edgy and wake up part way through
the night and hear the door bang.
What was that? And after awhile, another one. Bang!
Because the metal doors make a lot of racket.
Then I see a light flash in the window. At that point, I
didn't know they have spotlight patrols
going all night. I thought this is someone's flashlight.
I'm like, is someone digging through our stuff?
So, I crept out of bed and downstairs. I kicked open
the door into the room where we had all
our stuff, and nothing! So, looked around
the house. Nobody. Nowhere. Then I figured out the
doors, just because of the wind
were banging. So, yes, we were a little on
edge. You know, it was uncertain all the
explosions going on. It was a little nerve-wracking.
What was the closest explosions?
So, were mortars being shot at you?
Throughout our stay there?
Yeah, because I mean, you were there for...
How long were you in Sinjar?
9 months.
The closest mortar or rocket, hit
probably about 150 yards.
That's close.
Wow!
Yeah, there was a lot of explosions all through the city
all the different times.
The point is, it wasn't that you were there for the thrill of
it, but there were apparently a lot of civilians in need.
You're helping people that are kind of
trapped in this situation.
Was that the idea?
They were trapped in the camp. They wanted to come
back to their homes, and
we were opening the opportunity to come back.
Okay, so helping them rebuild their homes, basically?
Yes.
So, the big question that
people will have, because, obviously for our group,
the Anabaptists, we do tend to do a lot of service things.
There was a hurricane recently here in the states that
destroyed a lot of things.
A lot of people we know went down there to help
with that. That's pretty normal.
Going to Iraq to a war zone to help people caught in that
situation is not normal at all.
The question is, why would you risk your safety when
you could have served somewhere else?
There's a lot of people that are willing to go
to safe places. There's very few people that are willing
to risk their lives to help somebody else.
The advantage with going to an area where you risk
your life to serve somebody else is, that person, they
understood the risk we were taking to help them and
they really appreciated that. That really stood out to
them.
So, it almost makes your message stronger or clearer.
I would say, yes.
You must have really, really believed in what you were
doing to do that.
The big question that I have and had when I went there,
is, what was it like being a Mennonite in that
particular setting?
I especially think of the doctrine that
we have of non-violence and non-resistance.
How did that play out with you being literally
one mile from Isis?
Well, I think when it first struck me was the first day we
were there when we met the governor. We were talking
to different people, and we were staying there that night.
We were, at that point, the only people that I had ever
seen in the city that were not carrying an AK-47, or a
pistol, or something.
We stood out in that way.
I remember, we had to go to the next
house to get a shower. I was going to walk out and pick
up and get our stuff and go for a shower and the
governor said, "I'm gonna send a bodyguard with you."
I said, "No!" I said, "You know, God keeps me safe."
It's not like the street we were in was a gated
guarded street. I felt perfectly safe to walk out there
with no gun. To them that was a very foreign concept.
Even though he was a governor, a high up official,
he even had a pistol strapped to his side.
We stood out majorly.
Was that hard standing for those beliefs
in such an extreme environment?
No.
Really? Interesting.
It's really easy for us when we're here sitting in
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
about as far removed from that as possible, to say,
yeah, we believe in non-resistance.
Did diving into something like that at least give you
pause to think about what you actually believed?
Well, I think it comes down to this:
Do you believe a gun or God is more powerful?
Most people say God is more powerful, but when
a situation comes up, they trust their gun more.
Physically, they know their gun will work. Their faith is
not strong enough to believe that God's going to come
through if an armed robbery happens or whatever.
They know their gun will help them.
They're not sure if God will.
That's what really comes down to non-resistance:
which do you believe is stronger?
The gun or prayer (God)?
The difference is you had to live with that reality every
day the nine months that you were in that situation.
Here, we're so far removed from that.
For us, it's all theory.
When you dive into that situation all of a sudden, it goes
from theory to reality.
So, even that didn't pull you up short?
No, because before going into a situation, I knew kind of
what I was getting into.
Even initially traveling from here to Iraq is a major step.
When I first went, Isis was still kind of advancing.
No one's sure what they're going to do yet.
You think about what you're going to do in a situation.
You think about if you're gonna run for your life,
if you're gonna fight for your life, if you're gonna just
open the door and invite them in for lunch.
Which way did you decide to do?
I always told [name withheld] I'd invite him in for lunch.
And I remember always saying,
"I think I'd be running for the hills!"
I think a lot of the purpose behind this video is
honestly, I don't think we think about these situations
enough.
We're too far removed from it. Then, when these
realities do hit us, when something as horrible as Isis
comes, if we have figured out what we believe,
and we've processed it and understand it, now we're in a
position to go help those people.
That was clearly the case for you.
You knew what you believed, and you were
ready to apply it and go do something about it.
It's like a story I told you about
being on the house roof on the frontline.
We were watching the truckload of Isis soldiers.
I think it was just one truckload.
They were out about 1/2 or 3/4 mile out, driving.
Every post, every gun was manned.
They were ready for an attack.
I had to think, who's really out there?
I know who I am. That guy out there, half a mile away,
I had never met. I never knew. I don't
know what his life is.
To take a man's life that you have no clue how his life is.
Hard telling, what his family?
That's another thing that you really ponder when
you're looking at a situation like that.
Not only being non-resistant, not fighting,
but looking at it from the perspective if you would kill
somebody, whose life are you taking?
What impact would you have had
on the world if you would have stood for God?
Now, that situation has changed.
That truckload of soldiers, those Isis soldiers,
where are they at today?
How does that story end?
When I get to Heaven, I'll find out.
So, did that feel weird to be
standing on a line, at the line with all of these soldiers,
and seeing those Isis troops out there,
and you're literally the only one within sight that
doesn't have a gun?
Yes, it did.
One awesome thing it did impress on me:
Soon after that they were driving out there.
I got in our vehicle, and I left. That was not what the
other guys on that line did.
They were laying down their lives.
I left that situation. I don't know if I should have
handled it differently as far as prayer,
as far as whatever.
I don't know.
One thing that really ponders me is what part do we
Christians play in that situation?
We do believe that prayer is more powerful,
or we wouldn't believe in non-resistance.
What part did I miss out on that I
should have been doing when I was in that situation?
I'm looking back. If I would have stayed there in prayer,
stayed there and prayed into
the situation versus leaving?
Wow. That's a really interesting perspective.
That makes a lot of sense.
Let's put this into the practical.
What would you say is one of the more
important lessons or the most important
lesson you learned from your experience there?
Put all your faith and belief in prayer and not in what
the physical can do.
People say, "The Navy SEALs can go farther because
they have guns."
That point is when you say guns have
more power than God.
Clearly, you didn't believe that, because
it didn't stop you.
Yes, I believe that, but sometimes there's times that it's like...
I know a gun works. I know a gun can shoot bullets
and stop people.
Sometimes, you know, it's to have faith that prayer is
going to work even better.
That's a real challenge.
We say that we believe that, but in all reality it's very
rare that that belief is ever tested when we're
sitting in our comfortable life.
We have it nice, really.
Here we are in America, really blessed.
I think your story of where you were in a scenario
like that is really powerful.
The whole non-resistance thing goes farther than just
not shooting and killing somebody, but believing in
every situation that prayer has more power than trying
to belittle someone so that you look
better than ever.
There's a lot of taking that down to
smaller situations than just the killing.
If we can really get the concept that prayer is where
things happen, and in prayer things will happen,
a lot of those other beliefs are just a whole
lot easier to follow because now they make sense.
You wouldn't turn to something less.
So, do you think you'll go back?
I hope to.
To a war zone?
Yes. I plan to.
That's where this stuff gets real. Not only do we believe
in non-resistance, but we also go do something
active to help fix the problem. There's a war over there.
Okay, let's go do our part to help fix it.
Not like we can fix it, but with Christ working
through us, we can make a difference.
Thank you very much for being on this episode and
sharing some of your experience.
Stay safe on your next trip.
Thanks a lot!
Maybe I'll see you over there again sometime, and we'll
film another video together. That would be really cool.
Thank you, everyone, for watching, and if you really
enjoyed this content, make sure to let us know in the
comments, or if there's a topic you would
like to see us cover.
If you'd like to see us go to Iraq and see this guy in
action over there, let us know!
Thanks so much for your attention and for watching.
We'll see you in the next video.
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