Friday, June 17, 2011
Two Rings, If Good News
I received a call from an Iraqi Assyrian Christian man yesterday. He was speaking quickly and a bit more anxiously than usual.
“Paul, I got two rings. I said, if you hear good news from the embassy, give me two rings on my mobile. I got two rings, the number was from Syria. I’m running home now. I pray its good news. Can you pray? I’m going home now to call my wife.”
“Yako” has been waiting over two years to be reunited with his wife, also an Assyrian Christian who lives in a remote Syrian village. It’s been a long legal battle to get his wife here and has caused Yako a great deal of anxiety, which has been exacerbated by the current political crisis in Syria. His great fear was that the British Embassy would need to close as a result of the violence and his wife’s visa would be delayed indefinitely.
When Yako first called telling me about the “two rings” I was hesitant. There have been a lot of disappointments for this guy and so I hoped this was not a false alarm.
To be honest, he can be a difficult character to deal with and can be quite erratic. Still, there are reasons for his behaviour, much of which is out of his control. He spent most of his twenties in an Iranian prison after his regiment in the Iraqi army was captured (when he gave the name of the prison to an Iranian friend, the response was, “You were there, and you’re still alive? We say that even the birds die when they fly over that place.”). He spent much of that time in solitary confinement and was regularly beat by prison guards when he refused to convert to Islam. At one stage most of his molars were knocked out with the butt of a rifle. I sometimes need to remind others at St Rollox, including myself, about this when he flies off the handle from time to time.
Yako has a difficult time in Glasgow and everybody who works with him knows that he needs his wife with him.
Twenty minutes later, I received another call.
“Praise God, praise God! My wife has her visa! Tell everybody at the church for praying for me!”
Then another call a minute later.
“Paul, I forgot, can you help me book some train tickets for when my wife arrives in London?”
It was great to hear the joy in his voice now that he can look forward to family life in Glasgow. In the midst of many difficult stories, it’s great to hear some good news.
The Lord's Prayer in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, the language Yako and his wife speak.
“Paul, I got two rings. I said, if you hear good news from the embassy, give me two rings on my mobile. I got two rings, the number was from Syria. I’m running home now. I pray its good news. Can you pray? I’m going home now to call my wife.”
“Yako” has been waiting over two years to be reunited with his wife, also an Assyrian Christian who lives in a remote Syrian village. It’s been a long legal battle to get his wife here and has caused Yako a great deal of anxiety, which has been exacerbated by the current political crisis in Syria. His great fear was that the British Embassy would need to close as a result of the violence and his wife’s visa would be delayed indefinitely.
When Yako first called telling me about the “two rings” I was hesitant. There have been a lot of disappointments for this guy and so I hoped this was not a false alarm.
To be honest, he can be a difficult character to deal with and can be quite erratic. Still, there are reasons for his behaviour, much of which is out of his control. He spent most of his twenties in an Iranian prison after his regiment in the Iraqi army was captured (when he gave the name of the prison to an Iranian friend, the response was, “You were there, and you’re still alive? We say that even the birds die when they fly over that place.”). He spent much of that time in solitary confinement and was regularly beat by prison guards when he refused to convert to Islam. At one stage most of his molars were knocked out with the butt of a rifle. I sometimes need to remind others at St Rollox, including myself, about this when he flies off the handle from time to time.
Yako has a difficult time in Glasgow and everybody who works with him knows that he needs his wife with him.
Twenty minutes later, I received another call.
“Praise God, praise God! My wife has her visa! Tell everybody at the church for praying for me!”
Then another call a minute later.
“Paul, I forgot, can you help me book some train tickets for when my wife arrives in London?”
It was great to hear the joy in his voice now that he can look forward to family life in Glasgow. In the midst of many difficult stories, it’s great to hear some good news.
The Lord's Prayer in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, the language Yako and his wife speak.0 comments :
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