Dear Friends,

The last few days have been terribly busy as usual but have also been wonderful. Today was quite exceptional. The US Troops organized a Christmas Party for many of the Children at St George’s. Most of the Children present were Christian but some were also Muslim and Mandian. We started off with a day of playing in the Green Zone. They played games like the Egg and Spoon race, Volley Ball, American Football and Soccer. The weather was wonderful and the troops did an incredible job. We then had a mammoth barbecue, once again cooked by the soldiers. We played more games then went to the press centre for a party. The other day President Bush may have had shoes thrown at him but today Father Christmas came.

The children sang and danced the adults and soldiers joined in. Then every child was given a box of presents from Father Christmas (or Papa Noel as he is called here). The US military where simply wonderful. On TV all you see is the negative things, today all we saw was the positive. I must confess that I get very annoyed when people are so anti the military I continue to say they are the biggest peacemakers in the world today. I know that some people will not like me saying this but this is true and my experience.

The rest of the week has involved endless meetings. The best being with General Porter, one of the top British Military officers here. It is wonderful that he knows my family; he grew up in the same church as Caroline, my wife, and even used to cut my in-laws lawn to earn money when he was a boy. Tomorrow is another day of much activity when we have the big bazaar of the Mothers Union.

Blessings from Baghdad,

Canon Andrew White
President of FRRME & Rector of St George’s Baghdad

Tags: Christmas, dancing, games, Green Zone, Mother's Union, Papa Noel