Merry Christmas to all! I hope your holiday was filled with love, and the joys of giving linger long. Personally, i really enjoyed my first married Christmas with Sarah’s terrific family. I love my in-laws, and all the rich holiday traditions they have so eagerly made me a part of. Thanks, Riggios!

Right now, Muslims in Pakistan are feeling the anticipation for Eid ul-Adha (Jan 10th, this year) where gifts are given, with a particular concern for the poor. Christmas is not widely celebrated in Pakistan, but while i was there, i heard many references to “December 25th”. It wasn’t in the context of presents, holidays, or shopping though. This is the oft-quoted date for when the winter snows get started - a very present threat in the mind of many a homeless mountain villager.

I was saddened by the negative association with one of my most joyful days of the year. I have been motivated to pray for a delay in the impending onset of winter. Right now, that seems like the best gift i can offer my Pakistani friends. Current weather reports seem to indicate that heavy snows have not yet started, thankfully. Maybe this year, Dec. 25th passed with a little joy after all!

May this gift continue to be given, day by day, as more shelters get built!

Just the other day there was a 6.8 quake, right through the same region that was blasted two months ago by The Big One. When i first heard about this one, i thought it was an “aftershock.” But it is now being classified as an independent event.

I experienced aftershocks just about every other night while i was in Pakistan. In most cases, they were over before i figured out what was going on, but by the end of my time, i learned that if i heard that rumbling in the distant mountains, i should get ready for the ground to quiver a little. While none that i experienced were severe, they had a tremendous impact on Pakistanis around me. The locals reacted immediately, hurrying out of buildings (many of which are cracked and just look ready to collapse as a result of The Big One), and checking in with loved ones in other cities. You could see the terror in their eyes. Having lived through a full FIVE minutes of swaying land, collapsing buildings, and no foundations, it’s more than understandable.

While causing little physical damage, these aftershocks are poignant reminders to the Pakistanis of all they lost, all they suffered. It is an on-going source of fear — many villagers i met would not sleep in their houses, even though the structures had survived The Big One. The possibility of an aftershock that could bring their house down was simply too real. So even those who didn’t lose their homes were greatly appreciative of our shelters, which are significantly more earthquake resistant.

Similarly, i have been experiencing the aftershocks of my time in Pakistan. I find myself drifting back to the pictures i took, and the significant memories they represent. Stories from my friends (like Greg, Jeremy, and Danger) keep my experiences fresh. And perhaps most powerfully: my dreams. While my body sleeps, my mind is still engaged in the on-going work of building shelters, trudging through snow, taking tea, and desperate attempts to save lives in a handful of different circumstances. I’m still sorting through so much of the emotion, the destruction, the cultural distinctives, and the ways that i personally both gave of myself and built into who i was. I’ll let my subconscience sort it out while i sleep, but when i awake i feel connected in a small way to my friends in Pakistan who are reminded of the harsh reality and essential instability of life with every aftershock.

We did it. After what felt like just a few moments among the amazing people of the Hindu-Kush mountains and what felt like two weeks on airplanes, I have safely returned home. It is such a relief to be reunited with my Bride.

The trip was simply amazing. Neither words nor the dinky pictures i took with my camera phone will be able to adequately communicate all that i experienced (but as a teammate demonstrates, a camera is enough to engage a small army of children!). I’m hoping that the stories i share here over the next few days are able to communicate some small elements of the truths i learned, the beauty of the people i met, what was accomplished, and what remains.

We did it — the various teams worked to get hundreds of shelters built through out the earthquake zone. We got the materials we needed. We beat the snow. We kept an emphasis on developing relationships with the locals. We trained them in the construction. Lives will be saved. Thank God.

My team (including Jon W) spent two days bending pipes to be used in shelter construction, and then about a week in a mountain valley helping villagers set up the shelters. We returned Monday to Phoenix, AZ for a debrief.

The Pakistani people are not terrorists. They are not nuclear war mongers. They are not stoic, unfriendly, or hateful. While i always doubted these negative stereotypes, I had nothing with which to replace them. Before i found out first hand, i believed these lies (at worst), or forced myself to think blankly about Pakistanis and other middle easterners (at best).

But now I have real faces with names, real stories and lives, real interactions and experiences that give me a much more factual and positive picture of who exactly it is who lives in Pakistan. I am very grateful for this, and hope that some of this alternative vision is communicated as i share my stories in future posts.

Stay tuned for more soon!