So i spent a day with a former air force general in Sadam’s Army.  You wouldn’t be able to tell by meeting him though, because he’s one of the most humble and generous men i’ve met.  A few years after he became a believer in 2004 (through rather miraculous means) he was offered a very high ranking position in the Ministry of Defense, instead he retired from the army and decided to move his family to Beirut so he could go to Bible School.  In between long days at seminary he and his family reach out to 300 Iraqi refugee families that are living illegally in the city.

They took us to meet some of these families on Sunday.  The living conditions were poor, sometimes 8 people sleeping in one tiny room, but you could see the love that each of these families had for Sabah and his wife.  Amazing.

Sabah told us that when working in Sadam’s Army, everyone was in fear.  You could be a high ranking official, or just a soldier and still fear for your life everyday because Sadam would decree ridiculous edicts on a whim.  He said at one point that Sadam had banned the use of the word “dollar”, and anyone who said it would be shot immediately.  Then at some point Sadam started to like the word and everyone was free to say it again.  There was no reason to his rule, just pure evil.

I asked his two teenage kids if they were afraid living in bagdad during the war, they said “No, not really…maybe at first, but you get used to it.”

the first family we visited

the second family

the third family

Sabah with kids from third family

Blankets, bedding, and food were given to the families

the last family we visited

Sabah's Iraqi Military credentials

the fam

Popularity: 7% [?]