billiefan2000
25th March 2003, 02:48 PM
http://cbn.org/700club/features/TN_Kurds.asp
Nashville Woman Shows Compassion to Kurdish Refugees
By Sandy Engel and Lisa Ryan
The 700 Club
One Tennessee woman has been faithfully and passionately showing the love of Jesus Christ to Kurdish refugees who fled the tyranny of Saddam Hussein following Desert Storm.
CBN.com – "Sometimes they laugh and call me "Mother Teresa to the Kurds." All the Kurds know that they can call me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."
Nine years ago, Charmaine Jamieson had never even heard of the Kurds. She had no idea they’re the largest people group—45 million strong—without a country of their own. Most of the Kurds live in an area called Kurdistan, the region partitioned after World War I among Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria. Charmaine didn’t know that the Kurds have been victims of ethnic cleansing for decades or that Saddam Hussein had unleashed his chemical weapons on 5,000 Kurds in 1988.
Then came Desert Storm.
"I was watching TV every day and was just captivated by seeing all these people being marched up a hill. Hundreds of people were being killed, and I remember just getting on the floor and saying, Is there something I can do to help?"
Nancy Cassell, the mother of former Taliban hostage Dayna Curry, was looking for volunteers to help Kurdish refugees in the States who had fled from Saddam Hussein following Desert Storm. Charmaine’s name came up.
"I found out that she had some teaching background, and so I said, 'Well, we need English teachers,'" Cassell explains.
"Little did I know, this was the same people group I had prayed about," Jameison says. "They were brought all the way around the country to my back door. I went that first day to teach English, and I think I've been back every day since for 9 years."
This could be any neighborhood in America, but on this street in Nashville, Tenn., in this house behind me is a very unusual family.
"I have one family that I have sort of adopted, and I do it because I really love them," says Jameison. "I feel a kindred spirit to them. There’s one Bible verse that says you will be judged by how you treat the foreigner, the sojourner, the resident aliens in your land, just like there’s other judgements. How would I like to be in a foreign land not speaking the language, not knowing where a doctor was or where to buy food? And so that motivated me."
There are 50 members in this family alone, and nearly 7,000 Kurds altogether have settled in Nashville. Charmaine is a one-woman ministry to hundreds of them.
"Without her, I wouldn’t have graduated from school; I wouldn’t learn English," says one grateful Kurdish man. "She helped me, helped my family—dad, brothers, cousins, other Kurds. She did a lot for us."
For another, a young Kurdish woman, Charmaine has "become like a mother, a friend, everything—not just mother, everything."
Once Charmaine stayed up all night sewing an engagement dress that this young wife and mother now cherishes.
"I love Charmaine. She’s been a great friend," says the proud wife and mother. "She’s been a second mom. She helped me through my wedding. She helped me through my whole pregnancy and stayed in the hospital with me three days.
Adds Cassell, "She is probably the most dedicated person I know—at least with her time, and she’s totally immersed herself in their culture."
"Women are not supposed to touch men," Charmaine explains. "I give haircuts to men all the time every week. Cutting hair is a cultural barrier that we’ve broken down and teaching their women to drive cars now."
Charmaine also arranged for the Kurds to butcher their meat according to custom at her friends’ farm. She helps them find jobs and housing, attends weddings and graduations, and takes them to the doctor and the grocery store. When one of the Kurd children needed surgery, Charmaine even gave her own blood.
What gives her such a great love for these people?
"I guess the Scripture says the love of God is poured in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t come from man because you can’t have enough of it, if it doesn’t come from an eternal source that keeps supplying it."
Charmaine says she frequently prays for the Kurds, but adds, "My job isn’t to save them; my job is to serve them."
Because of Charmaine’s love and dedication, the Kurds living in Nashville have a deep respect for all Americans.
"I always say 'God bless America' and 'God bless American people' because their hearts are always open for anybody. It doesn’t matter where you come from. Their hearts are open for everybody," a young Kurdish woman states with a smile.
Nashville Woman Shows Compassion to Kurdish Refugees
By Sandy Engel and Lisa Ryan
The 700 Club
One Tennessee woman has been faithfully and passionately showing the love of Jesus Christ to Kurdish refugees who fled the tyranny of Saddam Hussein following Desert Storm.
CBN.com – "Sometimes they laugh and call me "Mother Teresa to the Kurds." All the Kurds know that they can call me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."
Nine years ago, Charmaine Jamieson had never even heard of the Kurds. She had no idea they’re the largest people group—45 million strong—without a country of their own. Most of the Kurds live in an area called Kurdistan, the region partitioned after World War I among Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria. Charmaine didn’t know that the Kurds have been victims of ethnic cleansing for decades or that Saddam Hussein had unleashed his chemical weapons on 5,000 Kurds in 1988.
Then came Desert Storm.
"I was watching TV every day and was just captivated by seeing all these people being marched up a hill. Hundreds of people were being killed, and I remember just getting on the floor and saying, Is there something I can do to help?"
Nancy Cassell, the mother of former Taliban hostage Dayna Curry, was looking for volunteers to help Kurdish refugees in the States who had fled from Saddam Hussein following Desert Storm. Charmaine’s name came up.
"I found out that she had some teaching background, and so I said, 'Well, we need English teachers,'" Cassell explains.
"Little did I know, this was the same people group I had prayed about," Jameison says. "They were brought all the way around the country to my back door. I went that first day to teach English, and I think I've been back every day since for 9 years."
This could be any neighborhood in America, but on this street in Nashville, Tenn., in this house behind me is a very unusual family.
"I have one family that I have sort of adopted, and I do it because I really love them," says Jameison. "I feel a kindred spirit to them. There’s one Bible verse that says you will be judged by how you treat the foreigner, the sojourner, the resident aliens in your land, just like there’s other judgements. How would I like to be in a foreign land not speaking the language, not knowing where a doctor was or where to buy food? And so that motivated me."
There are 50 members in this family alone, and nearly 7,000 Kurds altogether have settled in Nashville. Charmaine is a one-woman ministry to hundreds of them.
"Without her, I wouldn’t have graduated from school; I wouldn’t learn English," says one grateful Kurdish man. "She helped me, helped my family—dad, brothers, cousins, other Kurds. She did a lot for us."
For another, a young Kurdish woman, Charmaine has "become like a mother, a friend, everything—not just mother, everything."
Once Charmaine stayed up all night sewing an engagement dress that this young wife and mother now cherishes.
"I love Charmaine. She’s been a great friend," says the proud wife and mother. "She’s been a second mom. She helped me through my wedding. She helped me through my whole pregnancy and stayed in the hospital with me three days.
Adds Cassell, "She is probably the most dedicated person I know—at least with her time, and she’s totally immersed herself in their culture."
"Women are not supposed to touch men," Charmaine explains. "I give haircuts to men all the time every week. Cutting hair is a cultural barrier that we’ve broken down and teaching their women to drive cars now."
Charmaine also arranged for the Kurds to butcher their meat according to custom at her friends’ farm. She helps them find jobs and housing, attends weddings and graduations, and takes them to the doctor and the grocery store. When one of the Kurd children needed surgery, Charmaine even gave her own blood.
What gives her such a great love for these people?
"I guess the Scripture says the love of God is poured in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t come from man because you can’t have enough of it, if it doesn’t come from an eternal source that keeps supplying it."
Charmaine says she frequently prays for the Kurds, but adds, "My job isn’t to save them; my job is to serve them."
Because of Charmaine’s love and dedication, the Kurds living in Nashville have a deep respect for all Americans.
"I always say 'God bless America' and 'God bless American people' because their hearts are always open for anybody. It doesn’t matter where you come from. Their hearts are open for everybody," a young Kurdish woman states with a smile.