Joy's Testimony

My name is SRA Joy Warner. I am in the Air National Guard and currently deployed to Iraq. I have been here for over 3 months and this time has been a great adjustment to me in many ways: adjusting to the heat, the living conditions, and the basic daily routine. One of things that I struggled with in the beginning was making time to spend with God, in prayer and reading His word. We work 12 hour days 6 days a week and also have to hit the gym 6 days a week. I have struggled with feeling there is not much time for anything else but to eat, sleep, and try to call my family. But something struck me when I was observing some locals that work on our base. I have enjoyed learning some of the cultural differences that the Iraqi's have, and love to watch them, how they speak, how they interact with one another, and most importantly, how they practice their religion. There is a group of about 20 Iraqi men that work in the compound that I live and work in, and lately they have caught my attention. They are basically here to do manual labor, like moving cinder blocks, sand bags, etc... They have to be escorted all the time by 2 Army guys while they are working. They are considered to be "low on the food chain". Lately, I have started to notice that when they allow them to break for lunch, instead of eating or resting, they pray. When I first observed them I thought it was a very strange ritual because, before they begin, they must find a piece of cardboard. I am told they are not allowed to touch the bare ground when they pray. So they rummage through our trash, find a box and break it down so they can kneel on it. They use a new one every day; they never use the same one twice. After finding cardboard, they wash their hands and feet; shoes are always off during their prayers! They rotate standing, kneeling and then laying on the ground. Every few seconds they rotate from one position to the next all while chanting something, praying I guess.

It occurred to me: How wonderful it is that I can talk to God whenever I want! I don't have to have clean feet, or cardboard, or be in a certain position... I just talk to him. I can't help but admire their diligence. I admire that they probably give up their lunch to pray. So, I have been spending more time lately talking to God in random places and random times as a result of this. And how awesome it is that I can talk to my God wherever, whenever, and He listens, whether I am eating, clean, dirty, kneeling, standing, or lying in my bed. So what I have learned from them is that you don't necessarily have to make time, just use the time you already have. It doesn't have to be a spectacular ritual each time you pray, just talk to him and He will listen.


When Joy is not overseas on assignment, she attends Christ Community Church and works for a foster care agency in Harrisburg.