Seated in pairs at their desks, the Iraqi children wore a mixture of expressions as they patiently waited for the stack of colorful shoe boxes to be distributed throughout the small classroom.

Several students eyed the Operation Christmas Child gifts with suspicion, their arms folded tensely against their chests. A gradual smile spread across the face of a youngster in the front row as he accepted the plastic box handed to him and tried to take a peek at its contents.

That same questioning smile was repeated from one child to the next as the boxes were handed out. In a matter of moments, it was as if a wave of gladness had swept across the room.

Ali smiled too as he witnessed the transformation on the children’s faces. It’s a scene that never loses its luster for him, even though he has given out lots of shoe boxes since he began volunteering with Operation Christmas Child in 2002.

The tireless 28-year-old serves as an international field representative for the project in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq. He helps with the logistics of shoe box distributions and trains Iraqi church teams and ministry partners.

If anyone understands the plight of Iraqi Kurds, it’s Ali (not his real name). His upbeat demeanor belies a heart-wrenching past of unimaginable suffering and grief.

The Day That Changed His Life

These boys are happy with their gifts.Situated a mere 15 miles from the border with Iran, the city of Halabja was accustomed to some measure of violence since it was near the frontlines of the Iran-Iraq War. An estimated 80,000 Kurds, who despised the Saddam Hussein regime and tended to side with Iran in the conflict, lived there.

However, no one was prepared for the atrocities that were about to befall the Kurds and horrify the world.

The morning of March 16, 1988, started out like any other for young Ali. He climbed aboard the bus for the ride to school, eager to meet up with friends from his kindergarten class. Several minutes later, there was a massive explosion and screaming. The bus with 30 children aboard had been hit by a missile.

Ali was in a coma for three months. When he regained consciousness, he woke up in a hospital in the Iranian city of Tehran with a disfigured face and no legs. Later he found out he was the only child in the bus who had survived.

The 6-year-old wondered about his family. Did they know what had happened to him? Why weren’t they here? He had no idea if they were even alive. He desperately needed to see them.

An Iranian soldier agreed to make the trip to Ali’s home in Iraq. Two months later the soldier brought back the devastating news. All of Ali’s immediate family was dead. His parents and 10 brothers and sisters had been killed in poisonous gas attacks launched on Halabja by Saddam’s military forces on the same day as the bus bombing.

The young boy needed someone to turn to during this time of utter despair. Occasionally he saw foreigners in the hospital who wore crosses and called themselves Christians. He didn’t know what a Christian was but they seemed like kind people, and he longed to have one of them pray for his healing.

Answered Prayers

Three girls head home with gifts from Operation Christmas Child.Ali spent four agonizing years in the Tehran hospital, undergoing more than 40 surgeries all over his body and extensive physical therapy. In 1996, he was fitted with artificial legs.

Assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross made it possible for him to go to school and to travel to Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. In 2001, he was befriended by an American missionary couple who encouraged him through his many physical and psychological hardships. He began attending a Christian church and for the first time understood clearly the message of the Gospel. On June 25 of that year, Ali accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior.

“I asked Him to spare at least one member of my immediate family for me to see,” Ali said. “On one particular night, God assured me that my prayer had been answered but told me to be patient and to continue to pray and praise Him.”

One of his brothers had survived the chemical bombings despite sustaining serious injuries and was now living in Switzerland. The brother had been trying to locate him and called a great-uncle who still lived in northern Iraq. The uncle, who knew Ali was studying Arabic at a school in Jordan, passed along the information to the brother, who in turn contacted the school in Jordan.

“When I arrived at the school that day, there was a banner on which was written: ‘Congratulations, Ali! One of your family is alive!’ All the teachers were welcoming me with music and congratulating me,” he said. “God encouraged me so much through this incident, which caused me to love God even more.”

A Sense of Purpose
Ali asked God for one more special request—to give him a ministry among the Kurdish people. During those lonely years in the Iranian hospital, Ali often wondered why he was the only one still alive among the 30 children who had been in the school bus the day it was bombed. He still didn’t know the answer, but he believed that God could use him to encourage fellow Kurds.

Helping handicapped boys and girls became his primary mission. It is believed that most of the children developed defects while still in the womb when their mothers were exposed to chemical warfare.

“My hope is to continue to make the needs of handicapped children in Kurdistan known to the rest of the world,” he said. “Having been one of those children myself, I know what they are going through and can relate to them better than others.”

When Ali heard about Operation Christmas Child, he saw the ideal opportunity to bring a little joy to these hurting children and to tell them about God’s love. It was a thrill of a lifetime in 2002 when he delivered 50 shoe box gifts to handicapped children in his hometown.

Since then, he has ministered to more than 2,500 handicapped children in Halabja and neighboring villages. His work does not stop with simply handing out a shoe box. Ali makes regular visits, encouraging and praying with youngsters that the rest of society has forgotten.

“I love to serve these children and give them hope for the future,” he said. “Many need counseling after the difficult things they have experienced. When people see that I have overcome a huge handicap in my life, it gives them hope for their children also.”

He would like to open an educational center where handicapped people can receive training in carpentry, sewing, computer technology, and music and drama. And he hopes that in time the handicapped students will be able to attend a church for Kurdish Christians.

For now, Adar’s most urgent prayer is for peace to come to his beleaguered people, and the opportunity for all to know Jesus Christ.

“The Kurds are open,” he said. “I have no problems in sharing about my life and faith. No one rejects me because of Jesus. I would like for the people of Iraq to trust in Jesus.”

Samaritan's Purse , Iraq , Operation Christmas Child , Turning Brokenness into Blessing