Payback for a Peacemaker

Jeremy Courtney is executive director and co-founder of Preemptive Love Coalition (PLC).  PLC is an international development organization that has provided life-saving heart surgeries to the most-at-risk children in Iraq, training for Iraqi doctors and nurses, and emergency refugee relief throughout the region – and which creates peace between communities at odds.  Jeremy is a true Champion of ChangeU.  In his roles with PLC, Jeremy has played the role of peacemaker and friend to all.

 

Ed.: On February 14, Jeremy announced that his eight year old son, Micah, had been admitted into an Iraqi hospital for an emergency appendectomy.  The following is Jeremy’s follow-up post on his personal Facebook page from February 18. It is used with permission. The post is a beautiful example of how spreading peace begets peace and cooperation in returning care and concern to the peacemaker in a time of need.  In this Easter season, let this be a lesson to each of us that desires to be a global difference maker!

Jeremy’s Post

Over the last few days, I’ve watched a team of doctors from around Iraq help save my son from excruciating pain, and possibly much worse. A Sunni pediatrician from Fallujah, a Shia anesthesiologist from Baghdad and a Shia surgeon from Basra, Christian nurses, and Kurdish technicians all worked together to diagnose, treat, and care for Micah and our whole family.

All of his doctors ended up being doctors we had previously trained because of your ongoing support of Preemptive Love or who had previously heard about our lifesaving work for children in Fallujah, Baghdad, Basra, and beyond. So Micah got the royal treatment!

As parents, we feel immensely grateful for the love and kindness they’ve shown. And this is why I know that medicine has the ability to draw nemesis neighbors together and remake the world. Thank you for putting us in a position where we had everything we needed to care for Micah. By God’s grace and your generosity, we have a salary in a country where many people who go to work every day have not been paid in months. We have an amazing international insurance plan. And we have a diverse community of Iraqi and international friends who rallied to care for Micah in every way. Micah took particular joy in the fact that Muslims, Christians, Yezidis, and Jews were all praying for him.

In the midst of such chaos here in Iraq, our hearts are full. Thank you!

 

Jeremy is the author of Preemptive Love: Pursuing Love One Heart at a Time. Be sure to check out more about Jeremy at www.jeremycourtney.com.

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