Soldier, BCF grad shares love with Iraqi orphans

Courtesy photo

BCF grad. Captian Peter Keough, is a U.S. Army chaplain servin gin Iraq. He and his office have unofficially adopted a local special needs orphanage in East Baghdad.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BCF)–As democracy strives to take root in Iraq the resulting clash of powers and terrorist attacks are the story of the day. According to one U.S. soldier, however, there is so much more to the military’s work that is never communicated outside of Iraq.

Baptist College of Florida graduate, Captain Peter Keough, is a chaplain in the U.S. Army serving in Iraq where he leads the Task Force 519th “VIPER” chaplain office. The task force has unofficially adopted a local special needs orphanage located in the east Baghdad region as their special project. According to Keough, the experience has proven truly life changing for the soldiers.

“This is one of the things that allows soldiers to do something that brings levity and peace and an understanding of just why we are here to their hearts and minds,” Keough explains of the special project he is spearheading during his one year deployment from his station at Fort Polk, Louisiana. “We know our military mission is right and true and are honored to be here, but it sure does help to see it in the eyes of the children when we go for a visit.”

Each child at the Iraqi orphanage suffers from a severely debilitating special need as the result of birth defects or disease. All have been abandoned by their parents. A three-year-old named Nora, Keough says, amazes him with each visit.

Nora was found in a toilet at just a few weeks of age. She was born without arms or legs and left abandoned by her parents. Despite the difficulties, Keough says she has proven to be “quite a handful” scooting around the room in a plastic chair on the tile floors. “Her determination and sense of humor, especially for a three year old, is amazing,” he marvels. “She warmed up to this old ‘chaplain with the funny hair’ and became my little buddy.”

Lunch time became a game as the St. Augustine native soldier fed her during each visit. “She would shake her head each time I put the food in her mouth,” he said of her playful nature. “I found myself thinking about my own children and when I would feed them. I would open my mouth as they opened theirs as if I was going to eat the food,” he recalls. “The trip to the orphanage has made me realize what a privilege having and raising children really is and that we can take that for granted.”

Many of the children have spent their entire lives at the orphanage while others arrived only a few months ago. While adoption is rare for these special needs children, Keough relays a good news story of a National Guard captain from Wisconsin who recently adopted a little boy named Allah from the orphanage. According to all reports, the family is doing well in the United States.

“The trip to the orphanage reminds me of James 1:27a where it says ‘Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble,’” explains the soldier. “I saw the work of Christ alive and well in that orphanage.”

“I take a group of soldiers each month to help them realize that we are in Iraq making a difference,” says Keough. “You will probably never see the real work of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines on CNN or FOX. That is unfortunate, but let me tell you, they are making a difference and I am proud to be serving by their sides in the midst of this operation, living out the Gospel of peace in a place of war.”