CURE International designated Friday, August 13th as a day of remembrance and tribute to Dan Terry, friend of CURE and one of the 10 medical aid workers killed earlier this month in Afghanistan.
Friends shared memories, photos and stories of Dan on the CURE blog throughout the day. If you did not have a chance to read some of the inspiring posts in tribute to Dan, you can do so here.
I came across this photo of Dan this morning. When I took this picture, one afternoon in Kabul, I remember thinking that it captured pretty well the essence of the man who was Dan Terry. There is a youthful, almost boyish grin on his face, coupled with eyes that look for every opportunity to seize the day. I remember Dan once telling me that “Afghans live in a soup of ambiguity.” Dan loved that soup as well, and was especially wired to withstand a steady diet of it.
In our conversations about how to best love the people of Afghanistan, Dan would speak of a “disciplined opportunism” … a way of moving through the chaos of life looking for ministry touch points that present themselves, especially within the unorganized margins, even in the short periods of boredom in life.
Dan gave himself permission to “be” with the people of Afghanistan, and he suggested that within the CURE hospital, we adopt this practice as we seek to know and love our patients and their families.
Our brother Dan opened himself up to being an expression of God’s love amidst the people of Afghanistan, the same love that compelled Jesus to walk the way of the cross, a cross that Dan also embraced daily.
God so loved Afghanistan, that he sent Dan Terry, a man compelled by that divine redemptive love, passionate to serve its people in the remote areas where few would go.
Dan’s life was not taken away from him in Badakhshan… he freely laid it down daily for the people of Afghanistan, to bring honor and glory to his God.
No one could make an adventure a real adventure like Dan could.
My first month in Kabul and Dan decides that it is time to go for a hiking trip to Istalif. I was excited that we went up in his jeep because once we got to the villages, Dan stopped the jeep and invited us all to ride on the roof. Now this was extra special, as getting to breathe the clean air outside Kabul was very rare! So off we rode rumbling and tumbling through the little villages with children laughing and pointing as they skipped along beside the strange sight of foreigners having such a view of their dusty road. And Dan just trusted we could stay on; there was no slowing just because we were on the roof, or just because there were potholes and bumps. We did thankfully.
That was only the beginning though. Read the rest of this entry »
Dan Terry was man who touched many lives, including mine.
My wife, Lee who is a volunteer at CURE hospital works with his wife. I had only known Dan since 2007, when I met him for the first time at the Kabul airport on the way to Delhi and later with Dan showing us some of his favourite Delhi spots. Dan in his inimitable way gave us a much broader appreciation of Afghanistan through his amazing experiences, knowledge of Afghanistan, his love for this country and its people. He has lived through tough times here, but he never gave up on Afghanistan or this part of planet Earth, he was always thinking of ways to improve the lot of Afghanistan and especially the folk in remote areas.
We remember fondly:
-A trip to the Salang pass one early spring: we drove with Dan in his Russian jeep, along with Dr Keith Rose. We stopped at the traffic jam at the avalanche tunnels. From there we walked up into the snow banks and belly tobogganed down the steep snow mounds in the middle of the Afghan Salang pass mountains. It was so cold, Dan wrapped a quilted blanket around his waist to keep warm. Andy and Dr Keith piqued Dan’s brain for geopolitical insights on things Afghan the entire drive up into the mountains and back down again.
To Dan’s wife and family,
We all mourn over Dan, he is not in our midst anymore. Why this happened? I have no answers, only God knows. We all know that Dan loved Afghanistan and the Afghans so much. We also know…..dead is not the end, but a new beginning in the presence of God.
We are with you in our prayers, may the Lord comfort and bless you.
I knew Dan Terry only briefly, but long enough to be in awe of his deep love and knowledge of Afghanistan and its people.
One of my favorite Kabul memories is of an impromptu picnic with Dan and his wife at Lake Qarga on Easter afternoon, relishing fresh naan and old stories of Russian times. No one had a collection of stories, or a sense of perspective, quite like him–I remember one of his retellings of his Taliban prison experience which he concluded by saying, “If God gives you the opportunity to be thrown in a Taliban prison, you should thank him for it.”
Thank you, Dan, for your legacy of faithfulness.
To Dan’s wife:
Dan was a man of great character. He was a man of strength that was tempered with gentleness. He was a gentle man who had steely resolve to work at everything with all his might and as unto the Lord. He had a great sense of humor…he could find the lighter side in nearly everything.
Last Friday night I stood shocked, literally in the middle of the street, as messages came in and it quickly became clear that Dan Terry and his team had experienced a deadly encounter while on their journey back to Kabul.
It would be impossible to share memories or pay tribute to Dan Terry without reflecting on his steadfast optimism for Afghanistan and his gift of story telling. My husband and I moved to Kabul as newlyweds and we quickly came to enjoy any dinner party that included the Terry’s. Dan and his wife taught us many important “expat survival skills” like offering an item three times to demonstrate sincerity, as well as where homesick Americans could buy turkeys for Thanksgiving, and how to set limits on the number of weddings one would attend (Yes for an employee that reports directly to you; no for the cousin of a cousin of an employee). I believe Dan also taught me that “barf” means “snow” in Dari.
On Thursday, August 5, 2010, 10 medical aid workers were tragically killed on a trip into a remote portion of northern Afghanistan. You can read CURE International’s official response here. Those following this event well know that one of the 10 victims was Dan Terry.
0comments