Join our teams in Iraq for this exciting and adventurous 11-month program. Explore the neighborhoods, culture, history and hospitality of north Iraq as you serve as salt and light in the land of rice and generators.
We have sent over 100 people to Iraq since 1993, and we are always eager to interview and answer questions for potential team members for the upcoming school years. Are you ready to SERVE?
Explore the Culture
Engage the culture of Iraq in ways few people ever consider, much less get to experience:
Barter in the bazaar for sheep heads, eyeballs, wifi routers and coffee beans.
Hike the hills where Abraham, Jonah, Nahum, and other Biblical prophets roamed.
Circle dance at rhythm-infused weddings and picnics until you drop.
Feast on traditional foods like kofta, dolma, bamiyah, and patcha (goat head soup).
Discover firsthand how your new Muslim friends view Christians.
Learn New Things
Northern Iraq is a great environment to fumble through cultural and linguistic differences because the people are incredibly gracious towards guests.
Learn how to guide your taxi driver to your home when you can’t speak the language and streets don’t have names.
Take some classes in Kurdish or Arabic (or both!)
Have your neighbor teach you to build a table in his shop or how to cook dolma.
How to drive with no rules or road lines.
How to discuss your faith with your Muslim friends and neighbors.
Invest in Others
To secure your residence visa, you will teach a couple of classes at a local English speaking High School enrolling local Kurdish and Arab students.
Develop deep friendships with fellow teachers, students, and their families.
Teach a range of interesting and challenging subjects in English like Art History, Humanities, Economics, Debate, Algebra, or Western Literature.
Help your fellow teachers learn English vocabulary and pronunciation.
Take the initiative to share your musical, artistic, or other skills with your students, neighbors, or coworkers though clubs and after-school activities.
Experience Community
For many, the most surprising part of living in Iraq is the hospitality you are shown by your friends, neighbors, and random strangers.
Develop friendships with your neighbors, shopkeepers, students and their families that last for years after you return to their states.
Peel yourself away from hospitable neighbors – at 3 am – again and again.
Connect with and be encouraged by other expat workers in times of regular fellowship.
Go On Adventures
From shopping down at the corner store to exploring ancient Assyrian ruins, everything in Iraq is an adventure.
Figure out who to call when the power pole in front of your house catches on fire!
Go on a hike in nearby hills and mountains.
Drink or eat suspicious looking foods.
Ride the never ending ferris wheel.
