Father Gerald Gawronski, formerly pastor at St. Patrick, Ann Arbor, has a three year appointment from the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. He is teaching English literature at a Catholic high school and also is the pastoral minister for St. Elijah Shrine in Ankawa, a Christian neighbor in Erbil. The shrine is being renovated after having been used as a refugee camp for thousands of people who fled predominantly Christian villages from Qaraqosh to Karameles to escape Isis.At Mar Elia Catholic Church in Ankawa, the Mass on Friday is the Sunday liturgy because the legal weekend is Friday and Saturday in Muslim-ruled Iraq. Those who attend Mass are refugees from the Christian villages on the Nineveh plain and Western service workers who are required to work on Sunday. Father Gawronski says, “We have to live in reality. … I will wait … before I make a change. … I first need for these people to know that I care about them.” There is a great deal of work to be done in pastoring these poor people says Father Gawronski. He asks that the faithful of the Diocese of Lansing pray for him and the people of Ankawa.