The
past week and a half has been full of more Siberian snow! I woke up
this morning to it snowing hard outside and the temperature is – 8.
All of this cold weather is reminding me of the fact that I come home
in mid-December. I'm looking forward to graduating University,
meeting my baby niece, Tenley, and enjoying Christmas with my family.
Even so, by God's grace and mercy I continue to stay in the present.
Each day since being here has been a learning experience and a gift,
even if at the time it was a struggle. My heart aches more and more
for the lost. I only have two months left to be here, and so I choose
to be present. Each day I choose to start my day with Him and He
rests my heart. I choose to rest in His presence and ask for His love
to shine in all that Hilary, Allie, and I do for the next two months.
I am so thankful that Hilary and Allie are the girls I get to
experience all of this with. We have learned how to be bold and yet
understanding at the same time with the Russian people.
I
realize that so often I ruin the present by becoming so focused on
the future. Every season is beautiful as we flow with God's plan and
purpose. One thing is for certain: no one gets to choose the seasons
of life. God has appointed the times. I recognize the blessing of
teamwork, teaching, and the opportunity to serve with Russian
Christians. So often, we think the grass is greener on the other
side, but God is whispering to us: “Child, I have a purpose for
this season in your life. Trust Me.” I just have to take the time
to rest in Him, in order to hear Him. And I do. I trust Him with all
my heart and soul. I keep on guard and choose to walk with Him, not
against or away from Him. For me the unknown of the future can be
daunting, but my soul holds on to the promise that no matter what I
do, if I do it in joyful submission to the Father's will and in faith with my Father, that
NO TIME IS WASTED. And so I quote Proverbs 31:25: “Strength
and dignity are her clothing; And she laugheth at the time to come.”
I
have no need to be anxious about
the days to come,
because God is my rock. All
is grace, how could I not live fully with Him right
now in that present grace?
As
I sit and reflect on my
time
here and the days ahead, I must ask for prayer. Please pray that
Hilary,
Allie, and I would be faithful servants and receptive to the people
God has placed in our lives. Pray for the lost
people
of Tomsk. Pray
also
for
the believers to see the importance of making disciples. Pray
that the Russian Churches here would be able to see the big picture
of their community and be able to look outward. Thank you for reading
my blog and for praying.
And
now let me tell you a bit of what we have been up to. Last
week some of our Korean friends from
church invited us to make sushi at their apartment. I
could not contain my excitement! Sushi is the best!! And Russians in
Siberia love sushi! So that makes me very happy. It was Korean style
sushi called “Kim-Pap”. Basically, you can put anything in the
sushi rolls you want. We put tuna, sausage, egg, cheese, crab,
cucumber, squash, and lettuce. You smooth out sticky rice on the
dried seaweed roll, place your long strips of ingredients, and roll
it up tightly. You then cut it into bite size rolls. They are
basically edible pieces of art, that explode with a mesh of flavor in
your mouth. Vkusnyy! (Delicious!)
This
Korean family has lived in Tomsk for ten years. We got to talk a lot
about Russian culture and about what it is like being a believer
here. I have noticed that in some ways I have become like a
“Russian”. In order to fit in on the streets, you put on a
“Russian” face as some would say. Our Korean friend said that she
does the same thing, but
now she can stand her ground and even yells like a Russian Babushka
would. I was very glad for our talks.
After
making Sushi we had movie night at the church and watched “Radio”.
We had a small gathering, but many of the people that come to our
events attended a recent English camp at the church in September.
They
all seem very motivated to learn English.
That same night, Allie stayed in our apartment to help Emil lead a
discussion night about the meaning of life. All of these university
students come to English club on Saturday night. The discussions have
been going well. One girl said that she has been wanting to talk
about Christianity to Americans for awhile, to get their perspective.
I am hoping that we can talk more with her soon. Tonight
we will have “Not
a Simple Question” discussion
night again with Emil and we will be discussing Google
inc. We will also
be asking: What source of information can you really trust? Who or
what is your source of information? I'm
looking forward to tonight. Tomorrow
night we will have English club and we will discuss why people are
fascinated with fear and
the history of Halloween.
This
past Sunday we visited Central Baptist Church and invited members to
be involved with our English classes on
Tuesday and Thursday nights.
We also went to youth night at Central to invite more Russian
Christians to be involved. We are visiting Emmanuel Baptist Church
this next Sunday. We have had strong, committed friends at the
church, who see the worth of this outreach, helping us. We
are not just a bunch of Americans doing things are way, but we work
closely with the church here. God has been at work here for a very
long time, long before we got here.
We recently had our last English class in our apartment, and now they
will all be in the kitchen at Central Baptist. There is a true desire
by some of our Russian friends from church to continue these English
classes even after we leave. Our friend Anne, came to know Christ by
going to English camp, and she sees how it is such a great way to
reach people. Even
though there are a lot of struggles, I remain hopeful. It
is a new day, and I choose to actively pursue Him through all of
this. My heart is praying for the hearts of the believers here to
break for the lost. That
they would want their life to make a difference. We
have been raised to a new life, but we have also been sent back into
the darkness to free others.
Lamentations 3:22-23 “The steadfast
love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they
are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Walking to Central Baptist Church.
No comments:
Post a Comment