I am so excited to be able to write to you today! To share with you praises of what the Father is doing on the other side of the world! First of all, He has graciously continued to give me joy and contentment in living and serving here for 6 weeks so far! Every moment that I have joy and look at the people all around me with love is a gift and a moment of victory! It is a daily fight for joy, but it is so worth it - because HE is worth it! Living in a culture where I am ignorant, naive, weak and vulnerable I am forced to choose in every moment that I take a breath to continue hard and keep my eyes on the One who breathes life into me. In my way too frequent weak and vulnerable moments there is only one thing that I can fall back on and that is the One who brought me out of death and into life!
6 weeks...looking back, that has gone really fast! Looking forward, there is still so much work to be done! It already breaks my heart to think of leaving, but I am forever thankful for the season that I am able to spend here and am loving every minute of it! There will always be work here to labor in...at times the task seems insurmountable. In a country of 72 million people and less than 5,000 believers, the reality of the eternal destiny of the majority of the countless eyes that I look into every day is staggering. They are so buried in tradition, have no knowledge of Truth and statistically so little chance to hear of the Message that has changed my life and the Love of the Father that has driven me to this spiritually dark place. I love every chance I get to tell any little bit I can!
Each day we sink a little deeper into the culture that surrounds us. Much of it I love dearly. Some of it is frustrating. Many weeks I look back and feel as though I have been on an emotional roller coaster experiencing multiple high and low points in within the same day. Discouragement can be an easy retreat in those times - it is in those moments I must choose joy! You want to stay home and question what brought you to this place - or maybe what is keeping you here. The answer is the love of the Father. He has poured His love out on me and the only thing I can do with it is to give it away. So every chance we get that is what we do - we give love away. I demonstrate love in the way that treat my team mates and the way that I genuinely say "thank you" to the boy who is selling water all day long and the way that I learn to patiently wait in long lines. Most of the time it is the least that I can do when I don't speak their language. And I can share love in the way that I speak to my Turkish friends who want to practice their English with us!
Speaking of our Turkish friends, thank you for lifting them up! Last time I wrote, we were looking forward to meeting with a couple of national friends. I am filled with joy to write to you today to share that we have spent much time with two good friends of ours on separate occasions. They are extreme opposites from each other. One, "B", is very modern in her thinking and holds loosely, if at all, to the traditions that shape this culture. The other, "S", is incredibly devout - her family history is thoroughly steeped in M tradition and culture. Right now these two girls who have opposite backgrounds and lifestyles have three things in common: they are not believers, they are in need of a relationship with the King of Kings, and they have been placed in our life through divine appointments that we certainly could have never orchestrated ourselves. Sarah and I have been greatly encouraged in our time spent with "B" and "S" and that the Father has given us the opportunity to speak Truth into their lives. "The Word of the Father will not return void!" We have been humbled and amazed at the conversations we have had with them thus far and have been able to share with both of them that we are believers. We even got to share the message of the Good News with "B" the first night we met with her through talking about holidays that we celebrate in America - we were the very first people to tell her about Easter and then what it meant as well. They are looking forward to hanging out with us much more this fall! Would you ask that the Father would be praised in our friendships and that His name would be made great! These girls are precious and I would have no greater joy that to see them worshiping around the Throne one day!
Would you please join me in asking the Father to continue what He is doing here in Central Asia?
Ask that...
- Our relationships with "B" and "S" will continue to grow and that we would have many more opportunities to share Truth.
- The Father will continue to place relationships in our lives that will strengthen us in becoming bolder in what we believe.
- That the region of Central Asia will be drawn to worshiping my King.
- That the barriers of what they believe will be stripped down and they will see the freedom that is offered to them through a relationship with the Father.
Thank you again and again for all of your love and support! I am thankful for each of you!
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