What a pleasant surprise to truly enjoy being in Kazakhstan!
Our time here has been wonderful and looking at overall culture it’s by far my favorite country stop on our trip so far. I will say a lot of it though is due to two predominant things: 1) a familiarity with the language and 2) an outstanding host.
This time has been very relational spending time teaching English, playing sports, and having students show us around their city. It felt really good to be able to have some structure in our daily routines, cook meals, be active with sports, and always have someone with which to explore the area since walking is a favorite hobby amongst locals.
Below are a few of the simple moments I have come to cherish during my time here:
English Club/Picnic with English Students
Exploring the city/English Club Students
A Night at the Ballet/Futbol is a universal language
Younger English Students/Special Abilities Group
Home-cooked meals/My new friend/sister here blessed me so much through all of our conversations and adventures. She is a teacher as well and my prayer is for her to be able to continue sharing light with others.
Students at the Medeu
I have to say hanging out with some of these teenagers and university students changed my perspective on teaching teenagers back at home. It really helped to redeem some of the last four years in the classroom. It is hard to say goodbye to them but I pray our impact through time spent together planted some seeds through all the conversations and silliness. A couple of students even said they were open to the idea of accepting Jesus so we are connecting them with long term workers here for continued watering and discipleship. 🙂
Kazakhstan you will be missed!
