My teammate, Ashton Paige, wrote a blog about what we did in Almaty. These were her favorite days— and also mine!
Last month, my team and I were in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Almaty is a beautiful city that is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, filled with orange and red leaves that cover the streets we walked, and a city that led us to such incredible people that I now call my friends. Through some friends we met early on in the month, we were able to fill our weekdays with teaching English in the local colleges and inviting students to events we helped out with on the weekends. On the weekends, we helped out at events specifically for high school students, middle school students, students with special needs and their parents, and joining the staff members at their Bible studies, prayer meetings, and church services! This month and this country were one of my favorites. Our team was shown a lot of brokenness in the lives of people who do not know Jesus as their Savior, yet we were also amazed by the Hope of what He is doing in the city of Almaty. He has raised up powerful leaders who know and love Him. He has given them the dreams and opportunities for these many different ministries to be run. God is pursuing the country of Kazakhstan and I am thankful to have gotten a small view of this work.
Each day of ministry looked very different from the last, there was always something new and exciting placed in front of us! I believe there is power in sharing stories and celebrating what the Lord does each month, so I simply wanted to share with you two of my favorite days of ministry of the month and the JOY that was so evident these days from the Lord!
1! After working in the colleges for a couple weeks, we were able to build relationships with students and share our lives with them. My teammate, Ash, was sharing with her students how she and I did cheerleading in college. The girls were so excited and told her about their cheer/dance team they have at school and asked if we could help them out. Meeting the guys and girls on the team, they showed us their dances and asked us to teach them how to stunt! We spent the morning forming stunt groups, teaching technique, and stunting with them! It was so fun and I am so thankful the Lord opened a door for me and Ash to use our passion and gifts to give this group a new confidence and excitement for cheerleading! The Lord will use us with what we have to offer and sometimes this looks like cheerleading class.
In the afternoon, some of my teammates and I were able to go to an event with the special needs students and their parents. There were about 70 students, their parents, the staff and volunteers all gathered and the base of one of the mountains in town. We rode the cable cars up the mountain, and up top was a whole little amusement park! I spent my day walking around with a sweet man as his father was able to sit and find rest for a few hours alone. We rode the Ferris wheel, ate KFC, laughed a LOT, and explored the park together. The whole afternoon was filled with so much JOY!! These friends are filled with such an excitement for the world, such kindness towards everyone, and contagious smiles in everything they do. The love their parents show their kids and us was such a blessing!
After our field trip, one of our friends from Young Life took us to an open air ice skating rink up the mountain in Almaty! It was a beautiful evening filled with laughter, some wipeouts, and simple fun celebrating all the Lord was allowing us to be a part of.
2! The following day, my team and I were able to volunteer at a cooking class for the special needs students! This day was such a sweet gift for us, for the students, and for their families. A professional chef came in and sponsored the whole day, giving the students the ingredients and instructions to make their own cupcakes! We got to help them mix the ingredients, decorate with many toppings and eat lots of cupcakes together! This day was simple and short, but one of my favorites. In a culture where many of these students are overlooked, their parents are looked down upon, and society does not make room for them- this day was important. It was a day where they were made much of. They were treated with love, attention, and taught a fun skill they were so proud of. Their parents received rest, love, and a sugar rush from their kiddos right after!! My eyes were opened to how important it is to see others as the Lord sees them, because in our world, this is not always how people are treated. We are called to stand out, and to love BIG because God loves HUUUGE.
These are two very important days to me that stick out the most from our month in Kazakhstan. A month of such beauty holds such a place in my heart. From the mountains to the new friends, I am forever thankful for a month in Kazakhstan.
