Friday, March 8 was our last day of M-Squad debrief in Baku, Azerbaijan, but up until late that evening, we weren’t sure exactly when we would be leaving to head to our next destination. You see, the plan was to sail on a cargo ship over the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan (an affordable and supposedly awesome experience, which this team treasurer was all about), but the people in charge at the port kept pushing back our departure time due to weather. So, we were basically on-call until we got the green light to go buy tickets and head to the port to board the boat and sail out. Well. We got the green light around 9 p.m., but were told we HAD to be at the port (45 minutes away) by 11 p.m. in order to board the boat. Here is where the “adventure” begins.
As soon as we got the go-ahead at 9 p.m., our fearless logistics leader Shela Chan gathered a few team leaders and treasurers to head to the ticket office to buy our team’s tickets for the cargo ship. The ticket office was in Baku and Shela was told multiple times that that was where we were to get our tickets. So, we hailed taxis and raced on. After 30 minutes of searching for the office (keep in mind, we HAD to be at the port by 11 p.m. in order to board the boat), we finally stumbled upon it and began telling the man sitting at the desk why we were there. Unfortunately, this man did not speak English and he found it super humorous how on edge all of us seemed to be. After making a few phone calls to English speaking Azerbaijani friends, he informed us that we in fact had to buy our tickets at the port. That was 45 minutes away. The place we had to go to anyway. In complete confusion and slight irritation, we rushed back to the hostel to get our teams and head to the port.
10:35 p.m. That’s the time we began loading into taxis to head to the port. There was absolutely no way we were going to make it there by 11 p.m. As someone who prefers to have control over their life (ha), I have been continually working on dying to myself and how I react in situations that I have absolutely no control over. So, as I sat in the front passenger seat of our taxi, I took deep breaths and reminded myself over and over that God is bigger than my anxiety, my worry and this situation. I think our taxi driver noticed that I was struggling because he handed me his phone and told me to DJ the ride to the port. Obviously I began feeling better as “Hair Up” blasted through the car and out the windows into the streets of Baku.
11:45 p.m. We arrived at the port and the security guards began searching our cabs and checking our passports. One of my squad-mates asked one of the guards if there was still a chance we would be boarding the boat tonight. He told her absolutely not. Awesome.
12:30 a.m. An English speaking Azerbaijani security guard angel appeared and made everything happen. He pulled so many strings to get us through the port gate and inside so we could buy our tickets. Our taxi drivers dropped us off and we stood outside as we awaited direction on where to go as we prepared to board the boat. Let me be clear: we weren’t supposed to even make it past the gate.
1:30 a.m. With tickets purchased, our angel friend arranged for a bus to pick us up and take us and all of our belongings to a waiting room, where we would be until it was time to board. Apparently this is not something that happens- usually they make people trek to the distant building, but no, we once again were being taken care of (won’t He do it?).
5:45 a.m. The bus arrives back at the building to load us in and then to drop us off at customs. We weren’t expecting to wait so long in the room, so some of us eventually tried to get some sleep while others opted to hold off on it. We were a sight to see for sure.
7:30 a.m. WE MADE IT ONTO THE BOAT. Praise the good good Lord. We split off into cabins and settled into our tiny accommodations. Most of us slept majority of the day, if not all of it.
We spent the rest of our time on the boat resting and preparing our hearts for Kazakhstan. After dinner on our first night there, our musically gifted members played their instruments as we worshiped in the common area of the cargo ship. Every person on that boat came into that room to watch us. Most of them had their phones out and were recording us. Some were even dancing! Majority could not understand what we were saying, but they partook in the joy that was radiating in the room.
The next day, you could walk anywhere on the boat and hear someone listening to their recording of the worship session that had taken place the night before. Some of them were even singing along after having watched their recording of us so many times! They may not have any idea what they’re singing, but that doesn’t matter. All that matters is the joy in their hearts as they sing it.
Before dinner on the second night, we worshipped outside on top of the cargo ship. Again, many people could hear us and decided to join in. As I looked around and watched the sun set over the Caspian Sea, I began to cry, thinking to myself, “How much must God really love me to have placed me here in this moment.” This whole wild thing was such a turning point for me as I feel I have truly had my eyes opened to the fact that the Lord truly has it ALL handled, and He is so much bigger than my worry or need to have control of everything.
On March 11 we hopped off the boat in Kazakhstan with no clue as to how we would be getting to the town we would be serving in. We literally had no logistical plans. BUT. God had it all handled. We were easily able to coordinate taxis to take us to the nearest train station to buy our tickets to the place we would be doing ministry. I was in charge of buying the train tickets, which doesn’t seem too hard… except no one at the train station spoke English. Seriously, not even one. No signs even indicated that English speakers came through there. BUT. One of my teammates was able to get WiFi and our ministry host typed out exactly what we needed the ticket officer to know, so it all happened so smoothly and we were set to leave the next day.
Not only that, our host also contacted someone he knew in the city we were in and together they coordinated for us to be picked up and taken to an apartment for the night so that we could rest before our two day train ride, at no expense to us (major praise hands from this team treasurer). On top of this major blessing, the man who picked us up from the train station took us to pick up dinner from a local shop with Kazakh cuisine AND he coordinated our taxis to pick us up the next day to take us back to the train station. WHAT. We literally started the day with absolutely nothing and the blessings just came pouring in. God does take good care of His children and that is an overused statement I fully stand behind.
On March 12 we departed on the train. It was rough being in such a small space with nowhere to go for that long, but I felt super #blessed because there were so many cute babies in our train class. I was accepting that as a little “God wink” during a super cramped 43 hours.
It’s March 14 and we finally arrived to the town of Atbasar this morning. We jumped right in as we worked with teens during English classes and attended a gathering with youth at the church we will be serving in. Tomorrow morning we will be working with disabled children in the community and at night we will be spending time with adults who are a part of a drug rehabilitation program. We may be tired, but we are so ready and excited for the time we will be spending here. It has already been so so sweet.
Please be praying for us and our time in Kazakhstan. It really is such a beautiful place with the kindest people. Not to mention, lots of pretty snow! I love you all and thank God for you daily.
Xoxo, Austin
