In Kazakhstan, I fell in love with chocolate (we received so many gifts of chocolate!).
But really the many people we met in this huge nation touched my heart with their passion and zeal.
I felt at home here. We entered Central Asia and this is the first country where people have not stared at me, wondering where I’m from. People say I look like a Kazak girl and people speak Russian to me thinking I understand. The culture here feels familiar and although there are many people groups, the predominant being Russian and Asian, there is little discernable tension here although people look so different.
NORTH:
We spent our first week in a small city, 30+ hours by train away from Aktau. We chugged along cross country, the landscape transforming into a frozen tundra. The train riders were prepared for this journey. Many brought their own tea pots and home cooked food and slippers.
The train was full with passengers, and crammed. The seats and were bunk bed style. The top bunks were so close to the ceiling, I couldn’t sit up straight. This whole ride I was feverish, in and out of sleep.
The first 30 hours dropped us off at 2 in the morning in the freezing cold. We carried our packs, water, food, across the frozen ground for what felt like forever until we finally found the train station entrance (our train car was towards the back. (This was probably a 4 min walk). A man laughed as we came in, frozen, weighed down with all our stuff. He gave us boiling hot tea in plastic cups and welcomed us to his country. We waited for 2 hours there and then took another train to our destination city.
Arriving there (6AM), pitch dark, we get greeted by a tall cheery man, “Americans! He said”. He was our host. We pile into two vans and us girls get dropped off in a one bedroom apartment, cushions on the floor for all 8 of us. We were a short walk to the church, where the soup kitchen was as well. We attended home group there too and I was touched by their humble hearts and their willingness to soak up whatever we had to offer them. When we prayed for them, they lined up to receive prayer. We visited the men’s rehab center and when we prayed for them, they stretched their hands and raised them straight up to receive. I was touched by the joy we felt in that small, frozen town. (Temperatures were below freezing: -14C).
Our second leg took us on a 20 hour train ride east to Karagandy, a bigger city. I was on the road to recovery from my cold (maybe bronchitis?) We stayed at the church and shared our stories and word on Sunday service and at a church plant in Astana. We were there 2 days and it flew by but I was floored by the enthusiasm and the hospitality of the pastor there (who spoke no English) (luckily we had a translator)
Leaving there, we embarked on the most interesting (horrible?) train journey to Almaty. Train tickets were sold out due to the upcoming new year celebration – all 7 of us got a spot (literally) cramped in the conductor’s room. We laid our bags on the ground. A wooden board was laid over our bags to lay flush with the bunk bed (so no more floor). A thin cushion was laid on top and we stayed there for our 19 hour ride. There was no air and my nose was congested but we made it through with a lot of laughs.
Almaty (my favorite city) was our 5th city in Kazakhstan. We arrived after our cramped ride and the sun was out. No longer were we in winter but spring, spring, spring! I love sun. I loved the people we met. The warmth and joy we felt was real and genuine. I finally regained my health here. My Daniel fast ended here (it lasted from second half of Armenia, through Azerbaijan and into Kazakhstan). We got poured into from lovely prophetic friends we met. We got to celebrate the Kazakhstan New Year here as well as Easter!
I got the privilege to start almost every morning going to the church and worshipping and praying in their prayer room. What a wonderful way to start the day. At the new year celebration, we met someone who became a friend and we got to attend her English club class! We went to two oncology children’s hospitals and got to visit and play with the children, interact with their parents and pray for them (covertly). We got to visit a rehab center about an hour away and administer and pray over the women there (some released from prison).
We were busy on the outside, externally, but a lot of my growth came internally. God taught me a lot throughout my fast. It was 44 days and I realized how much my thoughts and life revolves around food. How quickly I go to it for comfort and convenience. It was hard. We traveled a lot and I was sick. It was tempting and some times I had to eat — (sugar in the porridge we were served, meat broth in the soup, horse meat sandwich for the new year) but I had no artificial sugar, candy, caffeine, white breads/pastas, alcohol for 44 days and it was a time of refinement for me. Of trusting God. Of depending on him. Of refocusing my hunger to feed myself spiritually.
We are so focused, as a culture on what we have done or are doing or will do. But the greatest growth and the biggest game changer comes from how we think and our heart condition. It’s hard to explain with words because it’s so inwardly focused but I was challenged by how many lies I believed in. When I became aware of them, I realized how my thoughts affected my behavior and how sometimes I need a hard reset.
A recalibration and recentering — because if not it’s like I’m in the middle of the ocean without an anchor. Without one, it’s hard to tell how far I’ve drifted because the ocean can feel unending and without truth to root myself, I can get lost.
