I left Budapest a little sad and more than a little upset.
For two weeks of ministry, we had to travel over two days. We slept on two
trains and in a train station, all to get to this little town in the middle of the
Crimean peninsula. In my flawed human understanding, I didn’t understand why we
had to go to Saky-it was so far away, and for such a short time. I started our
last month of ministry with one of the worst attitudes I’d had on the World
Race. Budapest had been such an amazing city and we really loved our contacts
there. But as always, it was time to move on.
Once we got to Saky (at 5:30am), we slept for a few hours.
Megan and Kathryn graciously and sacrificially agreed to babysit our contact’s
daughters (starting at 7:30am), and the rest of us slept until 9 or so. We had
the day off, so all we did was go to our contact’s mom’s house (who was also
our cook) and take showers (did I mention we flooded the shower and bathroom?
Why this happened to me more than once in Europe is beyond my understanding-so
not ideal).
We rested that day and then the next day started ministry. I
don’t quite remember what we did the first day. The second and third days, it involved yard work for a widow with only
one leg. I felt myself having a terrible
attitude, which I hated. I stayed home that night and worked it out with God.
The next day I was ready for anything. Anything meant mushroom collecting with
our translator’s family. As we walked through the forest on a gloriously warm
day (for November in the Ukraine, it was in the high 60s), I marveled at what
God had given us.
We had been given two incredibly warm Christian families who
wanted to spend time with us, learn from us and teach us. We had been given
some of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life, who wanted to welcome us
wholeheartedly into their community.
My bad attitude dissipated and I began to live out those two
weeks as I should have lived the whole race-with wide eyed wonderment at what
God was doing in our lives, and how He used our lives to impact the communities
He had brought us to that month. I began to really see how my teammates had
changed and was challenged to love them instead of counting down the days when
I could be alone again.
Megan (our team leader) told us that our contacts saw
something different in us. I think what they saw was individuals awakened to
the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I think they saw people secure in
their identities in Christ, in their purposes in the kingdom, in living as
though they were born for such a time as this.
BECAUSE WE WERE. God send us to Saky with a purpose. He sent
us to encourage the Christians living there. To encourage the families we met
and loved.
He sent me to hug a woman from Kazakhstan who just needed
some encouragement and love. He sent me to play with kids, to talk with
teenagers, to help amazing, loving people practice their English and to show
them what it means to be totally free in Christ.
There were many times on the race where I knew without a
doubt that that moment in time had been written for me and God from the
beginning of time. But those two weeks in Saky, I had no doubt that I had been
born for such a time as this.
Ukraine was one of my favorite countries. I felt so loved
and encouraged, both by my team and the families we worked with. I saw God
moving.
It also seemed like a final exam of the World Race. Not in a
way that we had anything to prove, but simply in a way that I could tangibly
see how we had changed.
Would we pray in faith for healing and then NOT BE
DISAPPOINTED when it didn’t happen right away? God had given us many
opportunities throughout the race to pray, and though I thought I prayed in
earnest, nothing I could see had changed. I knew deep inside the prayers mattered
in the scope of eternity, but when people didn’t get immediately healed, I
tended to get frustrated.
for healing in Saky. One was for a precious widow we met in a village. She had
had a stroke in February and had been bedridden since. We cleaned out her yard.
We prayed for her healing. She didn’t get up and walk, but the smile on her
face let me know she felt loved and cared about.
One was for our
translator’s nephew. Kathryn wrote an incredible blog about that here. Here is
my take: I earnestly desired Vanya’s healing. I prayed and tears streamed down
my face. Many of us became emotional as we laid our hearts on the line, asking
for a big movement of God.
fighting, I knew God was moving. But Vanya wasn’t healed in that time.
You know what did happen? His family wanted to fight for him
again. They wanted to continue beseeching the Lord. Our faith gave them the strength
and renewal of determination to keep praying and keep believing the Lord.
And so God did bring healing. It just (as always!) looked
different than we thought (or may have wanted). But I know God is moving in the
little town of Saky and I am so thankful He let us be a part of it that last
month.
