She kissed my cheeks and spun me in a circle. She lifted me from the ground and held me in a long embrace. Yes, her cheeks, lips, and hands were covered in mulberry juice; yes, tons of people were walking by; and yes, I felt a bit awkward, but I just let her hold me. She was beaming, and I was not about to kill her joy.
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Let me take you back to about a week ago . . .
Our ministry was finished for the day, and I felt called to go “treasure hunting” for people to bless. So, after sitting in the park for a bit, I set out.
I met two different old ladies on the street and had the opportunity to buy food for them. When I first met the second lady, she had a huge smile and tried to hand ME money. (Oh, the joys of the language barrier!) But, after clearing things up, I had the chance to pray for her. I felt SO JOYFUL while doing so, and afterwards, she kept putting her hand to her heart. She looked SO HAPPY! She tried conversing with me in Russian, and I just listened. I knew for sure that I should go back and visit her! (I actually saw her both today and yesterday, so the follow up has been good!)
After meeting her, I ambled down the street. I came across an older man in a suit begging and decided to buy him food as well. However, after trying to give him a sweet-smelling roll, he would not take it. Could he not eat it or something?
I went all through the park trying to find SOMEONE to give it to. I could find no one! The closest guy I found would not take it and held out his wallet as if to tell me he had no money. (Once again, you have to love the language barrier!)
That is when I remembered the “pigeon lady.” I could give it to her the next day on my run! She could eat it or use it to feed her pigeon friends!
Well, the next day came, and there was NO PIGEON LADY!
That is when I remembered an older man in a red jacket I saw most days on my run. He was always on a bench at the opposite end of the park. Yes, that is who I needed to find!
So, I took off down the path, the path to where the man sat each day.
Once I found the man, I handed him the roll, and he took it eagerly. It was then I noticed his wife was lying on his lap, asleep. I had never realized she was there! I told him, “Yesus lubit tiba,” and I took off running. I am not sure why, but I knew I needed to revisit this couple. I needed to bring them a tract and more food. God wasn’t through with my interaction with them.
So, over the course of this past week, I have rivisited them several times.
On Sunday, I brought them pastries on my run. I saw them both eating them as I ran by again, and it made me smile. That same night, I saw small pizzas for sale and bought them both one. I bought them for the following day, but when I found the woman had warmed them up, and I just had to give them to the couple immediately!
However, it would be the following three visits that would rock my world.
Monday: On the way back from Firststep, I wanted to visit my friends again but we only had so many keys. Carmen decided she would walk with me. I was excited for her to meet the old couple and hoped they would actually be there so she wouldn’t walk all that way for nothing.
Well, the moment we arrived, the woman REJOICED to see us. Every other time I had come, she had been half asleep, but this time, she was very much awake! She grabbed Carmen and gave her a huge hug and several kisses and then did the same to me. We handed them the pastries I had purchased, said the food was from “Yesus,” and gave them a tract. When the woman saw that tract, she rejoiced even more!! She dug in their bag and took out a mangled magazine. She turned it over and excitedly pointed to a picture of Jesus on the back. We asked if we could pray for them, and by the end, THEY WERE BOTH SOBBING. For the rest of the time, the man could only look down as he quietly cried. It nearly made me cry! It was as if Jesus had just reached down and ENGULFED the two of them in His love. We kept holding their hands, and the woman continued her kissing and hugging. We told her Jesus loved her and her husband and that she was beautiful (“ti creciba”), and each time we said something, it was like God was touching her heart all over again. I told her our names and that we were from America- Chicago and North Carolina (people know Chicago better than Illinois!). We found out their names were Alexander and Nyann. She took out a pen and piece of paper and had us write down our names. I added our emails too, even though they will probably never be able to use them. I told her today was Monday and we would come back Tuesday. She said, “I love you, thank you” in perfect English, we gave them one last hug, waved goodbye, and left.
Tuesday: This visit to my friend took three trips to the park to actually occur. In the morning, I attempted to bring them McDonald’s on my run, but it was a failed attempt. I wanted to cry because there was NO WAY ice cream would last, and I had wanted this to be special.
After Firststep, I tried one more time to find them but failed. (Along the way, I had a chance to bless the old woman from the first day, a group of troubled boys (one was definitely high), a man selling art, and a woman wrapped in a blanket, so God did use that trip for something!)
At this point, I was wondering, were Nyann and Al angels?? 🙂
FINALLY, when evening was approaching, I found them. They were on a different bench this time. I handed them a bag of food and sat down beside them at Nyann’s beckoning. When they saw the food was from the supermarket, Alexander tried to have her give it back for some reason, but I told them it was for them, from “Yesus.” She pulled out a little magazine with women wearing a bunch of make-up on it. She said she had another and it was for me to keep. Then, she pulled out the tract I had given her on Monday and quietly read through the entire thing aloud, looking at me at some point or pointing back to the cover at others. It was if she was saying she agreed with the points and believed each one. After reading the tract, I told Nyann my age and asked hers. Adorably, she started counting on her fingers. I tried asking her if she has children, and I think she said she has two in Odessa. It was a good little encounter, and I LOVED how she pulled out the tract from the day before. I told them I would see them on Wednesday, gave them one last hug and handshake, and walked away.
Wednesday (Today): We were again returning from Firststep and I ran into the little old lady I met in my “Just BE” blog. I gave her a hug and her eyes were wide with joy.
I also ran into the woman I had already talked to twice and gave her a hug as well. Running across the street, I bought two, warm pastries for the both of them. BUT, when I returned, the second woman did not want one and the first lady was gone.
So, after searching to no avail for the first lady, I headed over to the park to bring the pastries to Nyann and Al. I had almost reached their bench when I saw a woman scooping mulberries off the ground to my right. “Nyann??” I asked. She stood up, smiled ENORMOUSLY, and pointed to where Alexander was. She walked down from where she was eating berries and gave me a huge hug and many kisses. There was mulberry juice ALL OVER her, and my first thought was “Oh no! My shirt!” But, I embraced it and walked with her to where Alexander lay asleep. She bent down to kiss him, and when he came to, he sat up. Nyann sat down and had me sit beside her, and I handed her the pastries. She handed one to Alexander and started chatting with me. I tried asking if Alexander could walk okay (he has a lot of trouble even moving from laying down to sitting up), and she thought I was talking about running. (She sees me run like every day!) She jumped up and started doing some hilarious exercise moves.
It was at this point she grabbed me in a warm embrace and tried lifting me from the ground. Kissing me all over my cheeks, she would not let me go as she spun around, looking beautiful in her blue dress. I felt SUPER awkward, but I did not pull away. When Jesus came to this earth, he gave love and he also received love, so I could not push Nyann away.
When it came time to leave I told them I would see them on Thursday, gave them farewell hugs and handshakes, and traipsed away.
Out of all my moments on this World Race, I have never felt as loved or touched as I have by this couple. They live in a park with little more to their name then a bag filled with newspapers and advertisements, but they have joy. And even if we can’t fully understand each other, God is doing something big through these encounters. He is blessing not only them but me and those I meet along the way. I started out despising this country, and now I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to leave Nyann and Al.
God has placed it upon my heart to feed them each day until we leave and to try and find them a New Testament to read as well. Please pray I can find a Bible to give them! My time here is short, but God can use me, “short time or long,” to fulfill his good purposes.
Keep shining for Jesus, my friends!
Keep your eyes open, and BE LOVE to each person He puts into your path!
