During my first weekend in Tiraspol, I had the opportunity to deliver food bags and pray for impoverished families in Tiraspol. One family invited my group to visit their house again. A woman in that family asked for a Russian bible, because she did not have access to a bible she could read. Unfortunately, no one in my group possessed a Russian bible at that moment. My group promised that we would try to visit again.
Trying to visit a family that lives on the other side of a capital city when you don’t know their address, you don’t know the language, you don’t have easy access to transportation, and you don’t have large amounts of free time in your ministry schedule is not as simple as it may appear. After that first visit, I would relentlessly ask Vitaly, a contact at the local church, if we could visit again. Each time I asked Vitaly would smile and say that we may be able to go. But time was limited. Finally, Vitaly’s schedule, our ministry schedule, and the family’s availability lined up.
On our last Saturday morning in Tiraspol, Kamie and Amy from team Unity31 and Taylor and myself from Team Ru’ah were able to visit the family once more. We spent personal money to pay for transportation and food for this family and Vitaly provided a Russian bible. The four of us also compiled a list of our favorite bible verses to accompany the bible we were giving the family.
When we arrived at the family’s house a second time, I could feel the family’s shock that we had returned. It was clear that the mere fact that we pursued them had touched their hearts because we demonstrated God’s love to them in the simplest of ways. Throughout that morning, our group was able to share about God, play with the children, pray with the family, and talk about life with this family. We even had a family photo shoot. Somehow throughout the process, we became part of the family.
At some point during the morning, our family offered us grapes from their garden. While these grapes looked scrumptious, they were also dusty and had been “cleaned” with the local water supply. I knew these grapes were being given in thanks and that this family could hardly afford to give out of their need. I knew that I had recently violently sick from the water, and that by eating these grapes I would become sick once again. But I also knew that if I refused the grapes it would have damaged the trust and the love I had built up with the family. In the end, I had one choice. For the sake of sharing the Gospel message, I had to eat the grapes. So I did.
That morning may very well have been my best morning on the Race thus far and it brought me 3 very important lessons.
1. It takes faith. You have to follow through with God. He wants you to pursue Him, even when it seems ridiculous or impossible.
2. Sometimes the best experiences in life occur when you step out of your comfort zone and step into what God has planned for you. It may not be the nice and simple way you thought it should be, but when it is God’s plan on God’s time it ends up being spectacular.
3. We have an enemy. Satan is determine to stop the spread of the Gospel. So when you share the Gospel, he will try to stop you. It might be through complicated logistics or even through a plate of bacteria filled grapes, but the good news is that God is on our side.
So go despite complicated schedules and eat those grapes. Because God will use those grapes to share the Gospel.
