Day 1: ministry in Georgia
We arrived at our new apartment for the month, It all started with a new team craving something familiar to eat…
So we walked the twenty minutes to Wendy’s! (Yes, the redhead with pigtails fast food place!)
On the way we walk by a Bible book publishing shop! We take note, thinking we’ll come back another day this month to see if they need any help!
A few days later: Wednesday- our Sabbath
Wesley is having Sabbath at a local restaurant, talking to the Father & a young man walks up. This man sits beside him and starts talking to him. They share some coffee, they talk religions, and backgrounds. This man is from an Arab country and has grown up as a Muslim. Where Wesley shares his story about how Jesus loves him and how he loves this man too. The man is really receptive to hearing about Jesus, so Wesley suggests he read the book of John! Wesley being really in tune with what the Lord is telling him, asks the guy over to dinner & a movie at the apartment. The rest of the team meets this man and we watch a movie together!
The next day: Thursday
Wesley has invited the man to go see the new movie, The Dark Phoenix, at the theater with us! (Side note: we are going to support Wesley, who is actually an animator on the film! Yeah, he’s legit!)
So earlier in the day before the movie, Wesley and I go to the Bible book publishing store, in hopes of finding a Bible for this mam we are meeting at the movie. We talk with one of the older men working there, while we look for a small Bible in English (although the man we met speaks Arabic, we think for his sake it will be safer to give him a Bible in English)! The choices are slim, a lot of books in Georgian, some in other languages, only a few in English! Then I point out a Good News Bible that’s in English, it’s only the book of John! Which is the book that Wesley told him to read! So he buys the book! While we were there the older gentleman tried to give us some Russian Bibles for free… We kindly refused… what are we going to do with Russian Bibles?!?
Later that Night: Thursday
We meet up with this man at the movies and enjoy the movie that Wesley worked on before the race! Afterward, Wesley and Hannah, went to dinner with the man, giving him the Bible book of John! (Why we pray he reads the book of John, accepts Jesus, and takes the good news back and shares it to his nation! We don’t know what will happen, but we faithfully plant the seeds!)
A few days later: June 9th
We’re asking the Lord where he wants us to be! We really feel lead to be in the capital City Tbilisi all month long! The apartment we are staying in had someone booked for three days in the middle of the month, right in the middle of our stay! We are in the process of figuring out where to go next! So we look for somewhere else to stay with the 6 of us! We find the perfect place, with beds for everyone, that’s close to parks, transportation into old town, and other things we want to do! We book the place; three hours later, the owners tell us that there is a water leak, so we can’t stay there!
A day later: June 10th
We look for a place again, we find another place, in a different part of town! We book it! Later that night the owners contacts us and says the booking on Airbnb is wrong, we would be having to share the apartment with others!
A day later: June 11th
We sit down as a team, we discuss the situation. We pray about it.
Lord is this really where you want us to be?
Someone mentions Kazbegi, it’s a mountain with a small town, that is 3 hours outside of Tbilisi, right on the border of Russia! What if we go there for a few days and see if the landlords here can hold our big bags? We pray about it and everyone was a thumbs up! With many people seeing mountains and getting a yes! While we were talking about going to Kazbegi, Hannah mentioned feeling like the people could be suffering from some oppression from Russia, being so close to the border. This made me remember about the Russian Bibles! What if we gave them out to people? I’m sure some of them know Russian! So we decided to go back and grab some Bibles and to make some encouraging paintings to give out to the people! We book a hostel in Kazbegi, no problem! Our landlords in the city agree to hold onto our big bags, we arrange a time to meet before we go on Thursday morning!
A day later: Wednesday, June 12th
Wesley goes back to the Bible book publishers and they give him Bibles! Also, while he was there they printed, out many different encouraging phrases and Bible references in Georgian & Russian for us to use on our notes & paintings!
A day later: Thursday, June 13th
We’re off to Kazbegi, small packs, Russian Bibles, and notes of encouragement in hand! We hand out some Bibles and notes of encouragement throughout town as we walk around and pray for the city!
Friday, June 14th
We hike up to the top of a mountain and see the Gergeti Trinity Church! On top of the mountain Cami meets two Russians who she gives Bibles too. We worship & have a Bible study on the mountaintop! Later that night Wesley prayer walks and gives out many more Bibles and notes!
So sorry to be long winded…but Wow how the Lord orchestrated everything! From day one… it’s amazing how he has his hands in everything! He had a plan for us that connected with those Bibles… but it’s funny how it all started with us wanting to eat some Food! This also shows how he can use our plans for his purpose! We just need to be open to let him work!
Wow Lord,
it’s amazing what you can do…
when we humble ourselves,
when we put aside our wants & desires,
when we seek you,
when we ask what you want us to do,
when we listen and are obedient!
Open our hearts,
Open our eyes,
Open our hands,
Open our thoughts,
Open our minds,
Use us Lord!
Here we are,
we’re open and willing to be used!
Love,
Mallory
