Uzbekistan. Yeah, apparently that is a country. Crazy right? Humbled by the fact that I don’t know as much as I think I do haha. So yeah, here I am. Writing to you from the great country of Uzbekistan. I am sitting in a pizza bakery coffee shop. Pretty cool huh? I have a mustache and a chin beard thing. Still figuring out the whole facial hair stuff. Life is sweet. It is summer. So yeah, I have been living here for the past month. This past month has been absolutely incredible. IT WAS MANISTRY (All the men are together). What a time to be alive. I was a team lead this past month with my boy Parker. We as a whole team (6) were together the first 10 days or so. Being together for these 10 days we where in a city called Tashkent. We got connected with local believers here. We did a few sports ministries, and overall hung out a majority of the time with the youth of Uzbekistan. Great connections and good times getting to do ministry. Then we split.
My team (Team Dei) was Aaron, Jacob, and I. We went down to a city called Samarkand for two weeks. There we arrive and find we have a host and a schedule. Man, it is really nice having a schedule. We worked with the underground church in Samarkand. We did frisbee ministry. We had a prayer meeting one night from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. It was soo good. I have never prayed like that before. We ran a kids camp for three days. We met so many people. We made great friendships, and got to encourage and live with the believers down in this town.
The Kid’s camp we ran was wild. 3 days. Around 17 kids give or take. We would start around 9 a.m. and end around 6 p.m. The theme was love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength and to also love your neighbor as yourself. We were in charge of crafts, games, some worship, and a little bit of teaching. The age range was from 5 to 13 I think? Not all the kids speak English. So we had some challenges. It was chaotic at times, but Overall IT WENT SO GOOD. God was so faithful to us and did so many cool things for these kids.
We also witnessed a miracle. This might sound crazy, but God healed our toilet. I knew He would and He did. So, the toilet had been stopped up for a day or two. We laid hands and prayed over the toilet. The next morning I get up and there is a wad of toilet paper in the bottom of the toilet bowl. I scoop the paper out. It does this throughout the next two days. The amount of toilet paper I scooped out was disturbing haha. Something you should know, you don’t flush toilet paper in countries like the one we are in. We had all claimed that we didn’t flush any toilet paper. I trust the boys on this. Holy Spirit was moving through those pipes, bringing up all he could and he did. This played in favor for us. Soon after Aaron and I got food poisoning. It was a long brutal night and morning. Very spiritual as well. But thank God that toilet worked. He knew we were going to need it haha! Feeling great now btw 🙂
Throughout this whole 2 weeks as a team we decided to study and learn the names of God. I wish I could say more on this, but it was and has been incredible. So many ways God has revealed Himself to us just though His names. The book is called Power of the Names of God by Tony Evans. We haven’t finished the book, but the time spent in it has not returned void. We study the name in depth and then as a team we pray into that name and apply it to our life. Simply beautiful.
In Samarkand, like I said, we made many friends. We got invited to a wedding. This is a story to hear in person. But, we end up going. Our friend takes us to meet the Bride and Groom as they are doing their wedding photos. The next thing I know we are in a grand room with disco balls, lights, a live band, unlimited food, drinks, and close to 200 to 300 people I would guess. Haha man, it was wild. I have never danced so hard in my life. Jacob and I were sweating. Absolutely drenched. Something you should know is, the men and women do not dance together at weddings. So it is just all the boys dancing together. Man they like to dance. I have mastered the shemi to say the least. Also, if you are a good dancer at weddings or I guess just in Uzbekistan they will pay you. I made 27,000 SOM (3 USD) that night. They would slip the money into my frocket (the pocket on my shirt). Not a bad gig. Haha, some weird good times. To top it off we gave speeches to the groom and his bride at the end of the night. Remember, we had just met them about two hours before… hahaha. We made some great friends that night, and had some really good conversations about faith and being Muslim. It was good.
Many random things and honestly not even close to covering everything. I did have some thoughts that have struck me just in writing this. I have never realized how bad people from around the world want to go to America. Listen, it is real. People would give up anything to come. It is so many people’s dream that I have met. I am stunned sometimes. Uzbekistan is a great country in my mind, but no. America is the best. It has reminded me of how thankful I am to have what I have. We should all be. The simple fact that we are Americans is a blessing and people would do anything to be in your shoes.
Second thought. Persecution for Christians is real in these countries. If you are not Muslim, you can face much opposition. You have to live in secret. Protecting your family and even your livelyhood. Being a Christian changes everything for you when you live in Uzbek or some of these other countries. WE HAVE IT SO GOOD. But honestly do we? Their faith is so genuine because they have to sacrifice so much to believe it. We have churches every corner of every street it seems. Yet they have to be careful when they meet. Ahhhh, if you could only meet these beautiful brothers and sisters. They have given everything for Christ. Because that’s what He has asked for. To love the Lord with all our heart, mind, and strength. I have been deeply encouraged by the brothers and sisters I have met. I know they have been encouraged by us. These are relationships I know will last for life, not just a month. Pray for the church around the world. Pray for the church in Uzbekistan. Pray for the American church as well.
Last thought: Have fun. It’s summer. God has given us life. Doing ministry isn’t so cut and dry. I am having so much fun, it’s truly a mindset! Let’s Live. Hebrews 12: Strengthen your weak knees and tired hands! CHRIST IS IT. ESUSAR (JESUS IS THE KING)
