So we are now in Bucharest, but before I get of myself I’d like to let everyone know about our last full day in Ukraine. A good part of the day was spent seeing Bakhchisarai which has some beautiful and historical sights that I’m glad we were given the opportunity to witness. That was nice, but it was the evening that really turned that day into a memorable one. One of the interpreters, Denis, had been telling how he speaks to the local muslim community and asked us if we would like to speak to them as well. We had told him, we absolutely would, but the opportunity never arose. Well on this day we were able to see the head pastors second church and help a little with some of the rennovation that’s currently goin on. It so happens that there is a mosque just down the road from the church and Denis asked us if we’d like to go. We stopped by, but unfortunately, maybe fortunately looking back, no one was there. I know I felt very uneasy being there, we entered the mosque and looked, waited a little while then decided to leave. The reason for my unease, has to do with the fact that the last time I was in a mosque was in Iraq and we either were raiding the mosque to look for weapons or being shot at from them. So needless to say, I don’t have the foundest memories of places like that. Well as the rest of the day went on we able to go to a field that Igor, the head pastor tries to go once a week. He brings boxes full soccer, tennis and soft balls. After we got the balls out, kids started to come around and we were able to play and interact with them. One little boy for some reason would join in, he just sat one the edge of the field and watched. Any time we would approach, he’d run off. Well just before it was about to get dark Igor called them in to tell them about his church and Sarah said we should tell them a Bible story. Igor said that it was a good idea and left it to us to share one. Well Kyle told the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. One other awesome moment from that was when all the kids came together, the little boy who sat on the outside the whole time came running in to hear the story!
At this point I figured our day was pretty much done. We head back to Igor’s church and while we are waiting to head back a prayer call goes off from the mosque. Denis says we should try to go there again, but this time with just the guys of our team. So we show up and there are a couple people heading into the mosque so we ask if we can observe and speak with them. We are told we can’t enter the mosque, but we can wait outside if we would like to speak to anyone. This is where I have to tell you how impressed I am with my teammate Kyle. He pretty much jumped right into the middle of the opportunity and started speaking about Jesus. He let the Lord speak through him and I believe the Holy Spirit was present during our conversation. First off Denis was able to translate like I’ve never seen before, he said afterwards that he knew how words to speak that he never knew before. Also The first man we were able to speak to at the mosque was someone we happened to meet on the street earlier in the day. That man was very welcoming and I believe that gave us an opening into the discussion. Before I know it, we have somewhere between 15-20 muslim men around us listening to Kyle speak. Most men just observed, but some asked us questions and answered the ones we posed. I can’t say that anyone renounced Islam and devoted themselves to Christ that night, but I do know that the Lord was present and used Kyle and Denis to hopefully plant seeds into these mens lives. Hopefully one day these men will be able to see the love of christ working in their lives and be able to look back and remember what they heard.
For my part I mostly kept quiet. All I could think to do was pray for Kyle and Denis. My nerves did get the better of me at times, especially with so many of the men around us, but I thank the Lord for that opportunity. We were given a forum to share Christ and the Bible with these men and God gave Kyle the boldness to speak openly about what he believes. So even if that had been the only day we had in Ukraine I would have to call the whole month a success. I am so thankful for Igor, his camp and the opportunity to be apart of their lives as well as the children’s lives!
So that was the end of Ukraine, now for the beginning of Romania!
