«Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, chosen to the gospel of God about His Son, through whom we have received grace, so that in His name we can subject all peoples to the faith, to all the beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ!» — Romans 1:1-7.
God richly gives us grace for evangelism to all nations… That is why we are here!
Not much time has passed since we arrived in the most beautiful place on earth – Tajikistan. Just one month, and so many things happened around us and in our hearts!
The first thing we faced was acclimatization. Trite, but true. The first week we did not notice any special changes while resting from the road and just getting to know the city. But time passed, and it was still not possible to restore strength, the body seemed to be constantly tired. We tried to drink more water and rest (as much as possible).
A week after my arrival, I got sick. I had never had such problems before, so for the first few days we didn’t even go to the doctor, attributing everything to acclimatization. But a week later, I still visited the doctor and began treatment.
But it was not so much a physical struggle as a spiritual one. Lying in bed, I quickly «surrendered»: murmuring, despondency and even fear crept into my heart.
We do not get tired of thanking God for the brothers and sisters who constantly support us with prayers and words of encouragement. The Lord spoke to my heart through a message from a sister in Georgia, and after that I quickly began to recover.
Also in the first month, we made many new acquaintances, mostly with brothers and sisters from local churches. We attended two different meetings and chose the one that was closer in spirit (although, no doubt, both churches are equally blessed by the Lord). Then we talked to the local pastor and our pastor from Ukraine so that we could join the local church in peace and love.
During this month, God sent us unbelieving people to whom we could testify of His glory. Among them were employees of various government agencies with whom my husband had to communicate on various issues, and each time he testified to them about the great love of God.
We also had a missionary conference, a fraternal three-day hike in the mountains, a trip to a neighboring city with fasting and prayer for the Ferghana Valley, and a trip to another city with prayer for Afghan refugees; acquaintance with children and ministers from the children’s center, many dinners with brothers and sisters, a trip to Kairakum and several walks to explore the city (parks, squares, markets).
Also at this time, my husband worked a little, but then he cut his finger with an ax … A second before the blow, he clearly heard the voice of the Holy Spirit in his heart: «Don’t do this, leave this log,» – but he didn’t listen. Thank God for His mercy, there were brothers nearby who took him to the hospital. The finger opened into two parts, like a book, but the bone remained intact, thank the Lord. For about a week, my husband could not walk normally, but even so, he was glad to receive such a lesson from God!
«To those who love God, who are called according to His purpose, EVERYTHING works together for good,» – Romans 8:28.
This whole month has been very fruitful, although we do not see any special results now, but a lot of “introductory” work has been done, first of all in our hearts.
The only thing we can’t move on is the study of the Tajik language. We’ve met a few foreigners here and are honing our English skills, but we’re mostly surrounded by Russian-speaking people. Unfortunately, and to our shame, we still have not begun to diligently learn the local language.
We ask you to support us in prayers so that we still learn Tajik, since the language is the first key to the heart of the people. We also ask you to pray for physical and spiritual strengthening. And most importantly, pray for the destruction of the strongholds of the local peoples so that nothing prevents them from receiving the Word of salvation.