«Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you» – 2 Chronicles 20:17
For over a month our website was inactive because we didn’t have enough money to pay for it. Thank God! Because during this time there were no special changes in our lives. Five months have passed, and we are still waiting for God, His guidance, and we do not want to make a step without Him. Gradually God is organizing everything around us and seems to be improving our life in Tajikistan.
My husband is teaching programming courses for teenagers in a private school, and for the last month most of his time and energy has been spent in this direction. I thank God for this work, because it is exactly what my husband likes and he is good at it. It has its challenges – he still hasn’t been granted a visa to work, but we are praying about it.
My husband also helps the sisters with seminars for teenagers, especially boys. And he has already started to organize weekly youth meetings for believing girls and boys. This is probably the hardest thing he has done so far. But at the same time, it is inspiring and makes him seek more of God’s leading, God’s word for each individual case.
«If anyone speaks, speak as the words of God; if anyone serves, serve according to the power God gives, so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever» – 1 Peter 4:11
The board games club is growing and prospering, God is bringing new people. Now we organize games twice a week: on Wednesday in Russian and on Sunday in English (we can’t organize games in Tajik yet, as we haven’t started learning the language yet). The games are free, so even schoolchildren can come (from 16 years old, so that we don’t have any problems with the law). I have also organized games for girls separately a few times, as not all girls here are ready to play in the same company with men.
One time we went to the sea with the guys from the club, it was a good blessed time to socialize and get to know each other better. The other day we are planning to go to the mountains, as many from the game club have never been to the mountains, although they are only 3-4 hours away.
In September, we traveled across the border again to update our car import documents. At the same time we visited new friends in Uzbekistan – a married couple and a young teacher from India. We met at a game club! Wonderful Lord, three months ago we did not know these people, but now we are so happy to visit them in another country, as if they were our old relatives. The couple are Christians who have not long ago started to follow Christ, and it is so touching and awe-inspiring to see how God is blessing them. And the teacher from India has not yet accepted Jesus, but is seeking the truth as best he can, in every possible religion-superstition-theory. We pray for him, believing that we will soon witness to his salvation (is there anything impossible for God?).
I still don’t work, I don’t have any ministry in the church, and I don’t even participate (just attend) in the seminars and youth meetings that my husband organizes. I spend most of my time at home, doing ordinary household chores and listening to lectures on soul care (blessed teacher S. Vitiukov recorded more than 40 lectures). Sometimes (rarely) I go to socialize with some of the sisters, sometimes (even more rarely) I meet unbelieving girls.
My main focus now is inward to my family (supporting my husband spiritually and morally), inward to myself, and inward to God (Scripture study and prayer). I am learning to hear God and be as close to Him as I can (lying at His breast like John). And God does not remain silent, He is revealing Himself to me more and more through His Word, through brothers and sisters, through signs, through prophecies from other cities.
This is truly a special time – a time to hear from God. I am immensely grateful to my husband for giving me this opportunity now and not requiring me to go to work (although financially we are constantly «at zero», but it gives an additional incentive to constantly seek God and learn to trust Him completely every new day).
We continue to pray for Tajikistan in three areas: honesty, purity, and peace in families. Sometimes we go to a small mountain and pray for the whole city. And it would seem that everything is getting better, some external stability (even almost routine) comes. But inside we are still in a waiting mode: the Lord has something even more interesting in store for us here, we just have to wait.