«For I alone know the intentions I have for you, says the Lord, intentions for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope»
(Jeremiah 29:11)
We had such great plans for the end of this year! Clear, straightforward, helpful from every angle… But they just didn’t match up with God’s plans just a little bit. His option turned out to be better than ours!
We wanted to go to Bishkek to our favorite friends – a large family of missionaries, their mom was away and dad was left alone with 6 kids. We planned to stay there for a couple weeks and sell our car (since it is impossible to sell it in Tajikistan). We planned to spend the money from the sale on the down payment for the DTS school (only enough for the down payment, but we trusted God for the rest).
So, on the morning of December 14, my son, my brother and I left home. The way lay through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, as the direct borders between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have been closed for more than a year. In 3-4 hours we reached Tashkent, but as soon as we entered the city, thick white smoke poured into the car… It was impossible to drive further, the car needed repair. Praise God for brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world! In Tashkent we stayed with a young family (whom we had not met before), and the next day we began to fix the car.
On December 15 in the evening the car was ready to continue on its way. Thank God for the device with parts for the car and for my husband’s hands in fixing everything himself. We were happily having dinner with new friends when a message came from one of my sisters: in Kazakhstan since December 14 an emergency situation was declared – a snow storm, many roads were blocked, hundreds of cars were stuck on the highways, rescuers from all over the country rushed to help the stranded travelers, as it is dangerous for life to stand on the highway under the debris of snow in freezing -29.
If our car had not broken down – we would have been there, on one of the snow-covered roads, and there is no telling how long we would have had to wait for rescuers. What a mercy and goodness of God!
We decided to wait in Tashkent until the roads were cleared. In order not to waste time, we attended a prayer meeting at a rehabilitation center and shared testimonies of God’s glory in our lives. And we also visited our friends whom we met in Tajikistan while playing board games. They are a young guy from India (I think I wrote about him somewhere) and a couple expecting a baby.
Together with them we attended a pre-Christmas service at an interdenominational church. On the same day, Sunday, we prayed briefly for the mom-to-be that God would send a good doctor for a difficult delivery, as time was running out, but no one wanted to admit her because of her heart problems. Praise our Lord! On Sunday we prayed and on Monday a new baby was born. According to the young mother, she did not even have time to realize anything, she just came to the hospital for another appointment, and by evening she was already holding the baby in her arms. Great is our Lord!
We also prayed for the health of a guy from India, took him to the hospital and together we traveled to a mountain lake near Tashkent (on the photo at the top of the article). We spent a blessed time at his home, met his friends from other countries, and tried to show the love of Christ to all of them. We are thankful to God for his heart (although he does not want to accept God’s good news of salvation yet).
The weather on the roads of Kazakhstan did not improve, we could not stay long in Uzbekistan without registration, so on December 19 we returned back to Tajikistan. It was funny, we were not even upset, as we saw that these five days in Tashkent were planned by God, everything, down to the last detail. It is a special joy to see God’s will manifested in your life.
«A man’s heart considers his way, but the Lord directs his march» (Proverbs 16:9)
We celebrated Christmas and New Year in Tajikistan. It was a bit unexpected, as we had already told everyone that we would spend the winter holidays in Bishkek. But thank God, He saw everything through: meetings with friends, deep communication, nice gifts, and a good time for our son. He dreamed of going to the Christmas party with his friends from the church soccer team, but a couple of days before Christmas he got very sick – the temperature rose to 40. For two days he lay in bed in a fever, but then we wrote to almost all the believers we knew – in Ukraine and Russia, in Europe and Asia – and asked everyone to pray for our son. The next morning he woke up healed! Praise Jesus for His mercy, my son had a good holiday season with his friends.
God also gave us the opportunity to greet some unbelieving friends from the board game club and tell them about the birth of the Savior. I found one interesting observation: on Christmas Day, before each visit to the non-believing friends, there was an incident (e.g., we had two minor traffic accidents and my husband sprained his leg).
But we were so filled with joy and so eager to share it that no incident could ruin the mood. Even on the contrary – seeing these mini obstacles made us realize that we were doing something necessary for God. Although humanly it looked even ridiculous: we gave everyone chamomile tea and vitamins, but the main gift was attention and Love. And the Lord gave His grace – all situations on the way were quickly solved, even my husband’s leg was completely healed the next day!
Before the New Year, we also got together in a close circle with the guys and girls of the boardgame club. We printed a new game and also prepared some activity to reflect on the past year and future plans. We also offered to write a letter to God (instead of a letter to Santa Claus), thanking Him for all the good things in 2023 and asking for help for next year. But – alas – no one wanted to write such a letter. We were not saddened and certainly did not insist. We pray for each of them and just love and God is working with their hearts.
Just writing all of this makes me realize that God’s focus remains on our little boardgame club and these guys. As much as we would like to do something bigger, something more “important”, maybe see more miracles (repentances, healings, casting out demons)… But God has His plan for us, and during this season we are still in a waiting mode.
In spite of all the hustle and bustle of the winter holidays (and it felt like a lot of spiritual pressure), we are trying to keep this supernatural God’s peace in our hearts and Love, waiting for the right time and the right direction, so that not we ourselves move somewhere and do something for God, but Christ in us.
“And your safe times will come, the abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord will be your treasure.”
(Isaiah 33:6)