billions and bags

Well, this might be my last post for a while.

But, things are going pretty good here. But a little crazy...finally finishing lecture phase, cleaning up our building that we've been in, packing to leave for outreach and more and more!

Last week our topic for lectures was "missions". I don't really know how to summarize, or explain it, but it was really cool and really inspiring. And I learned that there are--

2.2 billion people --> (2,200,000,000) that have not heard of Jesus Christ.

And maybe that's not news to you, but for some reason it is to me. I think subconsciously I thought that almost everyone had at least HEARD of Jesus (maybe that's ignorant of me)...but now that I realize, I understand a lot more. Or maybe a little more. But I understand more why we are called to go shine the light for these people...or maybe I'm just beginning to understand. I hope that in a few years I'll "get it" so much more than I do now.

Growth.

So, something less serious, but definitely exciting that happened last week: I was on Skype (for those of you that haven't gotten it yet, you definitely should) and all of a sudden someone that I didn't know was calling me. So, I answered and this guy was like, "hello, I'm Nadi!" and so I asked him who he was and he said he was from Jordan. But then I told him I had to go, because I was getting ready to make another phone call (which was really true). And so later I looked at his profile and he wrote something like "looking for a good girl for nice wife". But with a lot of spelling mistakes and a lot more hope or something behind it. Crazy.

Also, finished reading, "Blue Like Jazz" and I really like it. I basically really liked it after I read the first page, but I really really liked it after I read the whole thing. I definitely recommend it.

And ALSO, last night my friend Megan (she's an Assemblies of God missionary here...I met her at the English speaking church) let me wash and DRY my clothes. You do not realize how cool that is! My clothes haven't seen a dryer for over 5 months...and I was so used to crunchy jeans and shirts. But, oh the glory of soft ones! I am very grateful for that.

So to finish my intitial though...this is probably my last post for a while because we are leaving for outreach tomorrow (Sunday) night. We're going to take a train to Batumi and then sometime in the days after that, go to the village, Khulo. We're planning on staying there for 4 weeks and then we'll go to Turkey for about 5 weeks. And then after that, we'll return to Tbilisi for 1 week. And then DTS will be finished.

Wow.

And then I'm planning on staying here till April-ish, but I guess we will see what God does, you know?!

Okay, so maybe check back in 2 1/2 months (well you can check sooner than that if you want, but who knows how often I'll be able to update) and hopefully I will have written something.

My heart goes out to you! Wow, that sure sounds cute.

:)

buddhists and boots

So, last night I was in this magazine. Well, that's the Russian word for "store" or "shop" and I thought it sounded cool to say I was in a magazine.

Anyways, so there was this lady in there and somehow we discovered we both spoke English and so she asked me what I thought of the boots she wanted to buy, and I said they were nice. I also told her to definitely get the brown ones NOT the black ones, and as far as I know, she did.

But that's not why I bring her up.

This last week at DTS we learned about evangelism, and earlier in the day we had gone out witnessing and so I was sort of hyped up and I had my nice little tract about the 4 spiritual laws in my pocket. And in class we had learned these 2 like starter questions or whatever: 1: If you died tonight, how sure on a scale from 1 to 100 would you be that you would go to heaven? and 2: If you were standing before God and He asked you WHY He should let you into heaven, what would you say?

So, I was talking to her and I told her about my school and what I was doing here. And that opened it up a bit for me to ask something about spirituality, since she already knew I was a non-Mormon, non-Jehovah's Witness Christian. Well, I found out she was a Buddhist of sorts and so I could sort of tell that she really wouldn't want to read through my little tract with me, so I asked her that first question (see above). And her first response was, "well...I'm going to be reincarnated." So, I rephrased it to say, "IF there was a God and IF you were going to heaven how sure would you be, on a scale from 1 to 100 that you would get in?" and she said, "90." And I asked her why and she said something like, "Because I haven't done anything REALLY bad, at least compared to other people."

So, I was like okay. And I asked her the 2nd question, but it didn't really work out because it got all loud and stuff. So, then in a last atempt to talk about Jesus I asked her if she wanted to read a book that talked about Christianity a bit, and she didn't. And she said something about how she had grown up in a Christian community or something like that and they way she said it made it seem like it had been a really negative thing. So, I just told her this.

I said something like, "You know, God really loves you and He has a plan for your life. I know that there are many Christians who misrepresent Christ--I know that I have! They say, 'Jesus loves you!' but then the condemn you a lot and stuff. And I just want you to know that that's not what God is like! And on behalf of all those people who have misrepresented Christ (including myself), I ask for your forgiveness."

She said that I was forgiven and I could tell she really just wanted to get out of there. So, I stopped and started talking about the boots again. She said that she needed to get some money out of the cash machine and I told her where there was one and she left real quick.

I tell this because I don't think I've ever actually talked to or known a person (or maybe I did, but we didn't talk about) that believed that they would be reincarnated but still thought that if they were going to heaven they'd have a 90% chance. It was really interesting. I mean, you see those responses in videos like "Way of the Master", but it's so different seeing it in real life.

But you know, when she said that she was going to be reincarnated, I sensed a sort of doubt. I don't know really how to explain it, but it was like she was saying it, but in the back of her mind sort of not even reallly sure yet.

So afterwards I just prayed that God would bring another person, or maybe more people, into her life that would continue to bring up the topic of God and Jesus and that she would really come to know Him. I know that God wants her to know Him and have a relationship with Him more than I want her to know Him. You know?

So yeah. I also got some really sweet boots too. They have fake fur on the inside and they are warm.

one story and a half

So, since I have not written very much lately (undoubtedly causing a decline in my readership <--are any of those words used correctly?!), I really want to make some sort of effort to rebuild it.

But, I'm not sure how much I am going to be able to post when I'm on outreach (which happens in 9 days), but oh well.

SO ANYWAYS: One day, it was a Friday, a mini-outreach day--we went to a mosque for our outreach. Just to visit and see what it's like (since we're going to Turkey) and it was pretty cool man. Well, the man's reaction was pretty cool. He was like the administrator or something and I really don't think he knew that we were Christians. But, our leader had talked to him a bit and so he agreed to let us come in and look. The girls were even allowed to go into the men's worship place. So we asked questions, he answered them. And THEN...

my leader stepped forward and began to tell him that we were Christians and that we were just wanting to visit (it was more well-spoken and full of content than that, but I can't remember) and the man's eyes all of a sudden got kind of big. And his composure changed. But not in a bad way.

It was like he was completely shocked that CHRISTIANS would go and visit a MUSLIM MOSQUE and not condemn them or throw eggs at them or something. And it was pretty cool. He was very open still and very nice.

We went to leave and one of the guys' shoes was missing. WE found out that one of the street dogs had come in and taken it. But we got it back.

Then later we were walking down Rustaveli, and decided to hang out a big (AKA eat at McDonalds). And on the way, I met some of the gypsy kids I had met a while before when we were downtown. Well, it actually started because there was a little gypsy girl, probably like 2 or 3 just standing on her blanket on the sidewalk (the moms sit a little ways away--enough to watch them to make sure they don't get taken or hurt, but far enough where people can't see them). I was just sort of talking to her, although I'm sure she didn't understand me. But then all of a sudden this mob of gypsy kids came. Well, maybe not a mob. I'd say 10+ and I knew one or two of them from before.

SOME beautiful GYPSIES AND ME (and Nino)!

So, I asked if they were hungry, they said yes (of course) and so I began walking down the street, arm in arm with some of them, looking for a khatchapuri place. We found one and then the above picture was taken. We said our goodbyes and our group kept walking.

But then I ran into another one of the girls that I met before. The first time we met her she said that her eye was bothering her, and so Nino prayed for her that she would be healed. Nothing happened at the time. But when we saw them this time, they told Nino (or one of the Georgians and then I heard) that her eye was fine. That's pretty amazing man! So anyways, this girl was with 3 others and I asked if they were hungry and they said yes (of course). So I bought them some bananas. But they were still hungry, so I bought them some khatchapuri.

And people thought they were stealing from me or something, but I really don't think they were. People characterize gypsies (even I did/do at times) saying that they ALWAYS steal and they don't have a conscience about it and blah blah blah. But you know what, when I talked to those kids, and those girls especially, I saw something in them. I saw that they are real people too. And maybe that sounds ridiculous to say that, because "of course they're real people". But I can tell you honestly that I have had thoughts that they maybe weren't. Not directly, but thoughts that implied that. And I know that other people do. Like the people that walk by them everyday, throwing a coin in their cup, but not even looking at them...not even for a second.

Anyways, I know that God loves them and I really pray and am willing to take action if God calls, to do something that can help them get out of the viscious cycle they are in and restore their dignity and repuatation.

But yeah, so that was one story and a half.

something great

Well, we are basically 99.9% sure where we are going for outreach.

For about the first month, Khulo. It's a mainly Muslim village in the Adjarian region of Georgia, high up in the mountains, where they sometimes get up to 2 meters of snow and sometimes have no snow at all. I'm not entirely sure what we're going to do up there, but at least we know we're going. Right now, there is this man named Jamari here, he's 66 years old and has been working with the people in the village (evangelizing, I assume) for a while. So, he is going to be going with us up there to help us get around and to help us not offend too many people by our DTS-ways.

And for the second part, Turkey. Probably Trabzon and/or Samsun. Again, we're not sure what we'll be doing. But we're sure we're going (at least I think we're sure).

But in any case, we leave on the 26th of this month, prepared or not. But I am certain that we will be fine!

This last Saturday Keti and I (and Wes, but he left kind of halfway through) went shopping for outreach clothes, mostly at second-hand shops, and it was really cool man. Good deals, and I got quite a bit of stuff. But, I hope that we will all have enough money to get the things we need...we will...some way or another!

WHAT ELSE>>>>

The other day I re-read "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis, and I realized that I really DO really like it. I read it once a year or so ago, and was pretty amazed, but I haven't read it since...so I was inspired to again and did. I would totally quote some really intellectual and/or touching passage out of it, but Andrew & Caitlin are reading it now. That's alright though.

AND ONE MORE THING>>>>

What inspired me to read that book again was our 24-hour prayer/fast we had here at DTS. We started at 3pm last Friday and went until 3pm on Saturday. We each signed up for 2 one-hour slots, and prayed for outreach and many other things. It was a pretty amazing thing, man! And WHY THAT INSPIRED ME: the first time I read "The Great Divorce" was like right before I was convicted to have my first fast, and it was really a step toward God, or maybe just more brake-power in my walk away from Him. Either way, shortly after I read that book God turned me around so that I was at least heading in His relative direction (I think I walked rather crookedly and of course for a while, and still do at times).

But anyways, yeah.