Hey there :)
Missing home a little extra this week so I thought I'd type up a post and fill you in on all God is doing here cause it's been pretty sweet.
Ministry is really ramping up now as we're now halfway through our time in this country and feeling the pressure to cram everything in that we can. My schedule has been really full meeting with students and last week, we had several of them over to show the Jesus Film, which is a movie about the Gospel of Luke. That was definitely the highlight of the week - we were able to show it in their language and it led to SO many questions and conversations. Many of them were videoing parts of the movie, comparing it to their own religions, and it felt like different conversations were happening all over our home. Each person on our team saw God move that night - whether that was through a conversation they had with a student or just seeing the students' faces as they watched the Gospel story for the first time. I wasn't able to get many pictures but below are some of the students that came :)
Another exciting thing... last week Emily, Abby and I got to atttend a women's conference with about 80 women either working with or for Cru in this area. It was a pretty unique experience - while there was a translator some of the time, a lot of the conference was in Russian which obviously made it hard for us girls but I will say, it was pretty special to see how much this conference meant to the women here and watch them worship the same God in another language. I was told by some of them that they hadn't had a conference for the women in about ten years because of lack of funds so to be part of this with them was really special. It was also a nice retreat for the girls and I... the hotel had lots of great food, a gym, and a spa that we enjoyed. Below are a few pictures from the conference.
Meetings with students have been going well too! Recently, I've met with a couple new girls that I want to tell you about. Emily and I have been connecting with one named Aruuke who we met through one of the national staff and it's genuinely been so fun to get to know her. She speaks English really well too so spiritual conversations with her have been a lot easier and I'd say she's very open to the Gospel. Below is a picture of her with Emily and I on her birthday.
I got the chance to meet with two other new students last week - one is a believer already but most of her family are still muslims so we got to talk a lot about what that looks like for her and pray together that God would save her family. Another, we'll call her Kate, came to our Jesus Film showing and took me to her favorite cafe the next night. I got to share my testimony with her and hear some of her story too. You can be praying that God would work in her heart and draw her to Himself.
I think I mentioned Gabby and Anna in my last post but we've continued to meet weekly. Gabby and I love to cook different foods together and last Sunday, she brought all the ingredients to make her favorite national dish. With only six weeks left in this country, I'm praying hard that God would save her before I leave but I know that if that's not in His plan, these times and memories aren't wasted.
Anna and I got sushi last week and read some in the Gospel of John. She currently has my Russian Bible and is reading through the New Testament with me. Pray that the Gospel would be so clear to her and that something would just click within her as she reads. We're meeting again next week so you can pray that the Holy Spirit would give me boldness and speak through me to Anna.
Below are a few pictures of my times with the students :)
As usual, I wanted to share a few memories with my team. We're still getting coffee most days - our favorite coffeeshop is starting to feel like home honestly. The employees know our names and most mornings, we walk in and they already know our order! We also got to experience a Russian Christian church which was pretty cool, and Micah and I enjoyed going to an international soccer game last week.
Below are a few pictures you can look through :)
Lastly, here are a few prayer requests you can be praying for:
Pray for this week - it's Thanksgiving and our whole team is starting to feel really homesick, including myself. Pray that God would use the holidays to bring our team closer together.
Pray that the Holy Spirit would guide my time with the students. I'm at the point where I've build great relationships with them and they know I'm a Christian and what I believe but sometimes it's hard to know what to bring up next. Pray for wisdom and that God would flood their minds with questions about my faith.
Pray for my individual time with the Lord and that He'd speak to me and continue to renew the passion I once had for ministry here.
Continue to pray for Micah and I as we lead our team, especially through the holidays coming up.
I mentioned having some issues with our visa's in my last post and thankfully, it looks like that is worked out. In order to stay in Central Asia for the month of December (as we had planned), we're getting student visa's and taking some Russian classes for a few weeks. It's a lot to add to our already busy schedule so you can be praying for that... and pray for our transition to Thailand! We've just purchased plane tickets and should be leaving on New Year's Day.
Thank y'all so much! I'd love to hear from you too - feel free to text or message me on my contact page. It's always encouraging to hear from friends back home.
Bailee ♡