Hey friends!!
What a month it has been! I can't even believe it's been a whole month already. Although the days feel like an eternity, the weeks really do fly. It feels like just yesterday we were leaving Orlando.
I don't even know where to start. The last several weeks have been so eye-opening, so difficult, but so very rewarding. Just so you get an idea of what our schedule looks like, most weekdays we're doing ministry at the English Center I mentioned in my last post as well as going to different universities and running "Talking Clubs" there. Contrary to the US, learning different languages is a really important part of education here and most students speak two to five languages fluently. English is usually their third and many students will show up to talking club just to improve their English. It's been so much fun and a great way to build relationships with the students here. They've even had fun teaching us some Russian! Aside from that, a lot of my time is spent meeting with students one-on-one, hanging out with my team, and spending time with the Lord at my favorite coffeeshop :)
Below are some pictures of our talking clubs.
Outside of our talking clubs, Abby, Emily and I have gotten to connect with a lot of the girl students here and have them over to our home. Most Friday afternoons, we go to the mall with them for lunch and it's a great time to have spiritual conversations. Twice now I've gotten the opportunity to share my testimony with the girls and while I was definitely nervous, I'm seeing God use my story in their lives. They've had so many questions and it's been neat to compare Christianity to Islam, which is the most common religion here. Below are some pictures of our times with the girls.
Something else I'm really excited to talk about have been my meetings with students - it's been the highlight of my time here! Right now, I'm meeting with four girls as often as we can and beginning to share the gospel with several of them. The first, we're gonna call her Gabby, I met during my first week here and got coffee with her one night. She talked about having very few friends and how hard that's been. We started hanging out regularly... she's taken me to lots of fun places here including the Bazaar so I could buy a coat and last week, she was so excited to come over to my house and make "American food" aka tacos and watch Stranger Things together. I have shared the Gospel with her now and she's been reading a Russian Bible with me so you can be praying that God would do a work in her heart and give her a desire for a relationship with Him. Her family are all muslims and so while I think she knows the truth, there's a lot of fear in making a decision to follow Christ over how they might respond.
Two other girls I've been meeting with, we'll call them Emma and Ella, I also met my first week here. They're the sweetest twins you'll ever meet and love to get pizza and learn guitar with me. After hearing my testimony once, they've had a lot of questions about my faith so you can be praying for wisdom on how to answer and that God would give me the words to say.
The fourth student, we'll call her Anna, I met about two weeks ago at the mall. It was pretty cool - we don't have any ministries started at the university she goes to but our team had prayer-walked around her school one day praying for the students there and that God would open a door to start a ministry there. The very next day, we met Anna. She was sitting next to our table and so we invited her to join our girls group and since then, we've met together once and I got to start sharing the gospel with her. I'm humbled every time I get to share Christ with a student... most of them have never heard the gospel, seen a Bible, or met a Christian before. It truly breaks my heart.
Below are some pictures with each of these students so you can see who you're praying for. The first one is of Gabby and I, then the twins, and then Anna and I.
Lastly, I want to share a few memories I've made with my team. We've had so much fun sight-seeing, trying new restaurants, horse-back riding in the mountains, and getting our nails done for $11.
Before I go, let me share a few things you can be praying for...
Pray for rest for our team. We're only a month in but we're exhausted so pray that each of us would make time for real rest and time with the Lord.
Pray for unity among our team... our teammate, Lucy, went home last week due to some health issues so there's now only five of us. Pray for healthy team dynamics as we continue to adjust to ministry without Lucy here. You can also pray for her! She'll be doing ministry in Colorado where she is from for the remainder of the year.
Pray for my time with students and that God would do big things in the hearts of these girls. Pray that the Holy Spirit would give me all the words to say.
Pray for perseverance. Ministry here looks very different than it does in the states and I'd be crazy if I didn't say it's felt hopeless at times. Pray that God would give me patience and a renewed excitement to keep going.
Pray for Micah and I as we continue to lead our team. We've had several issues come up with our Visa's so pray for wisdom and guidance there as well.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support! Until next time...
Bailee ♡
"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10