A Call, A Decision, Onward!

I've been reading the Qu'ran over the last couple months; it confuses me.  The Qu'ran clearly states that Jesus is the messiah, born of a virgin, and has many other high praises for him.  It also claims that he is NOT God pretty adamantly, and dismisses the idea in the same breath as the adoration of Mary and the saints. 

So I'm staying with the Howards, old friends/mentors, and I'm looking through the books on the shelf, and one pops out to me:  "Muslims, Christians, and Jesus" by Carl Medearis.  I was blown away: Here was someone who also wrestled with the Qu'ran and has a great perspective on all of this.  Somewhat controversially, one of his main thrusts is to set the cultural stuff, such as the labels "Christian" and "Muslim," aside and point people to Jesus.  He's done bible studies with Muslims in the Lebanese parliament as eager participants, because he respects Muslim beliefs and doesn't get into arguments, he just talks about Jesus.   

So anyway, I was really excited reading this book, because I feel like I'm perfect to reach out in a Central Asian Muslim/Post-Soviet context.  God has already programmed me to think this way about evangelism and life.  I'm well on my way with Russian, Soviet Culture, and working with orphans.  

So after reading, I decided to sit down with Operation World and pray for these countries.  One of my dreams, which I was reminded of, is to fuel and encourage and write worship music in Russian and someday, these local languages.  I'm super-stoked because I was able to mentor a few young musicians in songwriting in Mexico, and write a significant number of original Spanish-language worship songs.  (It's really fun to write worship songs during worship rather than sing them sometimes.)  So thinking of the future, and this opportunity I have this summer/fall to go to Central Asia, I can't wait.  I'm going for it.  I was made for this stuff!  If two months in Lithuania is enough to be able to lead worship and have translations of my songs made (Yes, four of my songs have Lithuanian translations), I can't wait to get my first month in T-j-k-st-n and Az-rb-j-n.  :)  

To this end, I just bought my ticket to Lithuania.  Return date?  October 3rd.