Sheep, Wolves, and Looking Forward

Aiperi

 Headed south for a conference for five days because one of my E. Asian friends invited me, and because I wanted to maintain my focus there rather than in Bishkek.  There was a bunch of her fellow countrymen at the conference, and quite frankly it was rather traumatic.  Their culture is very formal and the young people are rather loud.  PLUS the whole conference was in our national language plus their language, neither of which I understand.  Add to this not getting enough sleep because loud foreigners are waking you up at 6am, and I wasn't in the greatest mood, and was kinda wondering..."why am I here?"  

Type-cast as Jesus Again

 On the second day, I went off by myself to read the Bible and pray...even with translation, 3-4 languages at once is overwhelming, and I was still EXHAUSTED from travelling.  So that was a good choice.  That evening, I got kinda depressed.  I was overwhelmed and really just feeling lonely.  And my nine-year old friend Aiperi noticed.   And I lay down on a bench and sat there with my eyes closed listening to my music.  And I looked up and there was a kitten on my chest.  I think that might of been the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me.  And God, through the eyes of this little girl, was able to minister to me through that, and I immediately realized, "oh yeah, no one's hugged me today...that's probably part of it."  

 

 

 

 

 

Some new friends

So then I realized that the conference was coming to an end, and that I needed to get myself together if I wanted to make the whole thing worthwhile.  So I did some lifecoaching, had some conversations, and got typecast as Jesus.  YES, I even said some lines in the Kyr language! 

One of the friends I met works for a church.  His dad has told him never to go there again.  His siblings also are involved and lead worship, and their parents don't know.  If they did, violence, a quick marriage, or a very uncomfortable situation might ensue.  He and some of the other guys were ambushed outside the place we were staying in and fought their way out.  Some of the neighbors apparently got wind of what kind of group was there. 

I had another conversation with a woman who was visiting.  She wasn't a church person, but she had checked it out and kinda decided "nah, this isn't for me probably." From what she was wearing, she seemed more interested in money and a fancy lifestyle than God.  But she had a lot of questions that hadn't come up apparently, and so we talked about different scriptures, and different prophets and who's who and what.  I think it was helpful for her.  Pray?  Her friend was a young widower, basically from what I understood, confined to house arrest because her husband at left her.  Under 25, she had no life in front of her that she could foresee, and she was pretty depressed.  I tried to tell her to take charge of her life somehow, but without any support network, prostitution would probably be her only option.  :(   It was a sobering conversation for sure.

One of the foreigners claimed to have the gift of healing.  They called me over to relay translate between three languages, English and Russian being the two I was using, as he massaged down the pastor.  She's very strong and faithful, but she's a simple country girl, and these were the big team from far away with lots of money.  Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure he was full of crap.  He repeatedly punched into her side until she agreed that it hurt less than before.  And then told her to praise Jesus for the miracle.  The things he healed weren't even the things she had asked about.  He wanted to find something near her heart or her bellybutton, but whether because she was too uncomfortable with his hands there, or because it really didn't hurt, that didn't happen.  And he kept mentioning how much money it would cost to have this healed in the hospital.  I was really angry. 

That same day, another one of the pastors presented this new way to study the Bible...basically, flipping all the way through it page by page in 20 minutes...it seemed like a good one time exercise, to recognize how all things connect and where we never seem to open the word, but I noted with irony that, studying the Bible that way, one could theoretically feel very spiritual and not read a single word. 

And I got really angry, especially about the first thing, but those things combined with being woken up by these people at 6am really got to me.  And I wondered about how many wolves there are out there, taking advantage of the kingdom.  And what am I supposed to do....

 

So the next day we went up here to the mountains and the high pasture...it was beautiful.  And I talked to the pastor about it.  The day was surreal...in the morning, one of the minibuses got in an accident.  The pastor and a number of others ended up in the hospital briefly, and our trip to the mountains was delayed.  The group spent an hour Bible flipping waiting.  On the way back down, altitude, exhaustion, and the confusion about a number of things came together, and the pastor passed out or something...she was talking to me and my friend, and then she was gone.  It was really scary.  The healer guy was right in front of her, but didn't move.  It was the old fat guy from her church who massaged her arms and splashed water on her face.  My friend held her hand on her chest for the rest of the car ride to make sure she didn't fall or lose consciousness again.  I made her eat, drink and rest when we got back, and I was glad that my friend and I could be there for her.   

All in all, I realized the South is much harder than it seems.  And that there are wolves and wolves in sheeps' clothing out to devour and manipulate and control.  The Soviet schooling that teaches people to do what they're told doesn't help.  If I want to stay long-term, I need to trade in my passport, get married, or come up with a stinking awesome business...I must confess, it's an overwhelming prospect either way.   And I just want to help and take care of my friends, they go through so much just to go to church.  Looking forward, the path is gonna be a lot harder than I thought.   But God is faithful.  And there are nice boys in the mountains who will let you ride their donkey.  And nice people who will cook sheep for you also.  And that was a week down south. 

These guys live up in the mountains.  Lucky!

Dinner, or what the devil wants to do to you.