A simple CUP OF TEA - One Ambition Article 10-30-2024

 

"But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever."

Psalm 52:8

I love to talk about my Father and my favourite Book. I love to share how He has walked with me even when I face unexpected challenges.

I grew up in a family whose mantra was: "If you see something that needs to be done and nobody's doing it, you do it." So when I heard of this specific Muslim people group in Central Asia and learned that they were often ignored and forgotten by mission groups, I thought: "That's a job for me!" I applied to Pioneers Canada after graduation from Heritage College and within 3 months of learning about the people group for the first time, I was flying across the world to a city in Central Asia with a student visa and a plan to study the language. I knew the Pioneers team was waiting for me, that I would share an apartment with another single team member and that I would start language classes.

To say I was unprepared is an understatement.

Within 12 hours my roommate sent me to buy six eggs from a small shop a few doors from our apartment. She told me the trade word for "egg", gave me money in the right currency and let me go. Jet lagged, naïve and terrified, I went, bought the eggs, and was launched into a new life overseas.

My Father is faithful and the team working with me was patient, encouraging and spurring me on, helping me to understand the community, the culture and the people.

At first I was a student - studying, attending classes and meeting people on campus. God has given me an affinity for older women and I connected with retired teachers on campus, spending hours over many cups of tea as we talked about everything. God opened doors as the women asked many questions, giving me opportunities to talk about my favourite Book.

At that time, the translation of the Word in the language of this specific people group was incomplete. I had the privilege of testing the translation in real-life situations, reading it with my friends and neighbours in my new community.

While there, the government discontinued student visas as tensions rose in the country. That meant I had to look for work to provide a good reason to be in the country allowing me to renew a visa. I began to work with a handicraft export company. We shipped handbags, carpets and other local handmade products. When the government shut off our internet making it impossible to send messages through email or text, I worked with the team to close down the business.

Another door closed.

I needed a job, a reason to stay in the country. My roommate and I decided to start a company together.

She worked as a consultant for setting up schools to teach English and I worked as a tour guide for people who wanted to learn more about this province and people group. The province is vast. To visit the major cities is complicated, requiring hours and hours of bus travel. One week I spent 77 hours on a bus!

But God opened doors.

On every trip, I sat beside a new stranger. As we chatted through the boredom, I shared stories and, if the stranger was open to it, gave them a Book or an MP3 of the Book they could take with them. I was planting seeds of faith, praying my Father would water them, feed them and help them grow. In the sweetness of my Father's encouragement, I met one of the strangers years later.

They remembered me and thanked me for the gift of the Book. They shared with me that their father listened to the whole Book. He grew to love the Book and listened to it every day.

In 2013, when my business partner left, I looked for a new role. I learned of other Christian foreigners working to open a baby food factory. I joined them in their venture. With a degree in theology and absolutely no training, experience or knowledge of food production, I became the new recipe developer. For more than a year, I tasted, tested and tasted again, perfecting the mixtures of pureed fruits and vegetables.

God was opening another door, a door where we, as foreigners, could employ local people and share our lives with them as we worked together. Local business leaders and employers treat their employees harshly. I was stunned when I visited a dressmaker and the dressmaker had made some errors in the sewing. Her boss was furious.

He yelled at her, berating her. He threw things at her.

As managers in the baby food factory, we worked hard to I had been overseas. The team managed was dumbfounded when I apologized to them for losing my temper. Working at the baby food factory was extremely difficult. The workday was long and exhausting. I became physically depleted. I stepped back from the factory and moved to the capital city and began teaching English.

Then, in 2018, the doors closed in our province. All our team members were forced to leave. We looked at six different cities in other parts of the country but they all shut their doors to foreigners. In 2019 I moved across the border to a small village where 60% of the population belonged to the people group I'd grown to love. The village was small, old-fashioned and rustic. The romance of coal-heated stoves, outdoor latrines and gravel walkways was short-lived. It was hard.

I have rheumatoid arthritis and my body struggled to deal with the hardships. Then I lost my voice. The doctors didn't know why. After six weeks of struggle, I flew to Thailand to see a specialist. My disease was attacking the muscles in my throat. It seemed there was no cure.

At the same time, I had to go back to Canada to renew my visa.

 I landed just a week before the Covid lockdown. 

It's beautiful to see how God prepared the way for me. My Medicare had run out because of the length of time I had been overseas. But during COVID, the government lead with patience, kindness and gentleness.  I renewed Medicare for all Canadians. My physician discovered that the hip replacements I had as a teen were severely damaged which could lead to them leeching dangerous metals into my bloodstream and had to be replaced. 

The surgeries complete and COVID over, I returned to Central Asia, living among the people. My day job

  is working with social media, finding new ways to engage people with the message of Jesus. After the workday, I share my life with the people God sends me, drinking tea to the Glory of God as I find ways to engage them in conversations about my Father and His Book.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

+ To guide us as we use social media to engage people in their heart language, leading them to ask more questions and engage in face-to-face conversations.

+ For discipline and patience in learning Russian, a third new language for me.

+ Pray that God nurtures the seeds planted in the province closed to our influence. We have left behind many copies of the Book in print and audio programs.