Folks How is it Already February?

“And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27

“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:2-3

I write these two verses which I believe to be a good glimpse of our January in Kazakhstan. After our Russian final, after pushing through six Christmas parties for our One More Friend students (which I would do all over again), after celebrating actual Christmas (which included 8in of fresh snow and sledding!!), after celebrating the New Year with great fellowship (watching the sky light up like something I've never seen), after many other great memories…needless to say our team needed a break.

Fortunately for us, many of our friends are students and like most college students (especially the first 2 years) go home for the holidays. Since we got a month off from classes, our friends left as soon as they finished their exams. Some of our friends had 9 finals! Yes folks you read that right 9! So needless to say they were glad to be done and going home for a break.

At first we thought, with them gone we would be missing great opportunities to hang out with them. Then God spoke to many of us, to be patient and wait, He would provide many other opportunities for us to speak into the lives of those around us. Then the above verses kept being brought to our attention. We needed refreshment…recovering…we needed a Sabbath.

So what does one do with a month off from school, no vehicle to travel with, most local friends gone, and no homework! Sleep. Relax. Read. Enjoy renewing fellowship with one another. Sleep. Begin to see the vision for the Spring semester. Sleep. Can you tell we enjoyed the opportunity to sleep and rejuvenate?!?!

As we were winding down our break, gearing up for the new semester, we had a team retreat. A pastor from Arizona came to share and speak renewing life into our being. There's something so powerful to be reminded of the promises given to us because of who we are in Christ. We went to a local hotel, we slept on real beds (don’t get me wrong I’ve grown to love my dorm “bed” or shall I say thick cushion) but sleeping on a real bed with springs was an incredible treat. Of course all that was secondary to the words of life spoken through our pastor friend by God’s spirit. We had worship every time our friend spoke, and it was great to be in a room surrounded by people worshiping the Living God. There’s always something powerful in worship when the room is full of people there with the same purpose, same vision, same heart for those around them, the Spirit in the room is overwhelming. Here are just a few things our friend imparted to us:

"If you want to demonstrate the power of Christ, you must know who you are in Christ."

"Our unknown identity leaves us cautious and afraid."

"The devil likes to bring up your past in order to destroy your future."

"You were saved on purpose by God with a purpose!"

Why do we listen to the devil? If he bothers us about our past, remind him of his future!"

"God doesn't disqualify us, we disqualify ourselves."

"You will never be filled with the HS if you are sitting in the corner, not close enough for Him to touch you."

Lastly I wanted to include 3 songs which have not only been on my heart heavily but songs that we sing regularly. The 1^st is the song Everyday by Hillsong in Russian so I won’t translate you can look up the lyrics if you can’t remember them all, the 2^nd is called Pure by Kari Jobe, the 3^rd is a song one of my team members wrote, simple but very powerful and I don’t know what it’s called and I included a translation.

Каждый день

Точно Я знаю за меня
Ты жизнь отдал
Я тебя славлю милость Ты Свою послал
Спас меня Господь для Тебя сейчас живу
Каждый день буду верить слову Твоему

На Твоём Слове буду твёрдо я стоять
Я молюсь чтобы Тебя больше мне познать
Чтоб меня вёл Ты
Каждый шаг мой направлял
Каждый день буду Твоё Слово исполнять

Каждый день живу
C Тобой Бог
Каждый день иду я за Тобой
Каждый день живу Господь Тобой

Каждый день

мой для Тебя...

Pure

Your love is pure
Your love is precious
Your love is all I need
Your love surrounds me
Your love astounds me
Your love is everything

I run to You
When my heart is weak
I cling to You
You're all I seek
It's my hearts desire
To be close to You
Cause here in Your arms
I'll find my strength

Иисус сейчас здесь

Его могучая сила здесь чтоб спасти тебя

Его могучая сила здесь исцелит тебя

Его могучая сила здесь освободит тебя

Иисус сейчас здесь

Jesus is here now

His mighty strength is here to save you

His mighty strength is here to heal you

His mighty strength is here to free you

Jesus is here now

Oh and those from Sam...the 4 of us are doing great! We miss yall and love yall much!