Day five!

Imagine a dreary day. A gray sky full of clouds, crisp air settling around you. You are standing with a crowd of people gathered around an animal trough full of water. There is anticipation and excitement hanging in the air. Everyone is holding a camera or cell phone, ready to record what you are about to witness. The women go first, three from the Sudan. Cheers rise from the crowd. As silence falls, everyone is asked to put any form of a camera away. Two men emerge from the back of the crowd- two men from Iraq who could be persecuted for what they are about to do. They step into the water and sink to their knees as the women did. A voice rings out- "do you believe in the Most High God? Have you agreed to serve Him for the rest of your life?" The reply, a confident "yes!". A hand reaches out to show him how to cover his nose, hands bend him forward into the water with the words, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost!" As the last man rises from the water, 100 singing voices rise from blessed spirits- "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, whoa my soul, worship His Holy Name. Sing like never before- oh my soul, I'll worship Your holy name." Chills climb your arms, not from the cold- but from the beauty of the presence of the Lord surrounding you.

I praise The Lord for His wonderful works I have been allowed to experience this week!

Not only did I get to witness 5 baptisms today, but I got to share the gospel with 8 people! I got to go back to Rita's house and teach her another story from the bible, a story about how to pray (the Lord's Prayer). She was delighted. Telling her goodbye broke my heart. She hugged me, pinched my cheek and said, "you so sweet. I love you!" (I can still hear her voice in my mind, I wish I could share it with you.) Her eyes and smile are so full of hope and joy now! She hopes to be baptized soon, but is afraid of her parents. Please keep praying for her! 

We also got to visit several new homes from different people groups today. There's one community that we found where we thought Nepalis lived but it turned out that about six different people groups were represented in this community of about 20 houses. Unfortunately in all of those places Jesus was rejected or we weren't able to tell about Him at all. Two in particular stand out in my mind. The first house, a Vietnamese man named Tom. He was cooking food for his children, and finally answered the door as we were walking away. He stood on the porch and talked to us for a while but made it clear that he was catholic and had no interest in religious conversation. He said he had to leave because he was cooking dinner, so my quick thinking partner for the evening (Jeff) went into this story about how much he loves food, and invited himself in to see what was being cooked. I excused myself to the bathroom (a habit I've adopted to buy a couple minutes and pray for the house). As I was using the bathroom and praying I spoke the words "may we be a light in this house". As soon as the words left my mouth, the bathroom light went off! Ok, God I get the message. I prayed and I prayed, I sent the darkness from the house in the name of Jesus. My prayer is that they will not be able to forget about Jesus in that house. And when they stand in that bathroom, their eyes will see and their hearts will hear and their Spirit will feel God as they never have before! 

The other home the sticks out in my memory is the house of Yawna. Yawna is Russian! She has a beautifully decorated home full of bright colors, relics from the holy land and crosses as decorations. She is Greek Orthodox. She was incredibly friendly and personable, telling me lots of stories from her home and explainin her beliefs with me. She let me tell her the story of Jesus! However, she recites prayers every night from a book that her grandmother taught her when she was young. It took a while for us to explain the different between her prayers, and a prayer to accept Jesus. She told us the story with the cube and said she would think about it. She also said she would tell her husband the story when he got home. She later told us that he does not believe in God and mocks her for it. The simple fact that she offered to tell him anyways is fantastic!! Please pray for them both. For her to realize her need for Jesus and to have strength. For him to actually listen to her, and hear the words of God. 

It is funny the ways of speaking I have adopted this week. When talking to people who barely speak English, I have been using a lot of hand motions or a translator- and when you speak with a translator it is best to not use contracted words (can't, don't, won't, etc). So now in normal conversation I catch myself speaking with very clear articulation and lots of hand motions ( even more than before! haha)

As the evening ended, we were standing in the cold in a Nepali community waiting for our ride. A man invited us inside his home, and we learned that they were Nepali Christians! We spent an hour learning from them and hearing their beautiful story. Two of the men preach at a Nepali Christian church! It was a wonderful, encouraging way to end the week. As I was sitting in their home I realized that all of my clothes are saturated in the Nepali smell. It's a scent of their cooking spices and body odor, I really don't know how to explain it. It's a disgusting yet beautiful smell that lingers in everything. The women usually cook in the garage or outside to keep their house from smelling. However, a lot of the families we worked with this week lived in apartments and did not have that advantage. Washing my clothes, losing that scent, will be very bittersweet. Maybe I will keep a shirt and never wash it ;) 

Here's my heart, Lord- take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above!

-SaraKate