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October 11, 2005
Blessed Is The God and Father of Jesus Christ our Lord! He Is The Father of Mercies, and The God of All Comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3) Greetings in our Lord, Jesus Christ - may His peace be with you now and always! I want to apologize for the delay in sending out this first report. Many things have contributed to the delay – delays in getting set up here in B. (many people say ‘later’ and ‘tomorrow’ when making plans, but those words can translate to mean just about anything), numerous computer glitches, the time it takes to do things here, procrastination, and so on. The biggest hang-up has been the computer situation here; there have been often problems when trying to send email, and it has been very frustrating at times – but God is still Good! The Lord blessed me to spend my first night in Russia with Kevin Macken, a Christian pastor in Moscow; he graciously picked me up from the airport, and I was able to stay with his family that night (much better than sleeping in a Moscow airport, I’m sure!). Kevin and I traveled to B. the following day, and we served here together with Pastor Jumbul and Sasha (Jumbul’s Much has taken place since then, so I’ll just try to highlight what’s currently happening so I can get this out to all of you. By God’s mercy, I’m helping teach English where the church meets on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, at 3. He’s also helped me to recently start Tuesday evening prayer there (at 7), and Bible-reading times there on Wednesday and Friday evenings (also at 7). Attendance varies at all these things, but The Lord’s given several good opportunities to build relationships and share truth during these times. Later on Mondays, I’m teaching English to Alla (a dear lady that lost her young son, Timor… I think he was about 12), to her son – Khetag (15, in 9th grade), and to a neighbor of their’s named Oleg. Last night’s time of teaching Alla was much more about listening to her, and comforting her with His Word. I can’t explain how devasted she still is over her son’s murder; I think she’s at the graveyard every day. She also lost one of her sister’s, Fatima, in the B. school massacre. The Lord blessed me to have her read Psalm 62:8-12, and the last few verses of 1 Thessalonians 4; and as we have seen time and time again in our lives, His Word ministered to her heart. She asked many questions, and I shared that in my 14 years of following Jesus, I know one thing: God Is Faithful. I don’t always know the answers to things, but I know that He Is Faithful. Alla’s son, Khetag, is a cool teenager, and he seems to be really happy with the opportunity God has given for us to study together. He also was in the school for the 3 days, but was one of those blessed to survive. On Thursday afternoons, I’m teaching English to an 18-year-old boy named Zaur… his 14-year-old brother, Khasan, was murdered in the school massacre. Zaur’s apartment is basically right next to the school, and he can see it from a room that still has a bullet hole in it from the shooting that took place during the massacre last year. As with Khetag, The Lord has given me favor with Zaur and his father and mother, and I believe there will be many opportunities to help comfort and share with them. The Lord has blessed me to have an apartment that’s only a 5 to 7 minute walk from the school, and I’ve gone there several times so as to not forget what has happened, and why I’m here – to share hope and comfort in Jesus Christ. The gym now has color photos on the walls of the multitudes of children and adults that were killed there last year. It’s still possible to walk through most of the school, and it’s a terrible sight to see; there are still children’s notebooks strewn across the floors, along with lots of debris from the explosions. Much has still not been cleaned, and you can still see blood splattered on walls, and black substances high up on the walls, which I think are remains of people that were killed. Bullet holes can be seen all over the place, and it’s hard to believe it actually happened when walking through the school. The full impact has not even hit me yet. How does one grasp the nightmare of knowing what evil destroyed over 300 people in such a small community as B.? Just yesterday, I was at the school with a believer from Moscow named Kesenia, and we talked to a young boy that was in the school for all 3 days last year. His name is Zaur, and he’s probably only 10 or 11. The Lord blessed us to tell him that there are people in America praying for him, that God has a plan for his life as he survived the massacre, and that God loves him very much. We also invited him to the English classes where the church meets, and though I think he was appreciative to hear what we said, he maintained the same solemn look that he had while looking through the gym and school before we talked with him. There’s so much to write about, but for the time being, I hope this has showed how He is using us together. Please pray for the survivors mentioned in this report, and His church here in B. and the neighboring city of Vladikavkaz. Please continue to pray that He will glorify Jesus Christ through me, and do what is good in His eyes. Glory to Yah, The Faithful God!
In His love, jason
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