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February 24, 2006
January 31, 2006, Tuesday – Went to Vladikavkaz again to register... praise YHWH, He allowed me to leave the office with my registration finished! (Though you must first have a visa to enter
February 1, 2006, Wednesday – What a great day, thank YHWH! At 2, I taught guitar to Azam and Atsa – they seem eager to learn and tired hard. (Atsa 12 year-old sister was killed in the terrorist attack.) We worked on Em, C, D, A(M), and F chords. May The Lord use this as an open to door to share more of Jesus. They were surprised to hear that I'm teaching people English for free, and Azam asked, 'Why?' I replied, 'I want to help your people.'
Afterwards, I went to teach Madina (Tsabolova; her 10 year-old brother, Marat, died in the school massacre.) She is a very special student, and The Lord has given me great favor in their family's eyes. It seems that she stays home from school quite a bit, though I'm not sure why. She's very eager to study, is very respectful, and seems to really enjoy our English time. I have the feeling that she's very lonely, though perhaps not. Zalina (her mom) served us some ravioli-type pasta, and also gave me cheese pirog. Madina was really excited to show me her photos from when she was in the
I then headed over to our fellowship, and Jambul taught on why sometimes we don't “feel” blessed. As he correctly taught, we are blessed because our life is with Christ, and he directed us to the first few verses of Colossians 3. Vova (a newer believer in the church here) and I walked to my apartment together, and on the ways we saw Zaur and Sasha with their friends. I talked for a minute or so to Zaur, and he told me that little Zalina (Plieva) asked about me, wanting to see me (she lost her only sister, Alana, in the massacre).
February 2, 2006, Thursday – All glory be to YHWH – another great day. On the way to visit the Plieva family, two men stopped me and one asked me a question. I didn't understand what he was saying, so I just replied, 'I don't know.' He handed me a tract, and as soon as I saw the artwork, I knew who they were – Jehovah's Witnesses! I told them that I knew who they were, and had talked with some of them in the States. I shared how I've been studying Greek and Hebrew, and that their translation of The Bible has mistakes. I had the one younger guy open his 'Bible' to Colossians 1:16 and read the verse, which clearly shows Jesus created everything. Their 'translation' says Jesus created all 'other things,' for they believe Jesus was created... I told them that the Greek clearly shows Jesus made everything. The guy said, 'That's not right.' I replied, 'You say it's not right because your teaching says it's not right, but I'm telling you what the Greek says.' He again said that wasn't correct, so I asked him, 'Do you know Greek?' 'No,' he answered. So laughingly I said, 'Then how can you tell me what the Greek says?' He didn't reply. The Lord enabled me to also direct their attention to John 1:1. JW's 'translate' that verse to say that Jesus (The Word) was 'a god' – but not The God. Again, I shared how The Greek plainly says Jesus Is God. The older guy brought up how Moses was called 'god' in The Old Testament, and I opened up to Psalm 82, where God calls men 'gods,' and I said how God was clearly being sarcastic in that Psalm... and that what is needed is to find out if one who is called 'god' really has those characteristics. I went on, 'Jesus said He was The Alpha and Omega, The First and The Last, and so did The Father. If you said you were The Alpha and Omega...' the younger guy chimed in, saying, 'That wouldn't be right.' I agreed, and said, 'Jesus said The Father would raise Him, and He also said He Himself would raise Himself.' Interestingly enough, they told me that the 'Bible' they were using was The Old Testament (as Christians accept it), and that only The New Testament was their 'translation.' I said, 'That's because Your Old Testament isn't so different, but The New Testament is where you're different.' I said, 'You might not know a lot of your history, since the beginning was in the
The Lord blessed me to visit the Plieva family, and I gave an 'I love
I then went to teach Zaur (his 14-year-old brother, Khasan, was killed at the school). I asked Kazbek how he was, and he said something about not having a reason to live (if I correctly understood him. My Russian is much better, praise God, but far from perfect, and it's usually easier to understand when women speak... the men often speak faster and less clearly). I showed Zaur photos I had brought back with me; he likes the Cross Movements CD that God blessed me to give him before. He was looking through my notebook, and stumbled across some of the words I wrote for the Bsln Song. I had tried to translate them, so he read them in broken Russian, but I'm pretty sure he understood them. The lyrics (in English) say:
You've cried so many tears... more than I can ever count.
I wish that I could somehow do more... but who can change what
already was?
And so, I'm here to offer the hope that's changed my life.
Only the love of Jesus, God's Son, Whom He gave for our sake.
Faith, hope, love.
God has not forgotten your tears, and He has not forgotten you.
Pour out your hearts to Him – His love can heal every wound.
He knows the pain you feel... He watched His Son die.
He saw them nail Him to the cross.
He heard Jesus cry, 'Why have You forsaken Me?'
So let His arms embrace you as you weep, and let Him...'
I noticed again how visible the old school is from their window; I can't fathom how they can bear to see their younger son's place of death day after day, right next to their apartment.
February 3, 2006, Friday – My 'shabbat,' day of rest. Praise God for designating a day of rest. He so knew what He was doing, and I really feel refreshed. Glory be to Him! I went and visited Madina (who lost her 10 year-old brother, Marat, in the terrorist attack) and her family. Zalina (her mom) served me soup with big meatball-type things, and we had tea and talked. I watched some TV with Madina – and realized even more so how trashy MTV is... the 50 Cent video, Black Eyed Peas video, and so on. (In this modern age of 'enlightenment,' we usually don't do things as archaic as worship rocks and so forth. Instead, it's quite clear that the god so many now serve has a three letter name – sex.) They showed me their DVDs and told me to pick a film. I said it didn't really matter which... and I mentioned 'Gladiator.' Zalina said that had been her favorite film. I said, 'Let's watch it.' Then she explained. She had seen it before the terror attack, and she brought up the part where the fighter wept so much after his children had been killed. She remembers thinking how terrible that would be, as she watched the actor crying so hard. Now, she is without her 10 year old son... Marat was killed in the school massacre, and she implied/said that she can't watch that film anymore. (The more I get to know people here, the more I realize the devastation that they live with. Films, people, photos, songs, and foods bring back memories – sometimes pleasant ones, and other times just the reminder that their loved one is gone forever.) So obviously, I mentioned that we could pick another movie; we agreed on 'The Patriot,' and watched it. When Oleg (Zalina's husband) came home, he greeted me by calling me 'brother,' which they use for their male relatives and actual brothers. It's especially meaningful to hear him address me as such, and also when Zaur (who lost his only brother) calls me the same.
Jesus... The Only Answer for Bsln.
In Him,
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