Comforting Those Who Mourn
Update from Russia, 15. August 13th, 2007
Let me know Your ways, that I might know You! (Exodus 33:13)
8/6/07, Monday: Nahzee (the grandma I live with here) went to South Ossetia, and asked me to finish making the apple jam which she had started. To God’s glory, it turned out good! This is one of the benefits of living in small-town Russia: most people make their own jam, juice, & so forth. Mmm-mmm!
8/9/07, Thursday: Guitar and English lessons… Today I was blessed to get two packages my parents had mailed to me (thanks Mom and Dad)! Among other things (including candy which I and the kids here really enjoyed!), were two books which Joni had sent for two families I know here. I’m sure that the majority of you are familiar with Joni Eareckson Tada, whom The Lord has used in amazing ways to share the love of His Son, Jesus. When I was in the US, I wrote to Joni and told her about two people I know here who were paralyzed as a result of the Besln terrorist attack, and asked about materials in Russian. She freely sent two books for both of them (Diana and Natasha), as well as personally written cards for them. Praise God, and may He richly bless her for showing them her love and encouragement (thanks Joni)! And please pray that Jesus will touch both Diana and Natasha through these books. Diana is wheelchair-bound, and just graduated high school this summer. Natasha is a young mother of three, and now cannot walk. Please pray for Diana and Natasha. Joni has an amazing story, and is an amazing encouragement of trusting in God through the thick and thin. And recently, a friend here gave me a DVD of another absolutely amazing saint of God – his name is Nick Vujicic. Nick is a young man, perhaps 25 or so, who was born without arms or legs. Check out his web site at: lifewithoutlimbs.org, and you can read Nick’s story there as well as see photos and watch video. When I saw the DVD here, it was one of those ones which The Lord used to just bring me to tears. Nick is preaching The Gospel throughout the world, and he is another example of trusting in and loving Jesus no matter what. It’s quite easy to bless God when we have everything: but to be born without arms or legs and to still have that conquering spirit of faith in Jesus Christ – that is faith.
8/10/07, Friday: Taught little George and cousins (George is the little boy who survived the attack, but lost his whole family there). Gave them a box of Lemonheads which my parents sent, and George especially liked them. After our English lesson the kids went and played, and I talked for a while with George’s aunt (Marina) who now takes care of George. Marina told me that George’s mom had a scary dream a day or so before the terrorist attack happened: his mom saw a woman dressed in all black, and wearing a black veil. His mom called to check on an older relative, fearing the dream may have been about her; but it was actually about her herself, for she was killed in the attack just a few days later. (There are number of very strange ‘coincidental’ stories here of people who had nightmares and/or just didn’t want to go to school that morning.) Marina told me how George’s grandma wasn’t supposed to have been at the school that morning; his grandma had left for work, but the store where she worked at was closed, and so she went to the school since she knew her family was there. And there she also died.
8/11/07, Saturday: In our English lesson in Vladkavkz, the nearby city, we are going through Psalm 23. This week, we covered and discussed verse 4, and The Lord blessed us to not only look at the verse in English, but to take time to think about what’s written there. And I encourage you to do the same! For example, notice David’s use of ‘valley,’ ‘shadow,’ and ‘death.’ What do you think God was/is communicating through the use of those three words? And what are a Shepherd’s rod and staff for – and why do they comfort us? Also shared with them how I’ve heard that when shepherds have a sheep that continually wanders off, at times the shepherds themselves will actually break that sheep’s legs. What an apt picture for us to consider and take note of! There are times in our lives when God, out of His love and mercy, will actually ‘break our legs’ to keep us from wandering off into danger. If we continually disobey Him, and wander off, God is not afraid to hurt us in order to protect us for our own good. Such a drastic measure of course is not what a shepherd does right of the bat, just as The Lord Is Very Gracious with us, and doesn’t do the same immediately. However, we – like sheep – can be quite stupid creatures, and so the time does come when our Shepherd must ‘break our legs’ in order to save our lives. Parents do the same thing, though of course less drastically: at times, they must use pain in order to save their children from greater pain. If you have a little kid that keeps trying to touch a hot burner on the oven, would not the parent smack their hand or their behind in order to teach the child not to do so? And if the child again reaches for the burner, the following smack will be delivered with much more strength! What does that mean for us? Simply this: how wise we are to listen to God in the first place! And when we do do things in disobedience, how wise we are to heed His first smack!
8/12/07, Sunday: Visited with Madina and her family (who lost their 10 year old boy, Marat, in the terrorist attack). I had prayed earlier for an opportunity to share Jesus, and boy, The Lord heard! I was there for quite a while, & God gave an amazing time of talking w/ Zalina (Madina’s mom). She, like others here, used to believe in God, but have turned their backs on Him after the loss of their children. I was able to share about how I’ve find hope in Jesus, and how He’s changed me. Zalina asked why God doesn’t punish people, and why the wicked prosper; and she asked me to prove there will be justice, as well as to prove that eternity is real – but to do so without using The Bible. God blessed me to share something that C.S. Lewis wrote about in Mere Christianity: when we have a desire for something, there must be a real thing to satisfy that desire. For instance, we feel hunger and thirst… well, there are such things as food and drinks. So I used C.S.’ brilliant point: the fact that all people want to see justice when wrong is done, and that all people inside want life which lasts forever, those desires actually prove that those things must exist. And if we agree that we all want justice, but often don’t see justice on this earth, that in fact proves that there must be a ‘something after’ in which there will be justice. We talked about several matters, and I think The Lord helped Zalina understand some things - but for her, of course, it all comes back to having to live each day without her little boy. She said it actually gets harder for her the more that time passes, not easier. Please pray for Zalina, that The Lord would minister to her and reveal His love and His Son, Jesus, to her. In some ways, her attitude is sort of like Mary’s was when Lazarus died – that if The Lord had been there, her loved one would not have died (see John 11). And it is in this that I know The Lord has much grace for her. I’m not saying that Zalina, or anyone else, will get into Heaven without Christ because they’ve lived through great tragedy. I’m just saying that I believe that The Lord has extra grace for those who everyday dwell in sorrow, & wrestle with the questions of, “Why?” And that is why we should pray for these hurting people… that Jesus, in His great compassion & mercy, would woo them unto Himself. …When I left, little Alanka (Zalina’s younger daughter) asked me, ‘Will you visit us tomorrow?’ I answered that I had English classes, & then Alanka asked me her next question: ‘Will you visit us the day after?’ !! All praise & glory be to The Lord for the favor that He’s given.
On a different note, for those interested, I came across an interesting article on Fox’s website; an article which once again casts great doubt on the absurd theory of evolution. (It’s amazing how many people still believe this already-disproved child’s theory! But perhaps it’s not so hard to understand their belief after all – I mean, if evolution were true, then that would mean that we have no moral responsibility, and therefore we could live however we wanted. And that is precisely what most of our world wants to hear.) It’s available on FoxNews.com, & is called “Skull Suggests Two Early Humans Lived at Same Time.”
Please pray for:
*God to heal Aslan, a preacher here who has cancer;
*My dear friend David Lister’s mom, Jean, who was recently rushed to the hospital;
*Jesus to soften Zalina’s heart, and bring her and all her family to faith in Him;
*My brother in The Lord and friend as well, Matt Prather, who’s serving Jesus in Jordan – pray especially for The Lord to help him learn the language (Arabic);
*Lyn Royle, who serves God in South Africa – she has pneumonia, & what looks like 3 cysts on her lung;
*The Lord to touch Diana & Natasha through Joni’s books, and His blessings on Joni and her ministry;
*Nigel Nicholson, Moriel Ministry’s New Zealand Administrator, who just lost his wife to cancer;
*The new CD I’m working on.
Thank you for all your prayers & support of this ministry – this update shows your share in this labor, and so: rejoice! How Majestic is The Name of YHWH our Lord, and all of the glory belongs to Him!
He Is Worthy,
jason, jalazone7@yahoo.com
Let me know Your ways, that I might know You! (Exodus 33:13)
