Kazakhstan, Oskemen 15-19 June, Yeldos

Trip purpose:  Training for church planting movement at missionary school. 
 

The situation, interesting story or testimony of what you learned from the Lord:

    This week in Ust Kamenogorsk it was especially cold. By nature it should be summer with heat, already the middle of June, and in the courtyard the temperature just reached freezing. Not only on the street but also inside it was necessary to sit in jackets and to dress in a warm sweater. Some townspeople living in private houses managed to heat furnaces again.

      However at school, it was a "hot time" for the students. Every day they worked in groups, visited city markets, did homework and every morning one question "What have you learned of God in the last 24 hours?"  In total, 24 people were trained. They are students from seven Kazakh speaking fellowships, trained in the school for missionary preparation.

 

Phrases students shared in the end of the course:

About the prayer walk in the market:

    "I realized that spiritual warfare is real. During my prayer walk I passed by a lady, she seemed to be waiting for a word but I paid no attention to her because when I passed by my attention was drawn to her very bright and brilliant dress."

 

    "It came home to me that I have absolutely no pity for people who live near me. I can come a hundred times into the same shop and not only do I not know the name of the seller at all, neither do I look at his face.  Now I understand that I can know this seller and he can be my person of peace." 

 

About evangelism and discipleship:

    "Before this course I thought that my problem was simply to evangelize the person or to bring him to church. The rest was the work for my pastor or other leaders. Now I understand that it is not enough to seek only for repentance, but it is my responsibility that this person grows as a true disciple of Jesus Christ."

 

About the course in general:

    "These themes were not new to me.  But what has hooked me is the sequence of the fields. I come into one field and I see all the cycle, yet I will not transfer it to another."

 

Though the initial purpose of this training is the transfer of skills, there is also the role occupied with character development. I am pleased that the system for this school of missionaries is centered on constant formation of Christian character, beginning with general prayer at 7:00 a.m. for six days a week, class until lunch, work at a factory until evening and a night service in one of the cell groups. 

     One student has shared that he was not able to take any application from the course or from Bible study in the mornings. On the weekend, as a class we met in groups to share communion. When there was the appeal for each to check his heart condition, this student rose and approached another in the audience, began to cry and ask for forgiveness from him. Evidently for a long time they had an offense against each other and unforgiveness towards each other. The Lord was concerned for their hearts and has shown the importance of the application of His precepts, first of all to each other. - Eldos