Chilly, rainy fall days with the sound of ladies selling corn on the street, the smell of fresh popcorn, and many fall colors dance beneath my feet. Game nights, family meals, team meetings, and hosting fellowship always hold a pot of sweet lemon tea, a true sign that winter is upon us. Savory pumpkin pastries and dumplings fill the bazaars and clear vast mountains covered in snow surround the city like the hands of the Lord hold His people. It has been a slow month and I think that can be good. A long time coming cultural adjustment has made life here as normal as it can be, I have even started to recognize familiar faces in the places that I frequent. Students are deep into the semester and workers are all in their respective roles. All of the rain reminds me of home sweet Birmingham and I am missing sweet fall activities right now like my annual pumpkin painting party with foreigners. Oh how bittersweet it is to be in their shoes, a foreigner amidst the sea of locals. I feel like I am just getting over the 6 month language and culture slump that many people warned me about and 8 months has a nice ring to it.
I recently packed up my whole life here again and moved to the center of the city. My new teammates were my next door neighbors and we enjoyed many walks home together in their first 4 months. I helped onboard them while my leaders were away so moving away from them was pretty sad. The biggest change has been navigating a new neighborhood, public transport routes, and the big weather adjustment in this season. Moving has been one of the sweetest blessings and answered prayers as we have already been able to host many people over at the apartment. The sound of laughter that rings out while having guests over is music to my ears! I pray our home will always be a place that people can come to at any point for fellowship, food, or a safe space to express themselves. Once a week I have started working in an English class with 7 twelve-year-old boys. I don’t normally really like kids but they are so fun and I love watching them learn English while I am trying to learn their local language. They all call me Miss Nico and our fun banter has quickly become something I look forward to each week. One day on my way to their class I got caught in a hail and lightning storm with no umbrella. I laughed out loud and walked in the pouring rain smiling because I just felt so filled with the Spirit, a moment of joy from the Lord that I do not wish to shake.
The second language here is Russian and is probably used just as much or more than the local language because everyone knows it and there is an influx of Russian men here that have fled from the draft. I feel like I have to say I do not speak Russian almost everyday, which is funny because then I have to pretend I speak enough of the local language. One night I obliviously started teaching my roommate how to say “I love you” in a taxi, after a few repetitions the taxi driver said, “Okay, where are we going?” and we all erupted into laughter. There is a giant garden of persimmon trees behind the apartment that have been visibly ripe for awhile but we had no way of reaching them. One day we looked outside and there were no more trees. A man was on top of the tree cutting all of the branches down while people worked at the bottom to harvest the fruit. The man saw me peeking from my 2nd floor window and told me to open my screen, he then threw me a free kilo of persimmons one by one through my kitchen window. After one of the first days of rain since June we had our kitchen window open to let the fresh air in and a giant wolf spider decided to join me inside. I am petrified by spiders and had to call our landlord who lives upstairs to come down and kill it. Then there are the random moments like being served ice cream for breakfast or during dinner with our landlord’s family one of his little sisters started spinning their poor cat around on a giant conference table.
I don’t ever want to become numb to the things I am experiencing here, every good thing I have learned and every awkward situation I get myself into. I want to store them up and treasure them in my heart for this is truly such a crazy experience that will help me define the rest of my life. As many new people arrive to the field I have had so many flashbacks to my first few months here with my host family and language learning. Lately I have spent two really sweet days with my past host family filled with outdoor games, big hugs, and actually understanding and being able to hold conversations with them. I am praying that one day this will lead to sharing truth with them. Even if I do get some form of food poisoning almost every time I eat with them. As I finish Matthew, I am blown away by the holiness and power of the Lord. He truly was the answer to everything yet lived an anonymous and humble life practicing miracles and asked for no credit but glory to His Father alone. I want to be quick to trust Him and recognize His mightiness in my life. My team is currently memorizing “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” -Matthew 11:28 in the local language. The Lord has used these passages and certain circumstances to humble me. I am realizing just how blessed I am in so many different aspects of my life, even when times are lonely and hard, the Lord is good and His promises always ring true. I am so thankful for all of the letters I have from my supporters, I go back and read them often for encouragement when I need a pick me up. I have challenged myself recently to pray for the people who are sending me, some people do not have the same connections and support as I do and I cannot imagine not having the team that I do to back me up here.
I have been walking through some hard things with close friends recently; loneliness, family struggles, wrestling with whether or not to stay on the field or go home, team issues, and missing family. Discipleship and accountability are so important to me because I have reaped the rewards of strong women in my life that are willing to listen, so much more gets brought to the table when you have someone to ask the right questions. I am especially thankful for a family I have gotten close to here, they are from Alabama and have been such a good example of family, friends, and Godly mentors in my life recently. I just read a letter from one of you that had a quote from Elisabeth Elliot, “God has promised to supply all of our needs. What we don't have now, we don't need now.” How do these two things relate? Lately I have been feeling a sense of discontentment in my work here, constantly asking myself what I could do to be more intentional with relationships the Lord has given me. The Lord provides what we need in His due timing. We are not called to do better or to be more but to listen to the Lord our God, walk humbly, and to be obedient and faithful in what He calls us to. Recently a friend challenged me to write out all of my heart desires and to write a verse next to them of where the Lord is filling those things, of course there was not one left without His word next to it reminding me of His love for me.
I was walking through one of my favorite bazaar’s the other day picking up things and jokingly said “This feels like Target.” This is silly but actually a huge step in how far I have come during my time here. I used to hate going to things like this and now I can confidently go get many things I need and love it. My debit card was recently swallowed by a machine, it happens to everyone, and I was so determined to get it back that I went to 3 different locations, called many times, and even talked to the director. After 2 weeks I walked out of the main office with my card in hand, things feel better when you fight for them and do them yourself! A group of single girls dressed up as the 7 days of creation for Halloween, I was the 5th day, the fish of the sea and birds of the sky. My language has come leaps and bounds recently and I was able to somewhat explain all 7 days of the group photo to my language teacher. Recently she asked me the difference between the Bible and the Holy Book, Heaven and Paradise, and Christian and Catholic. I have never been more thankful for what I have learned and was able to share some truths in explaining each one. My friend here that is very close to following Jesus and loves to read his Bible was recently forced to marry a woman 10 years younger than him by his family. His best friend is a strong believer and as I complained to him that I wanted better for our friend he gently reminded me that the Lord would use it and that we should only be praying the will of the Lord over their lives.
Ruth :,)