It’s been another month of ATL (ask the Lord) and from my understanding the last one, for the last two countries will be with hosts which I’m beyond excited about. The next country is Armenia followed by Kyrgyzstan.
The first two times of ATL were hard in the sense that I was growing and it was a struggle to go up and talk to people. However, God still used me in both of those months of ATL and I got to see some crazy God moments. One of those was going on a prayer walk, leaving to go back to where I was staying at after following the tightness in my gut on which way to walk to. The following days involved going to church and then meeting with the Pastor’s family on that same road that I ended up stopping at before going back home after the prayer walk.
This time of ATL has been different. Two teams have been in Batumi and two teams have been in Tblisi. I can’t speak for the other teams or anyone on my team. However, personally for me this final time of ATL has been the hardest. I think part of it has to do with Russia invading Ukraine. Here is why, it’s been slightly difficult to find a place to stay at for some, as Georgians have a strong disliking or hate towards Russians. I state this because of multiple reasons. One, some actually do think we are Russian so it’s been hard in that sense when it comes to finding a place to stay and when it comes to walking around and trying to talk with people. Another reason I bring this up is because people from Russia and Belarus are actually fleeing to places like Georgia, Turkey and Armenia because of the invasion that took place. So for them that are fleeing it indeed is rough because many places here don’t want to rent out to Russians. That has been made clear to both of the teams who are in Batumi. Why do they have this hatred towards Russians? It is because of them being at war in the past with Russia and being in and out of conflict with Russia. Everything going on now with Ukraine has added to that fuel as many protests have taken place here. Mainly in Tblisi. It’s been quite hard this month of ATL. I’ve gotten many devious looks from people.
I’ve made contacts with some people in Batumi, but it has been hard trying to stay in communication with them. I’ve done my part in trying to reach out to continue to hang out but I’ve been left on read and it’s been a week now. I’ve messaged multiple times. I tried to even reach out to someone by using my friends WhatsApp (as I don’t have it anymore, been locked out). That has been difficult as he’s been instantly joining everything ministry wise and not ministry wise. So I haven’t been able to really contact the person I got the WhatsApp number for. I also sent the person I met a picture of what my Facebook looks like on WhatsApp, but still nothing. No add or message from him.
Both of the teams here in Batumi did end up partnering with a local church though and it’s been good and fruitful within that. They have many ministry opportunities. This includes homeless ministry, anti-trafficking ministry (involves resources from Exodus Cry), English clubs, youth and even a school for the kids who are illiterate and begging on the streets because there is prejudice and racism towards their people group (Kurdish- they are specifically Azerbaijani Kurds).
It’s also been hard in another sense as I have been physically abused by a woman hitting me who was trying to sell me something and I kindly refused and tried to walk away. The lady who hit me as I found out later on down the road while working with the church my team has partnered with is actually Kurdish from Azerbaijan. My team was told that the ladies could get aggressive when we ended up signing our names on some documents to join and partner with the church for ministry.
So this has been my experience doing ATL this month with ministry. The challenges are not stopping me though, and I continue to learn and grow on how to interact with the people here as God has put this country on my heart. With that being said I’m still fundraising as well and need your help to finish out this World Race strong. I just have $2,998 left until I’m fully funded. If you feel led to donate please do so where it says “donate!” and I thank you for joining me along in this journey and being with me through this journey. Continue to pray for me as I continue to learn and grow in ministry and grow in my relationship with the Lord.
Sometimes I think about how you are doing and how difficult a particular country or city is to minister in. I also think about how open the people are to hearing the Gospel. Thank you for speaking to that. Here’s my favorite sentence in this blog, “the challenges are not stopping me though, and I continue to learn and grow on how to interact with the people here as God has put this country on my heart.” Love it. Love you!