Like I said in my last blog, we had learned that the woman didn’t go into the cafe or restaurants—instead, they spent their days at home or at each other’s homes with an occasional trip to the market.
We wanted so badly to connect with the women there but had yet to do so. Claran noticed a lady in the house across from us stacking wood one day on our way to the market; but when we came back home, the woman was gone, so she told us, “if that lady is there tomorrow, I’ll stop and help her.” Sure enough, the next day, the woman was out gathering and stacking wood. We tried asking if we could help but she didn’t understand so Claran jumped in and just started helping stack; the woman finally understood what we were asking and laughed while letting us help. The next thing we knew, a teenaged girl (I’ll call her “A”) and another woman appeared out an upper window; and the girl spoke basic ENGLISH!!
She told us that her mother was the one we were helping and her aunt was the woman beside her in the window. Introductions were made and we continued to help stack and sweep up the sawdust. Afterwards, her mother was concerned about us freezing and invited us into her home.
Our new English speaking friend, A made us Turkish coffee, served us treats, and introduced us to her grandmother who was also there—grandma became very comfortable with us quickly; lounging and laughing with us. The women were very concerned about our warmth and gifted us with scarves, socks, and other items to help with the cold.
We sat in their sitting room for hours laughing through our language barriers, getting to know each other with A as our translator and, just like everyone else we’d met, they were baffled at why we had chosen to come to their little village. We explained because that’s where God told us to go; they understood (to a degree) what we were talking about. I was very open and honest about us being Christians and A said she was excited because she’d never had Christian friends before! We almost cried—the whole experience was an answer to prayer!! We had been praying for solid connection and relationship with women in Restelicë and here we were befriending 3 of them.
A asked us during a later visit what Christmas is like in America. She said she’d seen photos on Pinterest and was fascinated by our traditions (perfect open door to talk about Jesus as our Savior!). She said it was one of her favorite holidays although they don’t celebrate it the way we do. We proceeded to tell her about children’s pageants and plays that tell the birth of Jesus, the way we celebrate it as Christians and why, and then our own family traditions. She was excited and told us she would love to see a Christmas play someday…later, I found out that one of my teammates was interceding while we were there and specifically prayed that Jesus would be brought up in conversation!
We made her Christmas cards before we left the village and I continue to believe that she will come to know Jesus and that the mosques in that village will become churches for the revival that will be birthed there.
—During our prayer burns at night—
One of the first nights, a THICK fog settled over the whole village and covered every inch—you couldn’t even see lights on the mosques and it just got thicker as we went on (did I mention we had really been fixated on the lyric “come in like a fire, come in like a flood, I don’t care what it looks like”?). It was almost completely gone when the sun rose.
One of the last nights, the side of the mountain had fire coming down it, coming closer to the village and we thought we might need to evacuate at first…but in the morning, there was no evidence of a fire ever being there.
God left at least one of us little notes almost every night we prayed, constantly confirming that He was doing something.
It’s easy to feel discouraged when you’re not seeing the harvest. When you’re not leading people in the prayer of salvation or really even getting to share the Gospel—but planting a seed and showing up expecting God to move even if it’s after you’ve left the situation—that takes a big dose of faith and trust. If you’re in a season of planting or waiting, know that He is with you and for you.
Prayer Requests:
I may be back home but M Squad is still out doing ministry and traveling. Prayers for protection, direction, provision, and God to give dreams and visions of what’s to come for them as they prepare to come back home in the next few months.
Prayers for their ministry and the people they come in contact with.
I’m continuing to fundraise and need to be fully funded by May 25th. When that goal is met, I’ll get to go visit them for their final debrief!! Prayers for funds to come in—DO IT AGAIN, LORD!!
Continued prayers for me as I dream and discern who, what, when, where is next for my life/ministry.
