10/30-11/12

Mackenzie Hancock
Nov 17, 2022
3 min read

Winter has finally settled over Central Asia and I got to see snow the other day. This is not my first time seeing snow, I am from Pennsylvania, but it was a nice reminder of the seasons changing and time passing.

Tourist Time!

I had the opportunity to go on a tour to a lake and canyon in Central Asia. I was surprised to learn my love for and fascination with canyons.

The tour was all in Russian so I didn't learn too much but I did get to sit in the beauty and marvel at God's goodness in creating these pieces of land.

Prayer Night

The staff here held a Prayer Night at our house for all of the believers connected to our ministry. It was so awesome. The theme was "Be Still and Know that I am God" after Psalm 46:10.

Through the message, we heard various people talk about living out this verse.

"Be still" so often we are go, go, go. We don't like to sit in silence or with nothing to do. In order to truly connect with God, it requires that we quiet our minds and our hearts. That we set aside time to meet with Him. That we sit in His presence.

"Know that I am God" how often do we rely on ourselves? How often do we forget God's power and sovereignty? How often do we forget to ask God in at all? Knowing that He is God means knowing who He is, what He has done, and what He calls us to.

That evening, I also got to share my testimony. Because most of the people at the Prayer Night didn't speak English, and I don't speak Russian, there was someone translating for me. This was my first time giving an extended talk and being translated after every sentence. It was a new experience for sure! I really appreciated everyone's willingness to make the story of God working in my life shared with everyone at Prayer Night.

Ministry

Most of our ministry in Central Asia goes like this: meet students at English talking clubs, invite them out for coffee or a meal later in the week and get to know them, after a bit of time and prompting by the Spirit we start conversations about spiritual things and possibly share the Gospel. I have had the opportunity to build relationships with a few students while in Central Asia and even share the Gospel with two students!

Another part of our ministry is Home Group! On Wednesday nights we hold English Bible study at our house. We have invited some students from talking club to Bible study who are not believers. Both of them have thought a lot about spirituality and philosophy and have a lot of questions for us. It has been really cool to see how the Holy Spirit uses us to answer their questions. We even have a student coming over tonight to have more spiritual and philosophical conversations!

On Friday afternoons, the staff team and the Gap Year team go out together to share the Gospel with the people around! Sometimes we share on university campuses, sometimes we share in malls.

Here is a photo of JP and I right before going sharing:

It has been incredible to see the way that God is moving in Central Asia. So far, we've shared the Gospel with 63 people!

Fun Times!

Every week, Kathryn and I get brunch and catch up. As the leaders of the trip, we manage all of the daily tasks of this trip. Our weekly brunches are such an encouraging and fun time for me.