Hey everyone,
Yet again, I haven't written anything for a while now. Recently, days really have been going by very fast. I am always astonished on how quickly the night comes. The past several days have been quite the mix of emotions. I think right now I am trying to live ignorant to the fact that I will be leaving in a week. I am excited to come home to see you all and share with you with what God is doing in my life and here in Kurdistan, but I desire to be here longer. There is so much work to be done. This is a city with only a handful of believers. So if you have a desire to go somewhere and see God move in powerful ways... ;) I just might be able to hook you up!
Well on to what we have been doing. I guess I will begin with last Thursday. I would say it was probably the most brutal and busiest days I have had here. I woke up late, took my shower and began to do devotions up in the prayer room when Uncle Bill runs up to tell me I have work to do. I come to find out that we were going to build a garden! How exciting. But since he was in a hurry, I was not able to eat my usual breakfast: super thick yogurt (looks exactly like ice cream) with oats and bananas... So what made this garden so hard and time consuming was that we were going to make it out of concrete bricks while pouring concrete into the cracks. After about 3 or 4 hours under the sun we had finished the wall! I was most excited to finish, eat and then nap, but not 2 hours later, Billy walks in to announce that he had bought tiles for the basement. So we walk outside to find that Billy have bought over 1,500 sq. ft. of tile which was carried in by two very low riding trucks. To look on the happy side, I got a great workout. But the day ended wonderfully when Aunt Dawn made Mexican food and frappucinnos for dessert.
Friday, being the holy day, Kevin and I were able to relax, spending most of our time in the prayer room. Saturday was a similar day. We spent the morning in the prayer room, praying, worshiping, and doing devotions. Afterwards we felt a call to go to the bazaar and prayer walk. So we spent the rest of the day out prayer walking. Kevin and I have felt the language barrier has been a double edged sword. We can't speak to people about Christ when we don't have a translator, but on the other side, we can pray over people all we want and they will never know and get offended! So that is what we did. It is so cool to just go out and walk around, having no set plan, just walking and go where ever the Spirit leads you.
Through this trip I have come to higher understanding on how amazing prayer is. As I talked about in my last letter, when you understand the raw power you have when you call on your Heavenly Father, you will begin to ask for big...seemingly impossible things to happen. That is what we are called to do. Matthew 21:21-22, "And Jesus answered them, 'Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do no doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Betaken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.'" So I have begun to become more confident that my prayers are heard and that God will respond to me. I expect big things.
On to Sunday. Kevin and I prayer walked, worked around the house and then we had Church with different Christian families. After worshiping and praying, the conversation was guided by the Spirit and we began to discuss the fairness and mercy of God. It is great to look at God and worship Him for not giving us what we deserve. We get offended that God is not fair... but we should remember that God could've just put us all to hell... So let us praise Him! Let us go out and proclaim His name so others can be saved!
After church , Kevin, Jesse, and I went over to see Fuad, Saman, and Farhad. We tried to bring up Christ but the conversation didn't get very far. But we did not get discouraged! We knew that it was a time to just build the relationship with these guys.
Monday came around and soon Kevin and I were off to go to the Bazaar with Fuad, Saman, Fackere, and Farhad. Once again, it was a wonderful time and the Lord blessed our talks. Fackere is my main focus out of the group. He is always asking about Christianity and what we believe. I have been praying a lot for him that he would stay connected with the Christians here. Though this was a good time, I must confess that both Kevin and I failed with answering the Holy Spirit.
While we were walking in the Bazaar with the guys, a mentally handicapped man walked up to us and shook our hands. At once I felt a call to stop and pray for this man. But the Kurdish guys pushed him away, grabbing our hands to walk on. My mind kept going back to the man. I prayed to the Lord that He would change his life, but I did not find peace. Later, out of crowd, the man appeared again. My eyes shot to Kevin and his back at me. We both had in our hearts the call to place our hands on him and pray. But as he walked up, the Kurdish guys pushed him away calling him crazy and began to pull us away. Instead of stopping and going after the man to pray for him, Kevin and I both let it go and walked on. Here was a man truly in need, but we did not help. We did not love. We did not show compassion. We did not lay hands and pray.
I know I do this with almost every letter, but I don't know where else to put it. This event just described has been hitting me very hard. Here I am in Kurdistan... here to love those who are poor in physical and spiritual ways, but in that moment I failed. Now I am not saying that my prayer was going to completely change his whole life... but it could have. Don't believe me? Read back in my last letter about the power of prayer. But here is the thing, as Christians we are called to love and show compassion. This does not mean "do one good turn daily"... no this means all the time. All the time God's love, mercy, grace, and compassion should be flowing through us like a river onto those around us. God clearly speaks about thee needy all over the Bible. Deuteronomy 10:12 "He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing." Psalm69:32-33 "When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoner." Psalm 147:3 "He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds." Psalm 67:5 " Father of the fatherless and protector of the widows." Psalm 146:9 "The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless." Just to name a few...
God has a heart for those who are in need. What is our main goal as Christians? To be like Christ. If God has a heart for the needy, so must we. Luke 14:12-14 "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite you friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you." So... these people are in need. This verse specifically talks about those in physical need. So for today, that means picking up the homeless down the street, taking them back to your house and giving them food, or giving those in need food at a shelter or on the side of the road. This means when ANYONE who is in physical need, big or small, you help and you love. So many times we turn our faces away. That is not what Christians are supposed to do. Why would we turn away from someone in need when they could ultimately be drawn to Christ by our good actions and love towards them. It doesn't make any sense. Our focus shouldn't be to help those who are rich or "cool" in order to get something back but instead we are to help anyone and every one who is need, expecting and desiring nothing in return.
But is God speaking only about those in physical need? I highly doubt it. As a Christian, anyone who is not saved is in need; A need much greater than any physical need. So, obviously, since this need is much greater, Christians are more caring and loving to reach out to them right? When a known drug user comes to church, Christians will reach out to him or her and love them right? What about a homosexual? A pedophile? Murderer? Would you reach out to them? Would you sit next to them in church? Would you show them love? Or maybe lets take it a step further. Lets say these people never took the step to come to church. Would you GO OUT and reach them? Would you purposely place you life in harms way to reach others, to extend God's kingdom? How far are you willing to go? your neighbor's house? Your town? The ghetto? What will you be willing to sacrifice? Your money? Your time? Your reputation? Your life?
So you may be wondering whether this is all really that important. Well here is a verse that really struck out to me. Ezekiel 16:49, "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy, thus they were haughty and committed abominations before me. There I removed them when I saw it." Do you see that? What caused all of their destruction was that they did not help the poor and needy. That is where it all begins. Once this happens, we build this prideful attitude where we begin to think, "We can't associate ourselves with those people and love them. My reputation would be ruined." Did Jesus care about what people thought of Him? Absolutely not. All He cared about was pleasing His Father.
So what is in store for us if we don't begin to show a flood of love, grace, mercy, and compassion to those in need? Proverbs 21:13 "If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." Exodus 22: 21-24 "You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless." James 2:13 "For judgement is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy."
So why has God made this such an important thing? Psalm 8:2 " Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes." God uses the small, the weak, the needy, to shame the big, the strong, and the rich. All to bring the greatest glory to God. To see the weak become strong. Out of the mount of babies and infants... The weakest of us all are used to proclaim the word of God.
So remember who you are, what you were, and what you could have been. Know there are millions upon millions who are in need of love. All around the world. All around the nation. All around the cities. All around your communities. All around your church. So many are struggling physically, mentally and spiritually. Allow God's river of love to flow through you onto everyone you see. Acts 2 talks about the beginning church. It says "they found favor among all people." Everyone saw the great impact the Christians had in the community. Let us follow in their steps.
Well it seems these keep getting longer and longer... and the night is getting later and later. So I will continue with my thoughts at a later time. On to Tuesday! It was a relaxing day. Kevin and I went along with Jesse, Bobby, Jessica, Toni, and others on a picnic! We were able to see some more of the beautiful places of Kurdistan. God really has richly blessed this place.
So now comes today... Finally! ha. Last night right before I fell asleep, my heart and thoughts went to the Children living near the Community Center. It has been several days since we have played with them and blessed them with God's love. I became very sad that I had spent more time with them in the past couple days. I really felt a calling to go out today and to love them. So as I laid there last night, it seemed as if Christmas was the next day because I was just so excited that I couldn't fall asleep. But the morning did come and soon after eating my yogurt and oats, Kevin and I rushed out there. It was a great time. We spent several hours with them. Such a wonderful sight. As we picked up different kids, we would pray for them that they would be saved. If they had any physical infirmities, we prayed that God would heal. I pray that God will transform this place. Afterwards we were able to eat and take a quick nap. Tonight Uncle Bill took us up to the city Rwandz, where we went to a small resort which had bumper cars, a roller coaster, ferris wheel, and a beautiful garden. It was right on the edge of a huge gorge. What a sight!
Well this concludes this super long letter. If you made it I congratulate you! I hope I able to give you an idea of life here. There is much more I could talk about but I think it would be wise to wrap this up... save every thing else for a later time. I have been praying for back home. I really hope God is stirring in hearts to transform communities and churches. Keep in prayer that God would work in the hearts of the children and the group of Kurdish guys. I hope everything is going well with you all! If you anything I can pray for just me know!
Till next time,
Jake
"All to You I surrender, everything, every part of me. All to you I surrender, all of my dreams, all of me."
Yet again, I haven't written anything for a while now. Recently, days really have been going by very fast. I am always astonished on how quickly the night comes. The past several days have been quite the mix of emotions. I think right now I am trying to live ignorant to the fact that I will be leaving in a week. I am excited to come home to see you all and share with you with what God is doing in my life and here in Kurdistan, but I desire to be here longer. There is so much work to be done. This is a city with only a handful of believers. So if you have a desire to go somewhere and see God move in powerful ways... ;) I just might be able to hook you up!
Well on to what we have been doing. I guess I will begin with last Thursday. I would say it was probably the most brutal and busiest days I have had here. I woke up late, took my shower and began to do devotions up in the prayer room when Uncle Bill runs up to tell me I have work to do. I come to find out that we were going to build a garden! How exciting. But since he was in a hurry, I was not able to eat my usual breakfast: super thick yogurt (looks exactly like ice cream) with oats and bananas... So what made this garden so hard and time consuming was that we were going to make it out of concrete bricks while pouring concrete into the cracks. After about 3 or 4 hours under the sun we had finished the wall! I was most excited to finish, eat and then nap, but not 2 hours later, Billy walks in to announce that he had bought tiles for the basement. So we walk outside to find that Billy have bought over 1,500 sq. ft. of tile which was carried in by two very low riding trucks. To look on the happy side, I got a great workout. But the day ended wonderfully when Aunt Dawn made Mexican food and frappucinnos for dessert.
Friday, being the holy day, Kevin and I were able to relax, spending most of our time in the prayer room. Saturday was a similar day. We spent the morning in the prayer room, praying, worshiping, and doing devotions. Afterwards we felt a call to go to the bazaar and prayer walk. So we spent the rest of the day out prayer walking. Kevin and I have felt the language barrier has been a double edged sword. We can't speak to people about Christ when we don't have a translator, but on the other side, we can pray over people all we want and they will never know and get offended! So that is what we did. It is so cool to just go out and walk around, having no set plan, just walking and go where ever the Spirit leads you.
Through this trip I have come to higher understanding on how amazing prayer is. As I talked about in my last letter, when you understand the raw power you have when you call on your Heavenly Father, you will begin to ask for big...seemingly impossible things to happen. That is what we are called to do. Matthew 21:21-22, "And Jesus answered them, 'Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do no doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Betaken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.'" So I have begun to become more confident that my prayers are heard and that God will respond to me. I expect big things.
On to Sunday. Kevin and I prayer walked, worked around the house and then we had Church with different Christian families. After worshiping and praying, the conversation was guided by the Spirit and we began to discuss the fairness and mercy of God. It is great to look at God and worship Him for not giving us what we deserve. We get offended that God is not fair... but we should remember that God could've just put us all to hell... So let us praise Him! Let us go out and proclaim His name so others can be saved!
After church , Kevin, Jesse, and I went over to see Fuad, Saman, and Farhad. We tried to bring up Christ but the conversation didn't get very far. But we did not get discouraged! We knew that it was a time to just build the relationship with these guys.
Monday came around and soon Kevin and I were off to go to the Bazaar with Fuad, Saman, Fackere, and Farhad. Once again, it was a wonderful time and the Lord blessed our talks. Fackere is my main focus out of the group. He is always asking about Christianity and what we believe. I have been praying a lot for him that he would stay connected with the Christians here. Though this was a good time, I must confess that both Kevin and I failed with answering the Holy Spirit.
While we were walking in the Bazaar with the guys, a mentally handicapped man walked up to us and shook our hands. At once I felt a call to stop and pray for this man. But the Kurdish guys pushed him away, grabbing our hands to walk on. My mind kept going back to the man. I prayed to the Lord that He would change his life, but I did not find peace. Later, out of crowd, the man appeared again. My eyes shot to Kevin and his back at me. We both had in our hearts the call to place our hands on him and pray. But as he walked up, the Kurdish guys pushed him away calling him crazy and began to pull us away. Instead of stopping and going after the man to pray for him, Kevin and I both let it go and walked on. Here was a man truly in need, but we did not help. We did not love. We did not show compassion. We did not lay hands and pray.
I know I do this with almost every letter, but I don't know where else to put it. This event just described has been hitting me very hard. Here I am in Kurdistan... here to love those who are poor in physical and spiritual ways, but in that moment I failed. Now I am not saying that my prayer was going to completely change his whole life... but it could have. Don't believe me? Read back in my last letter about the power of prayer. But here is the thing, as Christians we are called to love and show compassion. This does not mean "do one good turn daily"... no this means all the time. All the time God's love, mercy, grace, and compassion should be flowing through us like a river onto those around us. God clearly speaks about thee needy all over the Bible. Deuteronomy 10:12 "He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing." Psalm69:32-33 "When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoner." Psalm 147:3 "He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds." Psalm 67:5 " Father of the fatherless and protector of the widows." Psalm 146:9 "The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless." Just to name a few...
God has a heart for those who are in need. What is our main goal as Christians? To be like Christ. If God has a heart for the needy, so must we. Luke 14:12-14 "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite you friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you." So... these people are in need. This verse specifically talks about those in physical need. So for today, that means picking up the homeless down the street, taking them back to your house and giving them food, or giving those in need food at a shelter or on the side of the road. This means when ANYONE who is in physical need, big or small, you help and you love. So many times we turn our faces away. That is not what Christians are supposed to do. Why would we turn away from someone in need when they could ultimately be drawn to Christ by our good actions and love towards them. It doesn't make any sense. Our focus shouldn't be to help those who are rich or "cool" in order to get something back but instead we are to help anyone and every one who is need, expecting and desiring nothing in return.
But is God speaking only about those in physical need? I highly doubt it. As a Christian, anyone who is not saved is in need; A need much greater than any physical need. So, obviously, since this need is much greater, Christians are more caring and loving to reach out to them right? When a known drug user comes to church, Christians will reach out to him or her and love them right? What about a homosexual? A pedophile? Murderer? Would you reach out to them? Would you sit next to them in church? Would you show them love? Or maybe lets take it a step further. Lets say these people never took the step to come to church. Would you GO OUT and reach them? Would you purposely place you life in harms way to reach others, to extend God's kingdom? How far are you willing to go? your neighbor's house? Your town? The ghetto? What will you be willing to sacrifice? Your money? Your time? Your reputation? Your life?
So you may be wondering whether this is all really that important. Well here is a verse that really struck out to me. Ezekiel 16:49, "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy, thus they were haughty and committed abominations before me. There I removed them when I saw it." Do you see that? What caused all of their destruction was that they did not help the poor and needy. That is where it all begins. Once this happens, we build this prideful attitude where we begin to think, "We can't associate ourselves with those people and love them. My reputation would be ruined." Did Jesus care about what people thought of Him? Absolutely not. All He cared about was pleasing His Father.
So what is in store for us if we don't begin to show a flood of love, grace, mercy, and compassion to those in need? Proverbs 21:13 "If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." Exodus 22: 21-24 "You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless." James 2:13 "For judgement is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy."
So why has God made this such an important thing? Psalm 8:2 " Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes." God uses the small, the weak, the needy, to shame the big, the strong, and the rich. All to bring the greatest glory to God. To see the weak become strong. Out of the mount of babies and infants... The weakest of us all are used to proclaim the word of God.
So remember who you are, what you were, and what you could have been. Know there are millions upon millions who are in need of love. All around the world. All around the nation. All around the cities. All around your communities. All around your church. So many are struggling physically, mentally and spiritually. Allow God's river of love to flow through you onto everyone you see. Acts 2 talks about the beginning church. It says "they found favor among all people." Everyone saw the great impact the Christians had in the community. Let us follow in their steps.
Well it seems these keep getting longer and longer... and the night is getting later and later. So I will continue with my thoughts at a later time. On to Tuesday! It was a relaxing day. Kevin and I went along with Jesse, Bobby, Jessica, Toni, and others on a picnic! We were able to see some more of the beautiful places of Kurdistan. God really has richly blessed this place.
So now comes today... Finally! ha. Last night right before I fell asleep, my heart and thoughts went to the Children living near the Community Center. It has been several days since we have played with them and blessed them with God's love. I became very sad that I had spent more time with them in the past couple days. I really felt a calling to go out today and to love them. So as I laid there last night, it seemed as if Christmas was the next day because I was just so excited that I couldn't fall asleep. But the morning did come and soon after eating my yogurt and oats, Kevin and I rushed out there. It was a great time. We spent several hours with them. Such a wonderful sight. As we picked up different kids, we would pray for them that they would be saved. If they had any physical infirmities, we prayed that God would heal. I pray that God will transform this place. Afterwards we were able to eat and take a quick nap. Tonight Uncle Bill took us up to the city Rwandz, where we went to a small resort which had bumper cars, a roller coaster, ferris wheel, and a beautiful garden. It was right on the edge of a huge gorge. What a sight!
Well this concludes this super long letter. If you made it I congratulate you! I hope I able to give you an idea of life here. There is much more I could talk about but I think it would be wise to wrap this up... save every thing else for a later time. I have been praying for back home. I really hope God is stirring in hearts to transform communities and churches. Keep in prayer that God would work in the hearts of the children and the group of Kurdish guys. I hope everything is going well with you all! If you anything I can pray for just me know!
Till next time,
Jake
"All to You I surrender, everything, every part of me. All to you I surrender, all of my dreams, all of me."
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