Last post in Kurdistan?

Hello World!

During this trip, I have found that it takes quite a while for me to blog. Since it is only on the special occasions that I have free time with peace and quiet to refocus my thoughts, I have not been able to blog as much as I have wanted to. Many of the times I have blogged, I have had to confine myself to my uncle's study in the hopes I would write. Little has changed for this blog. Thankfully I have my journal to look at and copy from because it seems that it is even hard to remember what we did the previous day. Actually just this morning Kevin thought one of the things we did occurred Friday when in fact it occurred on Wednesday. So like usual, I will try and fill you in on what all has happened this past week.

We begin with Thursday of last week. Kevin and I both woke up with a burning desire to go out and just walk, to see where the spirit would lead us, praying the whole way. We ended up walking all around the bazaar and the back streets of Soran, hoping and praying that God would highlight certain people for us to pray for and to help but nothing really happened. So we kept walking, praying and blessing the people who walked by us. After several hours of this we sat down at a park which was located in a round-a-bout and just began to talk. We talked about our hopes for the day and we came to the obvious realization that prayer walking here is far from being a boring task. True we didn't see any "action" but by praying and blessing people, action will occur. You do not receive the things you do not ask for. We saw that praying over this place and these people was such an important role in the spreading of the gospel and the transformation of this city. God brought us here to work for Him. Whether we think it is big or small, work is still work and it will bring about mighty things. So we felt really encouraged that God was doing so much good here.

Later that day Kevin and I had the blessed opportunity to meet two very short Iranian sisters who have allowed God to work, resulting in thousands of conversions all over Iran. As we sat down with them, I could just tell that both had endured so much. I could see two miracles of God. Both were converted back in the 70's while attending universities in America and several years later received the call to go back to Iran to minister to their friends and family. This was during the revolution of Iran while thousands of Christians and non Christians were being killed, but this meant nothing to the sisters. Well knowing they could be tortured and killed, they went because God had called them and would protect them. I was in shock with the stories they told me. For sixteen years they walked throughout Iran with Gospels of Luke(penalty of 3 months in prison for each), Bibles(penalty of death), and several Jesus films(penalty of 80 lashes in public), and for sixteen years, guards would check the people of front and behind them, but never them. Not once were they caught. Talk about being fearless and having complete trust in the Lord. They went on to describe pastors who stood firm even when they were warned that if they should keep preaching, they would be captured, tortured and killed. Many of those pastors were indeed, captured, tortured, and killed, along with thousands of other Christians who were willing to give up their life for the sake of spreading the Gospel.

 I remember when I was younger, I would laugh at the idea that God could ever use a guy like me. Actually... still even today I often wonder why God would ever use me. I am in no way qualified to do any of His work.  But the words of Isaiah describe it perfectly. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." I see a weak man with little faith. How can one like myself be used? God sees me and says "Just what I need! I choose you!" What seemed an humorously impossible thing a couple years ago, God has provided to make it a possibility.  I think small, God thinks big... Just as we see these Iranian sisters: They are short women in patriarch society. None would ever consider the idea that they can be the tools to bring in thousands to Christ. But the same goes for you. You can do what these women did. You can cause change! You must stop thinking small and begin to ask and expect for big! Expect big things in your life! You think you may not have much to offer, but it is the opposite! God has huge plans for all of His children. Throw down your desires and your traditions. Be open-minded to His desires. Fill yourself with the Spirit and transform the world.

The sisters went on to say that now there are over a million believers in Iran. But this is a different batch of believers. My mind went back to America. Oh how I wish that we could compare. There is so much lukewarmness, complacency, and apathy in believers in America. Sometimes I just wish we had major persecution because then we would have something to lose (like our lives) for the sake of believing in Christ. How many are willing to be tortured for Christ? I dug deep into my heart to find an answer. The sisters brought so much good news, but with that good news came sad news about our own generation in America. Transformation needs to happen. 

I feel the reason why so many people, teens especially, fall away from church is because they never encountered the power of the Holy Spirit. You go to church, you sing your songs, pray, hear the word, maybe sing more songs and then leave. So with each of those things, the Holy Spirit needs to move. So this means for worship, instead of standing there, looking at the words and mouthing them, you lift your arms, close your eyes, focus on the Lord and sing loudly. Cry out to the Lord! Maybe even dance! Or dig into scripture and pray thankfulness to Him. And for prayer, instead of repeating the words, actually read and study the words. Cry out to God!! Get on your knees, and stop saying words in that monotone voice! How in the world can we worship and pray without being overwhelmed and awestruck with God?? Pray with one another, confess sins with one another. Pray that people may be healed in the expectation that God can heal instantly! As for preaching, take notes! Soak in what the pastor is speaking so that you may speak afterwards with those around you and marvel in the things that God has spoken to you. After Church, instead of leaving, commune with one another! Go to the prayer room and cry out to the Lord with one another. And after Sunday school (where you encourage and sharpen others), go to down town or a park in groups and talk with people! Love anyone and everyone that passes you. Meet people where they are at and share the gospel with them. Pray with them. Pray for anything on their heart. Then invite them to Sunday evening service! And when Sunday evening service rolls around, sit with those who are new. Try to find a time to meet with them during the week to help them with any questions they may have. Just love them! Those of you who are on fire for Christ, give your all for the furthering of His kingdom. Step out, be uncomfortable, change believers, change churches, change traditions, change hearts, change lives. We must truly be living sacrifices, tapping in to all the blessings and power that God has for us. It would be worthless to go into a battle without armor and a sword. You can do nothing apart from Christ.

I really don't have a good transition from that so I am just going to move on with Friday. Friday was a pretty solid day. We spent the whole day with Jesse and Bobby which was such a blessing. We went around in the bazaar, spent time with some Kurdish friends, then got ready for the night. Jesse's dad, Paul, asked several Kurdish guys over that evening to discuss God and Christianity. It was great. Two of them were not very religious, while the other claimed to be very religious. It was wonderful to see God work in all three of their hearts. The one religious guy put up quite the wall, but we showed nothing but love to him and by the end, he was asking to come back again. What a blessing. So keep in prayer for these three guys.

Saturday... What a day! We spent the last night over at the Tillman's so during midday we headed back to Billy's. I spent some time with my little cousins, playing risk (I totally dominated. Showed no mercy). At five is when things began to get interesting. Kevin and I met up with Fuad, Saman, Farhad, Fackere, and their friend Shamal who we had never met. We headed out to Gorhan Park. Shamal and I got off to a great start. Our conversations quickly moved to Christianity and Islam which lasted almost an hour. It was so wonderful. He is a very religious Muslim, but he was so curious about Christianity and what I believed. So I attempted to explain the gospel to Him and Lord willing, God planted a seed. Around ten thirty we arrived back at their dorms and Kevin headed back to the house. I decided to stay and I am glad I did. As others were cooking food, Fackere and I began to talk about Christianity, specifically the Holy Spirit. He had many questions and I truly hope they were answered. God has been blessing this time here. Over and over again He provides many ways in which we can show Christ's love.

Sunday came quickly and since I had stayed up till two, my mood was not the greatest. I had a really hard time with getting into my prayer, worship and studying that morning so instead of going out with Kevin and Jesse, I stayed back, spending even more time with the Lord in the hopes that He would change my mood. So by the grace of God, my mood did change and soon after we headed over to Jesse's for church. It was a wonderful time of fellowship... It is sad for me to leave it. At the end Kevin and I thanked everyone for putting up with us and encouraging us throughout this time, but I guess they wanted to keep encouraging us cause then they prayed for us. I really am thankful for them. They have sacrificed so much to reach these people. What a blessing it is to have people answer the call of God. I do hope that more will have the conviction to go out.

Finally comes today. Finally. Today was a day by ourselves. Billy and Dawn went with the kids to Hawler to renew their residency, so Kevin and I were home alone. PARTY! ha no. Well kinda. If you call singing worship songs loudly for several hours a party then yes, we did party. we partied hard. But after the party we ate my new favorite meal ever. Shwarma. Soooo goooood. After lunch our friend Jihad came over and we went with him for a cruise around the country-side. It is so beautiful here. The mountains now have a golden look to them from all the dried grass and the cliffs are simply breathtaking. For a couple hours we drove around. When we arrived back, we had just begun to relax when Fuad called to ask if we could see them. So after some hesitation, we went over to the dorms for a short while. They really are a wonderful group of guys. I am so blessed to have met them. It is sad to leave but I do hope to one day I can see them again. My prayers will remember them.

So there you go. That is a summary of my recent life. I only have tomorrow, Wednesday and part of Thursday here. Tomorrow is going to be kinda a chill day... spending much of the time with the Lord and the family. I will miss them so much. Seriously Uncle Bill and Aunt Dawn have been just the best. Aunt Dawn has not once cooked food that wasn't amazing and Billy has been such an encouragement to me. Both are just on fire for the Lord and are so blessed. I know God is working through them and I am so blessed to see first hand the life of a missionary. Their three boys, Peter, Andrew, and Jonathan are adorable. They have been the cause of so much joy in my life. Kevin and I have spent lots of time playing games like ninja, sandwich and tacos (where we would wrap them up and eat them), battle ship, pillow fights, monkey in the middle, risk, soccer and many more. I am so excited for the day when I can raise boys of my own to love. But thankfully until then, there are plenty of kids who are of need and love. Such as the ones here. Being able to love them and put smiles on their faces has been such an emotional event for me. As much as I love to have deep theological discussions with older kids, I will never pass up the opportunity to love a child.

As for Wednesday, our plan is to hike the tallest mountain here. It will be a wonderful "mountaintop" experience, so I am super pumped about that. Maybe in the airport on our way back we will post some of the pictures! Our plan is to leave the afternoon of Thursday, spend a night in Frankfurt, then get home at 8ish pm on Friday. So I'd like to thank you all that have read my blogs. Your feedback has been most encouraging. So thank you much. I hope to keep blogging even while being back in Ohio... Sharing my thoughts and what God is doing. So you can keep checking them out if you want. Well it is again, very late. So I must retire for the night.

Goodnight all!

-Jake

Days are flying by...

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."

Doing the best thing ever: Loving kids.

 

These kids were so adorable.

It rained... so the kids decided to give me a Kurdish hair-do

"PHOTO!"

This kid was a lot bigger than the others... but I couldn't leave him out of the fun!

Kevin got tackled! Down he goes...

King of the Hill!

So precious

My friend Shia. He is so cool! He can do sweet cartwheels.

I don't know why but I love this picture.

A random mix of photos!

A little boy having trouble with his bike. We were able to help him.

Our friend Jessica had her birthday! Woohoo!

Just about to play soccer with some Kurds. Such a fun game!

I would like to direct your attention to the million electrical wires in the background... all connected to that one pole.

On a walk with Fuad, Saman, Fackere, and Fahrad.

Friends!

This could be a band picture... What shall our band name be?

Waiting for a taxi...

On our way to a picnic with our friends!

We stopped at a little resort. It had a sweet waterfall! I really wanted to jump in...

Kevin and I with Jesse, Bobby, Toni, and Jessica!

I wanted to go in a boat.

Kurdistan Flag! (picture props to Kevin)

Our picnic destination!!! such a beautiful place.

They had shops all up and down the water.

Kevin couldn't resist. The water was very cold but so nice.

All the water came from an underwater cave from a mountain!! Scuba time?

So gorgeous.