Even our Stuff - February 2008

Aloha from Arctic Almaty!

Back in 1990 Bishop Maseri Kauma asked Mark to preach in a Bible Conference at Namirembe Cathedral in Kampala from what seemed at the time a rather strange text:

There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him." So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer. Ezra 8:21-23

As we carried our suitcases up the dark stairwell and into our apartment here in Almaty early one morning a couple weeks ago we thought of God’s goodness. The God who long ago carried the Hebrews from Persia had brought us back to Central Asia. The suitcases we had fussed over --- get as much in there as you’re allowed! --- had winged their way with us across the Pacific, across China, and into Almaty airport. It is hard to say whether those God-fearing migrants carried any Starbuck’s Coffee, Hawaiian calendars, or Old Spice Deodorant (manly smell and easy on the armpits….aaargh!). But surely they looked to Him – the giver of every good gift – as they planned, packed, and pressed on across the miles. God is good…even in the details of our life journey.

Few American Evangelicals today even have a ‘Theology of Stuff’ – perhaps because most of us are convicted that we have too much of it. But surely we must know that He is our Giver and Keeper. (Maybe He is the one prompting us to get rid of some of what we don’t need and bless those in greater need. But hey, now I’m preaching….yikes!) So we give praise to Him who has kept us – and our maximum baggage allowance – in His gracious care!

Our Time ‘Next Door’

One thing that made our journey back to Kazakhstan more interesting was not having a visa to get into Kazakhstan. For reasons explained only as ‘that’s just the way it is here’ we got on board the plane with a promise but an empty space in our passports. We anticipated friends in the faith from the big country next door to be waiting for us at their Capital City Airport. After a warm reunion we were taken to an apartment in a new area of their sprawling Olympic city. Four years ago it was a big field, today 325,000 apartment dwellers are planted there. On Sunday we were privileged to meet with a group of brothers and sisters - gathered behind the locked doors of one apartment - worshipping Him who once transcended locked doors and said, ‘Shalom!’ It was a joy to bring a message from His Word to them.

First thing Monday morning we made our way to the Kazakhstan Embassy in that massive city and found friendly helpful people. By the end of that day we had one year multiple-entry visas to Kazakhstan stamped into our passports. About midnight that day we were in line for our four and half hour flight onward to Almaty. How true - "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him…and he answered our prayer. Ezra 8:23

New Tasks in the New Year

As we slip along the icy sidewalks of Almaty we look back with fondness on the sunny days of blessing and warm fellowship we enjoyed in California, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Oregon. Our local friends are saying this is the coldest winter they can ever remember in this city! Surely this is not the kind of history we want to make! We are certainly grateful for your prayer and support which keeps us serving Him here. We feel well and are excited to resume the work He has put before us.

Dayna hosted the Tien Shan 2007 Grads for a dinner in our apartment.

Dayna is teaching four days a week at Tien Shan School. She has greatly enjoyed many glad reunions with students and colleagues there. The Lord’s hand of blessing has been on the school. Now about 200 students pack into their crowded corridors; this year the teachers move from class to class to ease the kid crunch! By December 2008 they must vacate their now sold premises. So the push is on at their new construction site. Pray for favor with authorities (always lots of hoops to jump through) and blessing upon their building crew. They anticipate a big need for teachers for 08/09. Check out their web site listed below.

We have found the International Christian Fellowship in great shape. The colleague who served as an Interim Pastor in our absence has consented to join Mark as co-pastor. This is a great blessing. Both he and Mark are involved in teaching and mentoring national leaders. So together we will be able to serve the needs of the ICF and encourage the work of extending His Church across Central Asia.

Mark is preparing for teaching ‘Life of Christ’ and ‘Old Testament Survey’ at the Kazakhstan Evangelical Christian Seminary this term. He will also teach a class on ‘Ephesians’ at a newly formed Presbyterian school. As always, we ask you to join us in prayer for God to raise up leaders to plant and grow His Church in this part of the world.

Mountains and Pebbles

Someone once said it is not the mountain we have to climb that is difficult – it is the rock in our shoe along the trail! Even the work of ministry brings small but serious pebbles. While having a dinner with a couple of leaders in the big country to our east last month, we met a perplexing question. Boaz (not his real name), our host, is a second year seminary student, husband, father, businessman, and elder in his church. He eagerly anticipates the opportunity of being ordained to the ministry. But he knows the issue has become a firestorm. Most of the thousands of house-churches there are of the ‘Brethren’ tradition which opposes a rigid Clergy/Laity distinction. Indeed many forbid ordination, calling everyone ‘Brother’ or ‘Sister.’ A number of these precious ones suffered through their ‘Cultural Revolution.’ One ‘Brother,’ now almost 90, endured 22 years of harsh imprisonment. He emerged with a conviction that their churches needed more devoted and recognizable leaders so he travels the country ordaining those who manifest God’s call. This Elder Brother was in his second year of seminary back when he was wrenched from the classroom to the cell. Thus, he was never ‘properly ordained’ in the eyes of those who hold that stuff as important. Now Boaz is learning about a whole new tradition of ordination. The seminary he studies in was founded and still guided by workers from an East Asian nation with tremendous church growth. And the ordination from the seminary – and its churches - is still rigidly controlled by those from this neighbor nation. For Daniel to have any ‘street cred’ in their eyes he better bow down to those holy foreign hands! And yet, the church he now serves, and wants to remain in, has a whole different spin on the topic. Should anyone even be ordained!? Is this Elder Brother the God-appointed ‘ordainer’? What happens when he goes on to receive his heavenly-ordination? So as you pray for our brothers and sisters to build His Church in their lands here, ask God to grace them to scale the mountains and to endure the pebbles.

May God bless you in your Kingdom-trek. Press on!
Yours in Him who moves Mountains --- and pebbles,
Mark and Dayna Blair