Friday, August 22
In our devotional this morning, part of the text mentioned asking God to lead us toward people who may need to be reminded of their importance in His kingdom and of their value in His eyes, regardless of their age, physical condition, or talents and capabilities. Hebrews 10:24 says: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Since we still had no planned visits for today, we decided to look up another relative of Pastor Joseph’s; to be honest, we weren’t even sure if she was still alive. We took a chance and went to her home, where Arayik boldly knocked on her door and called out to her. Sure enough, she came to her window and after a brief exchange, threw down her door key so we could let ourselves in (she can no longer manage the stairs). As with our last visit yesterday, here we found an elderly woman with significant mobility issues, yet a faithful servant of God who is strong in her faith despite her many challenges. We prayed with her and convinced her to allow us to take a photo (she is usually camera shy). It was so nice to see her again! This visit was a good example of this morning’s devotional text, about Christians blessing one another. We pray that we encouraged her as much as she encouraged us.
A couple of other moments to note: At breakfast this morning, Ann-Margret happened to sneeze and a young man seated a few tables away said, “Bless you!” We all turned toward him and this was an obvious opening to start a conversation, so Pastor Joseph asked him where he was from. It turns out he is an Armenian from California. He wished us a good vacation so Ann-Margret mentioned that we are actually on a mission trip. He inquired: “Christianity?” When we said yes, his response was positive. Pastor Joseph gave him the “What Are You Searching For?” tract, which he seemed to accept willingly.
After this morning’s visit, we stopped at a Syrian restaurant for a late lunch and had two different waitresses serve us. One is from Syria and spoke Western Armenian, and the other is from Armenia and spoke Eastern Armenian. This also allowed an opportunity to offer each of them our tract, since it has been translated into both languages.
It can seem strange to have a day that’s not very busy with official “mission” work but we sincerely prayed this morning for the Holy Spirit to guide our steps so we trust that He did. If we needed to rest our minds and spirits in preparation for the next five days, the last stretch of our time here, we are grateful that the Lord provided the opportunity for that. Your prayers and support motivate us! God bless you all.
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