A little fun

Recently, we had an opportunity to visit a very old church in a city not far from where we are doing our field experience. There an old man welcomed us and shared the history of the church and about a very famous woman that had started this church in the 1800's. It was a great opportunity for many of us to catch a firsthand glimpse of a place that we have studied about. It was also a special moment for me. Speaking some Russian and Kazakh but no Chinese, I have struggled to connect with anyone locally since we arrived here. The pastor who met us at the gate of the church was a very sweet man well into his 80's. I found out from one of our instructors that he lived in Russia for 3 years and during that time, he had learned the language. We got to speak for a while and it was a huge blessing from God, because I had been struggling a lot and He totally gave me an opportunity to use the language i knew, and to connect with someone locally. It was wonderful and a huge blessing.

~j stroud