open doors.

Friends, our Father is at work in this country, and these song lyrics have been in my head in light of the opportunities we’ve had, as of late, to share our hearts:

Swing wide you Heav-nly gates. Prepare the way for the RISEN L-RD!

While I can’t often speak directly of his saving grace or his work in my own life, so many doors have been opened for me to discuss issues of morality and ethics with my students and in our English clubs, which is allowing me and my roommate to speak HIS words to our students!

Often, these are the 2 questions that my English Club students ask me when they meet me for the first time:

What is your news? (OK, so I just can’t get over this and still, after being here for 2 months, I think it’s the most hilarious question I’ve ever heard. It takes all I have not to laugh out loud, especially since they ask it so seriously, like they’re really eager to hear all the big and serious news you have to share! Really, they’re just asking, “What’s new?” Still, it’s just so funny to me.)

What do you think of Barack Obama? (OK, I’m not going to lie, this one makes me laugh a little bit too, since everyone basically expects this response: “Oh, President Barack Obama? He’s G-d. America has never had a better leader or been in a better place under a different leader. If I could marry Barack Obama, I would do it in a second. Heck, if I could clean up after his dog or trim his toenails, I would do it in a second. I idolize him, and am so thankful for the great places he has taken our country. Oh, and that Nobel Peace Prize? He absolutely deserved that, one hundred percent. Really, his ideas are that good.” Let me just say that my students are SHOCKED when my response is actually nothing like the above.)

And while I’m not going to tell YOU what I think about our President, I have been purposeful in being very open and honest about this with my students. It has given me opportunities to speak from my heart about issues that relate directly to my relationship with my Father. Abortion—life begins at CONCEPTION. This is something my students have never even considered, and it breaks my heart to know that abortion is not only legal to perform on a full-term baby, it’s common. We’ve been able to discuss divorce, suicide, and disabilities.

My students have only wonderful things to say about their country and their president, and it is true that he has done an excellent job leading this country out of a soviet mindset and into the 21st century. However, one thing that my students notice and desire to change in their country is the corruption...You pay a bribe to get out of a speeding ticket, whether you were speeding or not. You bribe your teachers to give you better grades, and it works. You bribe your doctor to give you care, or you don’t get help. You bribe the local university to get your child accepted, and even then, you’re not guaranteed an in. This stuff and SO MUCH MORE happens here everyday, and my students cannot even fathom what life would be like without it. But, they do want to see it changed!

It’s an amazing position I’m in here. Truly, my students want to know what I think and always beg me for my opinion and input. And I have the privilege to challenge them to be the leaders of tomorrow in Kazakhstan—to stand up for what they believe, to stop paying bribes, to stand against corruption, to have strong morals and ethics. I get to challenge them to dig into issues such as abortion, the death penalty, and suicide, and to then to stand strongly on their convictions. Fight for the lives of the unborn, stop the unbelievably common trend of teenage suicide, end corruption! Perhaps my passion fuels theirs, because these are things I feel I cannot leave unaddressed with these young people I have come to care about so deeply. These are things that only a few weeks ago, my students had never thought about. Now, they’re things that are being pursued by the minds of 40 young people who are seeking answers.

Is the Father at work in this beautiful country and in the hearts of my students? WITHOUT A DOUBT.

Please join me in lifting up my students: that doors would continue to open, that they would continue to be challenged to seek answers to the questions being raised, that they would SOON SOON SOON discover the joy and freedom that comes with knowing Him. And that when that happens, that these students would rise up and be the CHANGE that this country needs. I’m know that my Father is powerful enough to do this, and I’m trusting that HE WILL.