GREED
8:30 pm last night…
Our owners tell us that because of the dollar dropping in recent months they want us to back pay them the difference in the exchange rate from 3 months ago and what it is now. That’s about $50 per month for the last 3 or 4 months. They also requested/threatened that if we did not continue to pay our rent (which we had been paying in dollars) at the exchange rate from September then we could leave right now, in the middle of winter and that they would be raising the rent in the spring, regardless of what our contract says the agreed rent price is for the next year. So we prayed and asked God for counsel on how to respond lovingly but at the same time with a spirit of righteousness. None of us can afford to pay any more in rent right now, especially with the drop of the dollar and the increase of food and property prices and just about everything else. After praying, Shuhrat, a student who lives with us, went over to their house to call their bluff (threatening to kick us out if we did not pay more rent and also that they could raise the rent price at any time). We agreed to pay the difference in exchange rates, but changed our contract to say that rent will from now on be payed in som (the local currency) which should insure, to some degree, that they cannot come to us every month asking for more money. Also we told them if they threatened to raise the rent once more we would move out, which none of us want. This is not an unusual thing here but lately has been happening a lot more with the recent fall of the dollar.
Hopefully I didn’t confuse anyone in my re-telling of last night’s saga. Spiritual strongholds, like greed, do not hold any set of business hours. They do not respect our “privacy” and will rear themselves in your face at any moment, usually when we are at our weakest. Some ways you can intercede on our behalf is that we would have the strength and will to move out in the opposite spirit, in this case that we would move out in a spirit of generosity.
Isaiah 30:1 says-“woe to the rebellious children”, says the Lord, “who take counsel, but not of me, and who devise plans, but not of my Spirit…”. Pray that we would continue to seek counsel of the Lord and make plans/respond according to His spirit.
GREENHOUSE
Since re-opening in September we have had over 125 new students come through our doors. Some only come a few times, some end up coming back almost everyday. I’ve sort of taken over management of the greenhouse this season and thus have taken on a lot more responsibility. I have been a lot busier with this new responsibility but I have seen a lot of growth in my life as a result of it.
The last couple months in the greenhouse I was leading a “book reading” club to help people improve their English. The club is over now but it was a good platform for building some new relationships and although the club is over now I am continuing to meet regularly with some of the students I met in this club to help them one on one and to just to talk more deeply about life.
A couple students I have been spending a lot more time with and have been able to share with are Mirlan, Uran and Aibek. Please be praying for them that they would have ears to hear God’s spirit calling to them, that they would be able to see their need for Jesus and that He is God. This is always a stumbling block for people here and just about everywhere it seems. Please pray for me as God continues to give me many opportunities to share openly with people. Pray that I would continue to respond in boldness about the Truth that I have come to know. And pray for an outpouring of God’s spirit upon the greenhouse this week. we will be sharing a lot with people tomorrow and on friday at our Christmas party.
NEXT YEAR
For the last 7 months Pasha and myself have been praying about attending a training school with Ywam called a School of Worship. We sent out some emails in august sharing our vision in doing the school and what we want to bring back to Kyrgyzstan to several Y locations, but at first only heard back from a couple, none of which really stirred anything within us. About 2 months ago we got an email from a school director in Los Angeles that was very encouraging. We were able to call and talk with him a couple times to share our hearts and the things that God had been placing in us in regards to attending this school. We found that God had been speaking things to the director of this school about us attending and were even more encouraged. So after praying this last week both pasha and myself are beginning to take steps towards attending this school in March. The school will be about 4 months, including an outreach. Please be praying for wisdom for both Pasha and myself as we seek the Lord for direction during the next couple months. For a heart that is desperate for God and for an increase of faith to believe the promises God has spoken. I’ll be putting something together with more information on this and more details on the vision God has placed in us. we are hoping to do this before the end of the year.
One more quick thing before I close. We have a short term team coming out a couple weeks to serve in the greenhouse and see what else God is doing here and we are preparing for their arrival right now. This team is an answer to some of the things we have been praying(asking God to send more young people out here) and so we are excited to have them come. It does take a lot of effort to host these teams for us though since our ministry is in full swing so please pray for us as we prepare for this team and that God would bless their time here.
Tony
8:30 pm last night…
Our owners tell us that because of the dollar dropping in recent months they want us to back pay them the difference in the exchange rate from 3 months ago and what it is now. That’s about $50 per month for the last 3 or 4 months. They also requested/threatened that if we did not continue to pay our rent (which we had been paying in dollars) at the exchange rate from September then we could leave right now, in the middle of winter and that they would be raising the rent in the spring, regardless of what our contract says the agreed rent price is for the next year. So we prayed and asked God for counsel on how to respond lovingly but at the same time with a spirit of righteousness. None of us can afford to pay any more in rent right now, especially with the drop of the dollar and the increase of food and property prices and just about everything else. After praying, Shuhrat, a student who lives with us, went over to their house to call their bluff (threatening to kick us out if we did not pay more rent and also that they could raise the rent price at any time). We agreed to pay the difference in exchange rates, but changed our contract to say that rent will from now on be payed in som (the local currency) which should insure, to some degree, that they cannot come to us every month asking for more money. Also we told them if they threatened to raise the rent once more we would move out, which none of us want. This is not an unusual thing here but lately has been happening a lot more with the recent fall of the dollar.
Hopefully I didn’t confuse anyone in my re-telling of last night’s saga. Spiritual strongholds, like greed, do not hold any set of business hours. They do not respect our “privacy” and will rear themselves in your face at any moment, usually when we are at our weakest. Some ways you can intercede on our behalf is that we would have the strength and will to move out in the opposite spirit, in this case that we would move out in a spirit of generosity.
Isaiah 30:1 says-“woe to the rebellious children”, says the Lord, “who take counsel, but not of me, and who devise plans, but not of my Spirit…”. Pray that we would continue to seek counsel of the Lord and make plans/respond according to His spirit.
GREENHOUSE
Since re-opening in September we have had over 125 new students come through our doors. Some only come a few times, some end up coming back almost everyday. I’ve sort of taken over management of the greenhouse this season and thus have taken on a lot more responsibility. I have been a lot busier with this new responsibility but I have seen a lot of growth in my life as a result of it.
The last couple months in the greenhouse I was leading a “book reading” club to help people improve their English. The club is over now but it was a good platform for building some new relationships and although the club is over now I am continuing to meet regularly with some of the students I met in this club to help them one on one and to just to talk more deeply about life.
A couple students I have been spending a lot more time with and have been able to share with are Mirlan, Uran and Aibek. Please be praying for them that they would have ears to hear God’s spirit calling to them, that they would be able to see their need for Jesus and that He is God. This is always a stumbling block for people here and just about everywhere it seems. Please pray for me as God continues to give me many opportunities to share openly with people. Pray that I would continue to respond in boldness about the Truth that I have come to know. And pray for an outpouring of God’s spirit upon the greenhouse this week. we will be sharing a lot with people tomorrow and on friday at our Christmas party.
NEXT YEAR
For the last 7 months Pasha and myself have been praying about attending a training school with Ywam called a School of Worship. We sent out some emails in august sharing our vision in doing the school and what we want to bring back to Kyrgyzstan to several Y locations, but at first only heard back from a couple, none of which really stirred anything within us. About 2 months ago we got an email from a school director in Los Angeles that was very encouraging. We were able to call and talk with him a couple times to share our hearts and the things that God had been placing in us in regards to attending this school. We found that God had been speaking things to the director of this school about us attending and were even more encouraged. So after praying this last week both pasha and myself are beginning to take steps towards attending this school in March. The school will be about 4 months, including an outreach. Please be praying for wisdom for both Pasha and myself as we seek the Lord for direction during the next couple months. For a heart that is desperate for God and for an increase of faith to believe the promises God has spoken. I’ll be putting something together with more information on this and more details on the vision God has placed in us. we are hoping to do this before the end of the year.
One more quick thing before I close. We have a short term team coming out a couple weeks to serve in the greenhouse and see what else God is doing here and we are preparing for their arrival right now. This team is an answer to some of the things we have been praying(asking God to send more young people out here) and so we are excited to have them come. It does take a lot of effort to host these teams for us though since our ministry is in full swing so please pray for us as we prepare for this team and that God would bless their time here.
Tony
posted by tony at 9:04 PM
