Like this:

I know many of you were hoping I would write by now.  It has been super busy and I haven’t been able to use the internet except for today running into this cool coffee shop called Prague- ironic, I was there less than 48 hours ago.  Please excuse any poor grammar and incomplete thoughts

On the way to Prague, across the lake, I met a US Special Forces consultant and he told me a basically it was his ‘job that others didn’t get holes in them.’  Well put and to the point.  We talked about traveling and I initially thought he was a worker since he was vacationing in Lativia- not a common destination but apparently has great camping- who knows…. Half way through, I felt like the Lord was encouraging me to switch seats.  He made this further available by showing me an aisle seat nearby:)  I saw a dark-haired guy was sitting there and he was very much asleep, but when he woke up I was ready to talk as I thought he was Turkish and I was all about sharing some Kingdom gospel if I could.  It turned out he was from Bosnia and was impressed that I knew that the Serbs had killed many of them.  I explained that I had a friend from Kosovo who was a Muslim follower of Jesus and he had told me the story about the Bosnians/Serbs.  His interest was peaked as a Muslim follower of Jesus doesn’t come up a lot.  I showed him the Kingdom Circles which describe that we all have access into God’s Kingdom by following Jesus together into the Kingdom of God.  In the middle of it, he said, “Actually, I am Muslim.  But I don’t really tell many people in the states that.”  It was sad, but I’m  sure true.  I then asked how I could pray for him.  He said for his time in Bosnia to go well and for the job that he left in Tampa, Florida as a mechanic.  I asked what would be his dream job- something with cars- he said and we settled on a test driver for cars.  Prayer warriors- let’s get on this!  It was a great conversation

We did have  a 12 hour lay over in Prague and that city is beautiful.  Although I’ve never been to France, it’s what I would imagine it to be like.  Very Victorian European- perhaps I don’t know what I’m talking about.  Either way- here’s a quick shot- see for yourself.  Unfortunately, we ate once at a very non Czech Republic sort of place and the second meal was two giant foot long hot dogs- good for hot dog standard but nothing to write home about- which I technically am doing now.

My Hypstomatic version

We boarded a plane at 10pm Prague time and never really slept for the 3 and a half hour ride to Beirut.  All I can tell you was there was a man who coughed like he was dying the whole time.  I secretly prayed for him time to time.  I wasn’t sure the whole laying on of hands was an appropriate first step as I began immersing myself in the culture.

We landed and I was the first up in customs, I completely forgot where we were staying and had to have our leader come over and clean up the verbal mess I was making.  After, we were picked up by some friends at 3:30am in a great little van.  Again, as we were putting our bags in the van I was reminded at the disease I have that no matter how much I pack, my counter parts have packed a significant fraction to what I have packed.

We finally pull up to the place we were staying, a dorm like place, and call on someone- the property manager.  We begin contemplating what it would be like to sleep outside.  10 minutes later a shirtless man in red boxers stumbles to the front of the building.  Whoa- this is a priceless.  It seems, no one was told about our arrival.  But after about an hour of broken Arabic, we find our way to our rooms.  What further surprised me is how long this guy continued to boldly dress scantily despite a couple of ladies being there.  Bold my friend, bold…

We crashed one room and then another after ‘red boxers’ informed us we were supposed to be in another room.  You know the times that you are so tired that you don’t want to take a shower, but you will regret not taking a shower in the morning.  That was this time to the fourth power.  I convinced myself that a semi cold shower would keep my cooler at night, and the sweat on the bed would not be a great start to my stay.  Good idea.

We were informed that although it was 4:30am- we could sleep till 10:30am- wow six hours- that will take care of jet lag for sure!  I have never been so tired in my life!  I had made the mistake of napping on a 2×4 park bench on the river in Prague and this messed me up and now this 6 hour excuse for a night’s rest was unacceptable.  I humored the group by sitting up.  Not until, I was served some NesCafe did I regain sanity/consciousness.  Thank you NesCafe.

The day was spent familiarizing ourselves with the city.  It is like Istanbul, only taller and more urban with less history- atleast where we are currently.  It is very Westernized and that fact was further accentuated by the way people interact with one another.  It seems everyone is very individualistic like what you would expect to find in New York etc.  Community is certainly there, but to a smaller scale.  We are positioned next to a prestigious university.  In this particular area, it seems we’ll be speaking to existence of God Himself and that following Jesus is a straight path to him.

I want to take this time to ask for your prayers.  I really feel quite intimidated here and unsure of how to break into the community- what is the community that I should approach?  I have a lot of questions and have imposed a bit of pressure on myself to inherently have these answers immediately.  I feel like our leader and those with us even had expectations of me that I’m not fulfilling.  ”Oh, you’re Mr. JIQ and help Stalls and Jamie, surely you know what you’re doing.”  I know the folly in these thoughts- many dictated by fear, but I’m have a real issue shaking them and it’s affecting me in every way.

I remember when a mentor told me the first time he went to Alaska to start life as a Kingdom person/pastor and he said the land spoke to him and he knew he was supposed to be there.  I have not felt that at all and I really thought I would- so that’s a bit disappointing.  So pray that my expectations would line up with God’s so that I wouldn’t become discouraged.  I so appreciate all those who have read this and have been interceding before this time.

God is on the move.

Advertisement