­ Fourth Post July 20 , 2016

I finally did get to pee.  I don’t remember the bathroom; pretty sure I am blocking that memory for self­-preservation.  Think squatty potties and bleached crepe paper TP.

After getting settled into the office that doubled as a guest house, we began our “official” vision trip.  We were cool. Allen had traveled the world working for Halliburton, and I was too naive to be worried about anything.  I had landed, we were legal and I could endure anything for two weeks. I was pregnant twice!

The sun was shining and the sky was cloudless the next morning.  (Rats! What about the terrible weather, God?)  As we headed to our first meeting, here is the sight that greeted us:

Allen and I looked at each other.  We had hoped to retire someday to Colorado where I grew up.  God must have taken that into consideration when He called us to Almaty. These Tien Shan mountains are part of the Himalayan orogenic belt.  I have no idea what that means, but it sounds impressive.  I think they are somehow tied into the Himalayas.  These mountains would be the closest I would ever get to K2.

As we walked,  I didn’t see any dirt.  Everything was covered in pristine snow.  Again, this was a God “trick.”  Later experience proved that pristine and snow were never used in the same sentence in Almaty.  We both loved the clear air and the robust temperature.  Although we had studied Russian in the US, we really couldn’t speak Russian. (Even though we thought we had a pretty good handle on it.)  Which was no problem, since people weren’t trying to speak to us.  People seemed to plod dejectedly, intently studying the ground as they walked.   Everyone seemed to be dressed in black­ - black coats, shoes, hats.  Nothing clashes if you wear only black.

 We had a hand-drawn map to aid us in our walk to the meeting.  We arrived safely and really impressed the team.  I guess past visitors of our ilk had suffered some from culture shock.  My cultural shock occurred when we moved to Houston, TX in 1993 after living 17 years in a small Oklahoma town.  After that, Central Asia was nothing.  At least here everyone spoke the same language.

Gosh darn it!  I really wanted to reject this place.  But, something was happening. I didn’t see any yurts or sheep wandering the streets. Our apartment had running water and a flush toilet.  “God, you don’t think I am going to let some majestic scenery or semi-modern conveniences change my mind, do you?”  

We had a lot of meetings and meals, but the one that convinced me that I could live in Almaty and live there graciously as a servant of God, was a dinner we had with a precious family who now live in western Canada.  Vera, Natasha and Little Vera were Russian Kazakhstanis.  I didn’t know at the time, but it must have taken some courage to invite Americans to their home for dinner.  But such warm hospitality and generosity overcame me.  It was after this meal that I knew God had not only placed a mission call on Allen’s heart but also on mine.  And Almaty Kazakhstan was going to be our home for at least 10 years.  

However, that decision wasn’t just mine.  We had to be poked and prodded and evaluated by a lot of experts.  And, we failed.  We were much worse off than we knew.       

          I’ll tell you about that later.