Last Day of Class

Worship Planning sessions


Planning meeting; The finale test


Vidjai, Nick, Zauri; Nick, me Zauri
And what about Nick and Nicolae and Nick who spells his name with a И, and Tania and Lena, Liliana and Lily and Ludmila and Viorell, Serge and Valerii, and Romeo, Mehman. Of course then there’s Vlad, really Vladislav and Vlad who is really Vladimir, Yurii, Vadim and Vadim, Igor and Vidjai, Zauri, Elenia, and my 2 translators, Irina and Slavic. We may all have a lot of different names, but we are all one family. We may have some different ideas about what worship is; well actually we have a LOT of different ideas about worship, but we all worship the same, one and only God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Zauri and other student both come from Azerbaijan. Zauri was just released from prison a couple of months ago, for his Christian belief. Vladimir comes from Kazakhstan. All the rest of the students are from Moldova. Half the class speaks Russian and the others speak Romanian. So the class is being taught in English, and then translated in Russian, while at the same time it’s being translated into Romanian (from English) by way of a sound proof booth. So some students are wearing headphones to hear the translation. The two translations are going on at the same time. When I look around it’s like being in the United Nations seeing some people with headphones on. Every now and then I see a nod of understanding. At least I hope it’s a nod of understanding and not a nod of because it’s boring. What’s really interesting is that most of the students from Moldova really understand both languages, but they prefer one over the other when it comes to class time.
Some come from small village churches; several are from the city here where one church is running about 1,500. There are a couple of house churches. Several students are from the Lord’s Army. And in Azerbaijan one church meets on Saturday.
There is a pre-class a paper on a Christian discipline that they have decided to practice and then write about it. I am constantly amazed at the compassion and serving that they do and with very little money. $100 and $200 if they’re really lucky, a month is a typical salary. The cost of living is a bit cheaper, but with prices going up everywhere it’s getting harder and harder for them. And yet someone finds some money to help a homeless child get to Russia to be reunited with her mother who left her here in Moldova to go to Russia to get a better paying job. Someone found the money to give a poor woman on the street, and another student helped a family in need. They find ways. They serve, they worship. I’m reminded of a quote from Mother Theresa. “I slept and I dreamt that life is all joy. I woke and saw that life is all service. I served and saw that service is joy.”

Today is Friday, review and exam day. It is also a day of a bit of anticipation for the students. “What will the questions be like?” “How many questions will be on the exam?” And every time they take an exam it’s always from a different teacher they don’t know what that teacher will really want on the test. And then there is the interpretation. Will the same words used in class to describe a point be the same words found on the test?


I spoke to Zauri a little bit more today and found out why and how long he was in prison. I thought it was best to ask his permission first before I put this on the internet. He told me that he was arrested while preaching. He was sentenced for 4 years. Then he told me that Jimmy Carter spoke to the president of Azerbaijan asking for his release. Praise God, he was released after only being in prison for 10 months. While in prison he woke up one morning to find he had a new cell mate. When he asked the man why he was put in prison, the man told him that the police had planted an Opium plant in his house at night. In the morning the police came and arrested him for growing Opium in his house. Let me tell you just one more story about Zauri. He said there were several times that the guards would come in to beat him, and there was always something that would happen that would make the guards leave before they could beat him. One time they came in, and the light was shinning through the window in such a way that it made a symbol of the cross on the floor. The guards were too afraid to cross over it to get to him, so they left.
Just this morning we found out that another pastor from Azerbaijan was just arrested and put in jail today. The poilce had a warrent to go into his house. While there the police planted a gun under a kitchen pot. When they 'found' the gun they asked the preacher if he had papers for the gun. He said he didn't because he didn't own a gun. They arrested him right away. Zauri knows this man. He asks for us to pray. Pray for this minister’s release. Pray for his country, that the government may start to allow Christians without fear of persecution. To not only meet but also evangelize.
After you read this, please pray.
John