WHY WE’RE HERE. A Lesson from Azerbaijan.

I had only gotten a glimpse of Azerbaijan during my first round with the World Race. We just spent a few days in the capital of Baku, waiting for a ferry to take us across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan. I remember enjoying my time in Baku and wishing that I could have more time in the country. Little did I know, I would be returning only a year later, receiving exactly what I asked for.

My team of four girls were sent outside of Baku to work with a family that is now so near and dear to my heart. We weren’t given a lot of information before arriving at our site, so imagine our surprise when we find ourselves living with a family of four and a dog! We were immediately greeted by our host-mom with a warm meal and a testimony of how she came to know the Lord through her husband. We spent so much time around that kitchen table that month, and it will probably remain one of the most cherished places I have ever been. I wish I could share more about our sweet family online, but I don’t want to risk limiting all of the wonderful work they are doing there, so please bear with me as I share stories.

As someone who has almost completed the World Race in its entirety twice, I saw the Lord move more powerfully in this month than in any other that I can remember. We visited villages every night with our family, and only a few sentences into our conversation, our host mom would turn to us and say, “okay, you can ask them about Jesus now.”

And it was that simple. Our new friends would immediately open up and would ask questions and share what they believe as we also shared what we believed. And praise God, we gained 6 new brothers and sisters in Christ during our time there. Not because of anything we said or did, but because our family had covered their city and their friends with so much prayer, and the Lord was faithful to show up in response.

We met so many people in Azerbaijan who are hurting. Wives afraid of their husbands. Families grieving loss. And people looking for hope. We listened as women shared their hearts with us as tears fell down their cheeks. And in every home we entered, I couldn’t help but feel like the Lord was saying, “This is why you are here.”

God is a pursuer. He’ll stop at nothing to bring His children home. He’ll even ask four girls to be in this small village of Azerbaijan, a country I had only known about in the past two years, to meet with people who are in need of hope and restoration.

And as God would tell me this in every meeting, I couldn’t help but think about every person I have passed in these past two years. The women I prayed with on the streets of Paris, the refugees I met when I stayed eight miles from the Syrian border, the woman in that small cafe in Taiwan who had never heard of Jesus, the taxi drivers who heard us share the gospel with nomadic families three times in one day in Mongolia, and even the girl I met with one day at my local coffee shop at home after I returned home from my first round.

I believe that the Lord would ask us to drop everything for a year, just so that we could bring hope and encouragement to individuals at the right time and on the right day. And it makes me pause to think: who has He placed around me today? Who can I encourage and bring hope to? Who can I smile at? Who can I simply say thank you to or ask for their name? Who can I share Jesus’ thoughts and feelings towards them with?

In Azerbaijan, all of the visits were arranged. All we had to do was get in a car and be open to what Holy Spirit had for us in each home. But what about today? I believe that God called me to complete a second World Race just so I could meet with those individuals that month. But I also believe that God called me to complete a second World Race for the people sitting around me right now as I type.

I encourage y’all. Who has God surrounded you with today? Perhaps there is someone He wants to speak to and He placed you in their path to share the message.

So filled with joy to be learning and growing alongside y’all.

Love you guys!

Meg

(not my best pic below, but I miss this little girl all the same<3)