Missions Newsletter June 2023

Natalie with teammates

From Natalie Budd, Redeemer member

Tajikistan is truly a wild, whacky, and wonderful place. The city of Dushanbe is stunning against its mountain backdrop, and yet Tajikistan is the poorest country in Central Asia. The Tajik people are beyond kind and gracious, and yet they are so lost. They are shackled by Islam in believing that they can earn their way to paradise. It was definitely a sobering experience to realize that almost all of the people we encountered were not heading towards eternity with Jesus.

Because of this truth, we prayer walked most of our days in the country. We prayed over various college campuses and parks. At first, I was frustrated by “only” praying, because I wanted to find English speakers and have Gospel conversations with them. However, the Lord revealed to me three truths that have stuck with me. The first was that God speaks Tajik! How amazing that He speaks to every individual on this earth in their native tongue! The second truth was that underestimating the power of prayer is essentially underestimating the power of God. We are talking to the King of Kings when we pray, and He can do far more than we ask or think! The third truth was that it is such a gift to intercede for others. Even when we could not talk to the people because of the language barrier, we could go to the throne room on their behalf! They might never know what we were doing but being God’s “secret agent” was a highlight for me.

We also had the opportunity to play sports with some locals and help at an English school which was my favorite part. I am still in contact with some of the students from the school and am praying that they come to know Jesus. Since coming back from Tajikistan, I have a new burden for lost people as I now have faces and names tied to the statistics we’ve all heard. I want to pray to our Father here in Birmingham with the same boldness we prayed with in Tajikistan. He is good everywhere!