Storying Takes Off

And it did. We watched how one group began to grow and interact through the stories they themselves were crafting (taking stories from a text and turning it oral, usually in another language).
One day we took the stories we had worked on and went to a new village. There, one lady told the story of Creation. People kind of sat back, listened, joked, didn't interact with it much. We were disappointed. The next day we got together again and were planning just to move on. The leader jumped in and asked if anyone could re-tell the story from yesterday. One guy jumped up and told it almost word for word. Then the group began sharing about how almost each of them had retold the story to a neighbor, friend, co-worker, etc. We were amazed. These are people who are persecuted. People don't talk with them because of their faith. And yet they were sharing stories from God's word. It was awesome.
We spent almost our whole 3 months traveling in and out, helping to continue train and encourage nationals in Bible storying. I think what was most encouraging was how well they got it. I felt good about leaving because they knew almost everything I knew. They could do this and didn't need us. We, of course, would've been tempted to stay, to keep guiding. But I truly believe the God wanted us out. He wanted this to be an insiders movement, where it doesn't look like it comes from the foreigners. Although leaving was really, really sad, we felt confident that God moved us on.

A New Beginning

The first night at Zoya's was a small piece of heaven. For the first time since we moved to this village, I didn't worry about someone banging on our door at night or wanting to throw us out. We are out of reach of the family and it was so peaceful. Zoya made dinner for us and we sat in our room and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Lots of stuff had been sold, everything had been moved, the money had been collected. I went back to our old house a few days later and it was completely different. They had already re-white washed, moved all of the rooms around and were settled in. It was bittersweet to realize we weren't missed and there were no regrets with throwing us out even though we ourselves were glad to be gone.
And then the ministry began. We had talked with the Ragu (*code name we gave the people group) pastor we knew two weeks earlier about working in the far off villages with the two groups that were struggling. These two groups were small; believers who were meeting together weekly with no one to lead them. They had a Bible but, again, they are oral so they wouldn't turn to printed literature for information. They were being persecuted by their villages and one village even tried to throw them all out! They fought back and were allowed to stay.
We traveled south making plans to see them. We were heading toward the border and therefore required special documents to stay there. We applied for them at the right office and they informed us it would be 10 days until they were ready. 10 days! We didn't have 10 days! Our time was ticking away as it was. So, we did what every other respectable person would. We took the back, dirt roads that the police didn't monitor to the villages and hid out in a house.
What an amazing time those 2 months were! We met with some women to teach them everything we knew about Bible storying. We taught them how to sit down with the Russian text and walk through a story and turn it into an Ragu* orally told story.
They were incredible. They caught on within hours. 3 of them would stick their heads together over text and come out with a wonderful story. I would guide them in asking questions like, "Why did you include that detail? Is it important for Ragu people? Will a general audience understand the terms you've used in this story?". They were adamant about not including any Russian words, which I was glad about, and were very good on making sure the story was accurate.
They gave of their time in the midst of running a house and having small children. They took the stories and shared them with the group. The head guy was thrilled and not threatened at all, which was a huge blessing. Everyone in the group learned the story and were told to tell it to others and they each came back with stories about when they did. It was so exciting to watch storying take off.

The Move

I went to see my language helper sometime in the next few days and told her the story. It was great to see her after being gone so long. She patted my shoulder, gave me tea, told me not to cry and offered some suggestions. We could move into a house that was for rent across the street. But we didn't have any furniture. Our house had come completely furnished, with mattresses and all. Then she offered a room in her home. She said her one daughter who normally would be home for the summer was doing an internship at school and wouldn't be around. It would just be her all summer. Relief flooded over me. A place to live.
We told S, the owner's sister, that we weren't leaving until she paid us the money she owed us (she had borrowed $300 from us) and the rent money we had already paid. These were high sums but she agreed. She had been in the hospital with her new baby and had just arrived back home.
With her arrival came the whole family. The tradition when someone has a new baby is that the entire family, from both sides, comes over or in from another village and throws a party. That means 3 days after us arriving, our house was packed with drunk people wanting to see the baby, helping get the house setup for the baby, cooking or just making a mess and a lot of noise. It was not a pretty scene for us who were trying to move things out piece by piece or trying to catch some sleep when they were hanging a clothesline in the room next door at midnight.
Curt and I finally decided that this was our final sign from the Lord that He did not want us to stay. Our visa only gave us three months. Campus Crusade only gave us three months. We didn't have a place to live.
So, we began selling everything. All the stuff that we had been carefully buying and setting up just months earlier was getting sold. Buckets, containers, our stove, fridge, firewood bought for the coming winter, etc. Piece by piece we tried to sell as much as we could.
Living in that house was tough. The couple never apologized or even tried to help with anything. It seemed totally normal that they should come in and take over. So, we lived with anger and stress for a week and a half. Finally, the families left and it became quieter but we still had to deal with things like them lighting the house stove in June until it was about 100 degrees inside to wash the baby. They have lots of superstitions and one is that a baby should never be cold or chilly. When the baby needed a bath, the whole house had to be hot. Siberian houses maintain their heat and we sweat the whole night.
Finally, they got us our money, bought a few things off of us (thankfully they also bought the firewood and we didn't have to move 2 dump trucks in our CRV) and after multiple trips to Zoya's, we were out. We were so glad to be done with that. Zoya had a good sized shed where we could store things that hadn't been sold and she was so welcoming. If there wasn't Zoya, we would be lost. The Lord knew what He was doing when He introduced us.

A Break In the Story

On February 13th, a judge in Ethiopia ruled in our favor and legally signed our girls over to us. They are now ours. We just have to go and get them. We have our Embassy date! Please pray with us that the rest of the details would come together. We will be traveling in mid-March. We will keep you updated. Here they are! Turism, Turi, is 8 and is the one in the back. The next biggest is Bitsuanit, or Bitsu, and she is 7. The little one is Tihitina, or Tihi, and she is 5.