Meeting Michael

We had just departed from another wonderful church family camp, where I was convicted and challenged by the Spirit through the preaching, and where we all enjoyed a weekend together of transparent fellowship and memorable fun.

As we left camp, we took advantage of our close proximity to the Pacific Ocean, and stopped by the beach with another family to enjoy a half hour of salt, sand, and crashing waves--a combination I never tire of. The anticipated became the unanticipated when an older gentleman with a thick accent and a young girl came up to Micah and began asking him questions about his kite. Before long, though, he asked, "Are you Christians?" as he took in our group of people strung hither and yon along the beach.

By this time, our fathers had joined in on the conversation, and they eagerly told the man we are indeed Christians. With joy, the man explained that he and his family were also Christians, and that he had guessed our identity by the clothes and manner of the women and girls.

Left to right: Micah, Julie, Susanna, Jonah (front), Mr. M. (back), Lauren, Mikaela, Papa, Gideon, Michael, Michael's wife, Christina, and Esther

What followed was a wonderful time of getting to know our brothers and sisters in Christ. Soon we had all met Michael and his daughter Christina, who translated for her father when he was trying to convey a particularly difficult concept and couldn't find adequate words in English.  We stood on the beach, shivering (because the beaches in the Pacific Northwest are never warm) and conversing about our mutual love for the Saviour, their coming to America from Kazakhstan, and witnessing and preaching to a nation who says "we know God," but does not obey God. At one point, Michael asked us to sing an American song of praise to God, and as we began "Come Thou Fount," he readily joined in with us--singing in Russian.

Family Camp 2012!

We exchanged phone numbers and left with an open invitation to visit his home any time we wished. I walked away with a warmness in my spirit and a heart of gratefulness to God for a weekend of fellowship with believers, some of whom I had known my entire life, and others--like Michael and his family--whom I had known for only a few minutes. Many have been the times when unbelievers have asked about my attire, but it was a delightful surprise that our choice of clothing when we got up in the morning led to such a Spirit-filled meeting. The world digresses daily into androgyny and cross-dressing, but what a privilege we have as women of God to dress femininely and modestly for His glory. We stand out as different, unusual, and peculiar! What a good thing this is, for the deeper into darkness our world plunges, the brighter our light shines in the corner in which God has placed us.