At The Table: Azerbaijan

My OG team lead, Eric, posted a blog that was most fitting to this concept, this is an excerpt. Check the end of this blog for a link to his full blog about it:

“Everyone is welcome and invited to my meeting place. I have no capability for exclusions or judgements. I am simply a space, a doorway, a path to which I do not decide or influence the destination. The simplicity of what I have to offer is often taken as foolishness, but it’s riches are never ending. I do not need to put my history into words. It is in fact impossible for me to do so, but it is seen and felt by those searching. It is undeniable by those who walk into the understanding of my journey. If you take time to slow down and take in my scars, you will find what you seek. The community of The Kingdom. The table of the Redeemed.”

 

I’ll backtrack a little bit to our time in Azerbaijan. Spring (Me, Molly, Ash and Meg) was the only team to have a set ministry outside of the main city in this country. We hopped on a bus from the bustling Euro-style city of Baku to the second largest city: Genje. It was more rural feeling than Baku, but still plenty of people. 

We arrived at a place that we assumed to be the bus station and had no way of contacting our host. We knew they were aware of our arrival time and hopped off the bus with high hopes to be found. We see two men, a little shinier than all the rest of the crowd near us, stand out and they catch sight of us and wave. Not much English is exchanged and we are guided to a car that can fit the four of us + our bags perfectly. We load up and we head out, speaking in little bits with our new friend, Aslan. 

I did a double take at the realization of the name and we all exchanged glances of wonder and glee. I knew we were in for a crazy month.

Upon arrival at Aslan’s House, we met his two children and his wife, Supara.

To be blunt, what God is doing through Aslan and Supara changed our lives.

We were welcomed with fruits and love and rest. A staple of my emotional memories there.

Every morning we met together as a whole family and ate bread with apple butter, fig jam and coffee. Every afternoon we returned to the house to enjoy another meal with fresh çai (Tea). We gathered every evening as a family again to break bread and eat the love-infused meals prepared my loving and beautiful hands. We shared stories, we talked about our days, we planned our future days. We communed. We became a family at that table. Supara’s table offered refuge and comfort and was blessed by faithfulness and goodness and patience and so much laughter.

We had several ministry opportunities but our main focus was  women in villages around Genje. Too far out to afford to make it in to the city. They worked in the sunflower fields for hours and we awaited patiently to greet them after their work day in the evening before dinner. We loaded up the car and would set out for a new home every night. 

Time and time again, we were invited to sit and share tea and fruits and sunflower seeds and snacks. We were exchanging something so precious With one another: time. We spent hours sometimes with these families and women. Our souls became intertwined with their stories and their hurts. We once again became a family with the ones we met.

We talked with women who were believers, women who were beaten, women who were hoping for a better life, mistreated women, women who had gone so much of their life unseen and called crazy. We met with men who beat their wives, men who loved their wives, men who were afraid to share their stories, men who took care of their families. We met every kind of person every kind of sinner. We didnt Miss a single opportunity to encourage, to love to speak LIFE into. Holy Spirit seemed to be moving every time we so much as breathed. The gospel was heard seen and felt at every turn.

 

i witnessed an unspoken, sacred approach to the table unfold each and every day: there was love and respect and boldness. There was pain and anguish and curiosity. There was giving and patience and goodness. The tables brought stability and community and fostered an environment for multiple people to receive Christ. The tables were hosts to a harvest and we got to worship and witness God’s mercy and His pursuit all while seated over a wooden structure meant to place items on. 

 

We lost ourselves at the tables and found Christ instead. New Testament scholar N. T. Wright wrote, “When Jesus himself wanted to explain to his disciples what his forthcoming death was all about, he didn’t give them a theory, he gave them a meal.” Tables are a place of connection and homecoming all throughout the Bible. The Prodigal Son in Luke 15 was given a feast upon returning – presumably at, you guessed it, some type of table.

 

I still can’t find the most poetic or fitting words to describe our time in Genje but I do know that I left more of my heart in that country than most other places in my life. The obedience and generosity of Aslan and Supara is heard and felt among the community. The open arms of all the people we met and conversed with along the way is an echo of the Father’s open arms and invitation to HIS own table of salvation.

 

When we desire connectivity we often say “I miss Supara’s table”. A testament to the home she has built and the way she follows Christ. How blessed we were to be welcomed in.

God sets a place for us every single day and welcomes us in for as long and as frequent as we like to visit. He makes our favorite meals and gives us what we need. Jesus nourishes our soul, he refreshes us, He is our living water. We are made new again  every time we accept this invitation.

A never-ending dinner party with your favorite people.

Anyway,

Take a look at th video for a speck of our time I touched on:

 

 

 

thanks for reading, my next blog will have some next step updates and a little more about where God has me at now. 

Love you all so much. 

 

Read the rest of Eric’s blog HERE! He captured this perfectly, and I hope it resonates with you as you return to your own tables today as it did for me. S/O TO YOU COCOA PUFF THANKS FOR THE WORDS!