Soaring like an Eagle Or Acting like a Turkey?

A meeting of the local communist officials took place and their decision was to remove the Lampados Bible College  (Currently Kuban Evangelical Christian University) from its facilities in the building which the college had occupied for the past months.  This was not the first time they had been “kicked out” of a building, and probably it would not be the last time. Christian schools and churches were accustomed to this sudden, unannounced move order, never a request!

The college was meeting in a building near Turgeniva and Festivalia, two of the main streets in Krasnodar, close to the trolley and rail bus system.   This new move would put the College into Adygea Territory across the Kuban River, in this month where the thermometer reads “frigid”!

This meeting would become very special because Anna the Blonde, who was invited to the meeting, became our translator in Russia.   She came that late October day meeting, and saw what we were trying to accomplish and wanted to become part of the team.  I did not see an answer to this problem of moving the school again  because I was looking at the problem.  The problem was not the problem.  The problem was that the problem was all that I could see.

          While I was pouting down-stream, God was busy working up-stream to put us into a better place for teaching and ministry.

 

A Place With…

electricity in the room,

a blackboard against the wall,

a large back yard, with an out-house, with a light,

a place to dig a hole in the ground for a fire-pit,

a large, metal container to place over the fire pit to make the soup,

a deep well with water that had not been affected by Chernobyl,

only a mile to walk from the bus stop,

with only one military checkpoint,

and one long bridge to cross the Kuban River into Adygea territory.

But beyond the problem,

He brought us a translator.

 It became a win…win situation, however not seen by me.

          Early that morning, I was reading Psalm 61, ascribed to David as its author, before I made my way to the College.   The Rev. Dr.  A. Cohen, writing in the commentary The Psalms (Soncino Press, page 192) states, [This is] a petition to God for restoration by a person away from home….not in a remote spot far away from his home, but Jerusalem, the dwelling-place of God [which is for him] the centre of the earth.  He measures his distance from it not by the miles but by the intensity of his yearning to be there, in the place where the visible pledges of God’s Presence were to be found.”

Psalm 61

For the choir director; on a stringed instrument.

 A Psalm of David.

¹    Hear my cry, O God;

Give heed to my prayer.

²   From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

³   For You have been a refuge for me,

A tower of strength against the enemy.

⁴   Let me dwell in Your tent forever;

Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.

Selah.

⁵   For You have heard my vows, O God;

You have given me the inheritance

of those who fear Your name.

⁶   You will prolong the king’s life;

His years will be as many generations.

⁷   He will abide before God forever;

Appoint loving-kindness and truth

that they may preserve him.

⁸   So I will sing praise to Your name forever,

That I may pay my vows day by day.

Chuck’s Psalm 61 prayer of intensity

  Look Out!  I am standing on the Rock

 

 

Psalm 61

There is a time to run, and a time to race.

A time to walk, and slow down the pace.

A time to be quiet and a time to talk.

A time to pray, and trust in His grace

A time to stop, and a time to go;

A time to move forward and a time to move slow.

A time to take refuge and a time to fight;

A time to let go, and a time to hang tight.

But whatever the time, with the need big or small,

Whatever the problem, or how hard the hammer falls,

Whoever the enemy, whether outside or in,

We’ll trust in our Savior, and lean hard on Him.

They think they have thwarted us in the move they have planned

They failed to see that You were holding our hand.

We will simply dig deeper into Your Word this day,

Watching You move us forward with no setback or delay.

We are standing on the Rock that is exceedingly high;

We are soaring like an eagle, into Your endless sky.

You are our tower of strength; we are under Your wings,

Our future is in Your hands, and because of this we can sing.

So help us, O God, to trust You each day;

Your presence is with us, You’re in our life to stay.

Our life is in Your hands; we need not worry or fear,

You are present with us in Russia, we are so glad we are here!

Krasnodar, 1993