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On Wednesdays, Lucas* and Elena,* who live in eastern Georgia in the Greater Caucasus, intentionally set apart time for praying and sowing the gospel. They ask God where He would like them to go with the intention to sow the good news of Christ. If the Holy Spirit invites them to do something other than sowing, though, they are always open to being redirected by Him.
One Wednesday, they were looking at a map of Georgia and praying. A valley where people from a least-reached Muslim people group live caught their eye. Although the majority of this people group live in Russia, some of them settled in Georgia, mostly within nine villages in that valley. Believers had visited and met contacts — people of peace — in six of the villages but not yet in the other three. Lucas and Elena noticed a village between two mountains on the map — one of the three least-reached villages — and they prayed, “God, we want to be there.” However, they knew that in that area, a person cannot just show up and wander around; there are security services monitoring the area, and, in the spiritual realm, there are eyes that are always watching.
However, these factors did not deter them, and they prayed, asking God how to go there. The Lord brought to mind that the region is well known for its good bee products. As Lucas and Elena are starting a business that involves bee products, they decided that they would go to look for beekeepers.
They drove there, and as they were entering the valley, God began to put worship songs in their mouths — but worship songs of warfare. Praying, they asked, “God, may these people see You. May they be aware that we are carrying You into this place. We carry You into this valley.” When they turned onto the road — the single road that led in and out of the village — they felt freedom: there were no spiritual eyes watching them. In the past, they had always felt spiritual eyes watching them, but this time there were none.
They came to part of the road where many cows were crossing, which is typical of Georgian village life. As they passed, one of the cows knelt down right beside the road and seemed to bow to them.
Continuing down the narrow road, they had to slow as a car — with a large Caucasian dog in it — came toward them from the opposite direction. As the vehicle in front of them passed the car with the dog, the dog started to bark at it. But when it was Lucas and Elena’s turn to pass, the dog knelt down. They looked at each other and said, “Did you see that? It’s like they really could see Jesus.”
When they arrived at the village, they asked around but could not find any beekeepers. According to the locals, there were none. So, Lucas and Elena got back in their car and started to leave. Just as they were about to exit the village, though, Lucas saw some beekeeping boxes. So, they turned back, stopped at the closest house, and asked about the boxes. The people in that house told them, “Go and look for Ilyas.* He is a beekeeper.”
Following these new directions, they went to the other side of the village and found Ilyas, the beekeeper. Ilyas was a radical Muslim and devoted to the traditions of his people group. Yet he was excited to meet them and even invited them to his house. As they drank tea and ate cookies together, he told them all about his honey and bee products.
After Lucas and Elena told him about their business intentions, he asked them, “What are you doing here?”
They told him a little bit of their journey from their home country to the Caucasus, and then they said, “Well, there are the plans of man and the plans of God, and in the end, we follow God’s plan.”
He looked at them and asked, “Are you Christian workers?”
They responded, “What do you mean by Christian workers?”
And he said, “Well, are you here for preaching?”
They said, “Well, we believe in Jesus, and we believe what the Bible says, and we obey what He says.”
That answer pleased Ilyas. He said, “You know, I really like that you are believers because people who believe in God are different.” And then he started to praise Lucas’s character and say that he likes to have friendships with people who are deep, spiritual people.
For Lucas and Elena, Ilyas has become not only a business contact in that village, but also a person of peace. Now they have a good reason to go to that village, pray over that land and pursue business opportunities — all thanks to their good friend Ilyas. Whenever they go to the village, they visit his family, and while away, they stay connected through phone messages.
When Ilyas and his wife were sick, Lucas and Elena prayed for healing for them and told Ilyas, “We’re going to pray for you, and we’re going to pray in the name of Jesus. If God does a miracle, please let us know, so that He will get the glory.” Ilyas and his wife have since improved, and Lucas and Elena continue to deepen that friendship and share hope.
God is opening opportunities for people to be touched by the good news of Jesus in the Northern Caucasus. Please pray for Ilyas and his family to seek a relationship with Jesus Christ. Pray for God to use Lucas and Elena’s friendship with Ilyas to reach the entire community. May all bow before the Lord Jesus!
*name changed
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