author
In some cultures, extending or receiving a simple invitation for tea or coffee is no small thing. It’s not about quickly brewing a cup – it’s about preparing a feast. In the country of Georgia within the Greater Caucasus, hosting is sacred, often reserved for special occasions when one is fully prepared to offer a banquet that could cost more than $100 USD and take half a day to prepare – and just as long to enjoy. Hospitality in this context is beautiful, but weighty. Homes are private, cherished spaces that are rarely opened.
In this kind of culture, when a person cannot easily say, “Let’s grab a coffee,” how can Jesus followers plant spiritual seeds, build trust and live out biblical truths among their neighbours?
Juan* and Sofia,* part of the OM team in the Caucasus, decided to try something quietly radical for Georgia: they just showed up.
With a tray of cookies and fruit, the couple knocked on the door of a family for whom they had long been praying – Georgian Orthodox neighbours who had remained just out of reach. That day, to their surprise and joy, Giorgi* and Tekla,* as well as their eldest daughter Lika,* were at home. Soon they were all seated in their garden, laughing and getting to know one another for the first time.
While talking, Juan and Sofia were praying and asking: Is there spiritual hunger here? Is God already stirring?
They shared their own story – how they had seen God work in their daughter’s life and how miracles had sustained them. Then they turned the conversation toward Giorgi and Tekla and asked, “Have you ever seen a miracle in your life? We believe everyone has at least one.”
Giorgi and Tekla’s faces softened with wonder as they began to recall their own journey: trials overcome, doors closed and opened by divine timing, grace that had carried them. With sincere excitement, they affirmed their shared faith in God. They saw Juan and Sofia not only as visitors, but also as spiritual family.
One act of courage – a knock on a door – opened something sacred. Since then, Giorgi has knocked on Juan and Sofia’s door two other times, bringing harvest from his land as gifts. And while they are still waiting to be invited back to his house and deepen that friendship, Juan and Sofia have learnt a vital truth: God moves when we’re ready to move. When we take a risk for the Kingdom, He meets us with a plan already in motion. He’s simply waiting for us to knock.
Please pray for believers in the Caucasus to keep knocking, praying and sowing. Because behind every unopened door might be a family ready to remember the miracles in their own lives – and to meet the God who made them possible.
*name changed
Share On Your Socials
Samira learnt about Jesus at the youth group that meets in her village. At one meeting, she wrote a letter to God, and Jesus answered her in a dream!
To discourage Gozal's faith, her family kept her from other believers for nearly a decade. That did not stop Gozal from loving Jesus and longing to serve Him among the nations.
Carlos and Blanca realised that there are very few tools for sharing Jesus within Orthodox contexts in the Caucasus. There are no resources specifically crafted to bridge that gap, no contextualised pathways to meaningful gospel conversations rooted in shared history and spiritual language.
Lucas and Elena longed to share hope with a least-reached people group in the Northern Caucasus. They prayed and asked God to show them the way, and He did. Going before them with signs and wonders, God connected them to a person of peace.
When travel due to the new coronavirus comes to a halt, the short term outreach to Hungary goes online.
Nine years ago, Pippa (32) left her home in the UK and joined in with what God was doing among Buddhist communities in the Himalayas. Through challenges, doubts and crisis, prayer has been her unshakable foundation.
For teens Grace and Sophia, sharing Christ's love with those who don't know Him is what they are used to.
When the Esaus left their small Canadian town 52 years ago, they expected to be teaching at a Bible school. God however had other plans.
Four years ago, the Bullock family left the familiarity and security of life in the UK to serve God cross-culturally in Zambia. OM writer Ivy Chiu spoke to Dan and Ruth about why they took such a bold step, and what life is now like for their young family.
Aneli, a Mexican physiotherapist, gave up her comfortable home, job, and being close to family to use her professional skills to reach out to special needs people in Albania. Her plans seem to come to a halt with the coronavirus pandemic, however, until God opens the door for her to share His love in a beautiful, unplanned way.
Through trials and troubles, Alan and Vicki experienced God's love and peace, sharing it with others wherever they go.
When Patrick prayed for the Lord to lead him to one person whom he could further train and equip, Samuel was not the obvious choice.
“Life with God is an adventure, and do you trust Him enough to say 'Yes!' to that adventure?” When Jenna Montgomery heard a conference speaker say that, it was the final confirmation that she needed to step out. “God wanted me to use my professional skills to invest in something eternal,” she said in an interview with OM Journalist Nicky Andrews.
Igor undergoes transformation in his life before God can use him to serve the people he used to hate in the Cacausus region.
