It's amazing how every Saturday is so different... We have our main church service on Saturday afternoons.
Afterwards we bunch into groups and go do something fun.
Today, totally unplanned, I ended up with my two good friends Marina and Alex.
After some repeating rounds of coffee, tea and ice-cream and heated discussions, we finally got up to go home. Whilst walking towards the metro, Marina receives a call from a lady we had met during one of our street evangelization events.
It was a mother begging for someone to visit her daughter who's husband had died.
"She needs prayer" said the mother.
The mother and daughter were both unsaved, didn't attend any church, and acted rather skeptical during the evangelization. Still they got our church invite and thus, knew what number to dial when the storms of life came upon them.
"We should go together!" suggested Marina. So after making Alex buy a pretty box of chocolates we were on our way.
Coming up to the building, we started praying, and singing. Up in the elevator we went to the 8th floor. Finding the right door, the bell was rung, the door knocked on. No answer. Once again.
Calling the mother, we heard her all in tears still pleading us to not give up and get to the daughter. "She's having such a hard time, my Lenochka!" the mom said in between sobs. Thats when we found out the daughter's name; Lena, besides her name, Lena was a stranger to us.
So we didn't give up, persistently knocking until we heard a voice behind the door.
It was Lena. And her voice was beyond drunk, wavering, almost whining. After a confusing conversation behind the doors, we begged her to open the door so we could make sure she's alive (we tried being funny).
Lena cracked the door open, my friend Alex turned around, Marina and I glanced at each other with an "oh uh" glance. Lena was half naked. The only thing on her were her under garments. Her hair was chopped off into a man hair cut.
Even worse was the strong smell that hit us, and almost sent us running home. Over-powering smell of alcohol, cigarettes, meds, and various toilet smells.
The cracked door was shut once again. We begged her to pull on a cover up. and let us in.
A battle. thats what is was.
"Come in already!" jeered the drunk voice of what was once a lovely lady.
Heart thumping, glancing at each other, the sweet Marina made the first move (she is 30 years old! not sixteen like me haha!) Alex still stood to the wall, only glancing to see if I moved after Marina.
Hesitantly, I tried to quit the battle going on in my head.
"What if we will get hurt? What if she does something violent? I left my phone home, its evening and no one knows where I am... But isn't this what a life of a christian is supposed to be?
For me to die is only a good gain, I can't wait for heaven.
What's with all the 'spiritual' people praying and never rolling up their sleeves and going into the real, frightening, thrilling, dirty work?
I want to be more than just a say-er, pray-er, worshipper. I want to jump. I want to risk it all. I want God to show His glory."
Marina was already in the kitchen by the time I decided to leap into the miniature hell on earth. I took a few steps and hovered by the kitchen entrance.
Watching Marina talking about paintings with the, at that moment, seemingly happy, drunk Lena. I couldn't see her, she was behind a kitchen wall. I was still so scared to even glance. Alex still hovered by the entrance of the apartment, undergoing his own thought battle I bet. Alex is the oldest (31). More maturity = less simplicity, less naiveness.
Minuts ticked by like seconds. Coming in to pat her on the shoulder, I saw Marina trying to help her pull a shirt on. It was hard to not notice the vast amount of bruises and cuts all over her body. Especially an extra shuddering bruise/cut right under her eye.
Lena's green eyes looked so deeply into mine. Silent plea. My inside world shaking.
In the living room, some kind of soap opera was blaring loudly from her plasma tv. Turning to Alex still at the door, I motioned him to turn CNL or something christian on instead of the soap opera. I have no idea what to do with a remote control anyway. I offered to make Lena a cup of tea instead. She refused. Marina guided Lena into the living room and they sat on the couch. The coffee table in front of them was over-spilling with all types of meds, empty and full bottles of vodka, cigarets, tomatoes, lemons, some more remote controls. In the kitchen I noticed broken glass. I couldnt find any food. But tea I did find. Of course. I'm in Ukraine after all:)
Worship music started streaming into the apt. The smell was so bad, I wanted to puke, it was filling my lungs. I tucked my nose into my scarf that smelled like my nice burbery perfume.
With tea I came in and sat on the other side of Lena, Marina was praying in tongues and rubbing her back.
Tears streamed down her weary face.
"Very hard!!!" she sobbed.
We prayed none stop, at some point one of us would stop to encourage her, speak love to her, stories about Jesus, testimonies. We suggested she pray with us, helping her say the words out properly.
Slowly we begun. "I ask you Lord Jesus to forgive me of my sins, to cleanse me with your blood, to fill me with your love, Peace come. Forgive me Jesus. Come into my life I invite you. Be the Lord of my life." And so on she repeated, proclaiming such power over her life.
Worship started escaping my mouth, I couldn't contain the songs,
"Jesus, Jesus, Holy God, Anointed One, Jesus, - " And so on in russian we went to worship, until we ran out of songs we could remember.
This is how our evening proceeded. I can't even put into words everything that happened, the way that Jesus moved. Marina got up and started praying over the apartment. Telling the unclean spirits to go away and inviting the Holy Spirit to fill the place.
Holding Lena's barely hairless head on my shoulder, I was shaken. Her boney body leaned heavily on me. Everything imaginable was strewn all over the room, it was a mess. Poor Alex felt uncomfortable at first. Until He started sharing his testimonies about what Jesus had done in his life. That was powerful.
Marina powered on in prayer. I powered on in worship. Alex powered on in testimony.
While Lena was staring at Alex, I replaced all the full bottles of vodka with the empty ones from the floor, hid the full new bottles of vodka under my dress and ran for the bathroom. Emptying out all the vodka, I noticed her Chanel make-up. Her Dior jeans. The expensive hair products. This lady wasn't poor.
After filling up the, now empty, vodka bottles with water I closed them tight and silently replaced them once again on the coffee table.
Alex was doing a good job with the testimonies. Marina and I broke into her cigarets and broke all of them in half and placed them back in the box. Turning up the volume on CNL, we also hid the remote control and went on to clean up a bit.
Lena was recovering after a few hours. She started telling us about her vacation to Egypt, and other things about herself.
"We will be your friends, call us anytime of the day, share with us anything you're feeling" We continued to comfort her and embrace her (despite of the horrendous smell)
"Get yourself together, we're picking you up at 4 tomorrow and taking you out for a walk" to this proposition she agreed.
"No one ever visits me" she continued on and off. It was hard to part. But the atmosphere was defiantly changing, and the sky outside growing darker.
"I have to eat something" she continued. We assured her that she does, even offering to cook for her, but I think she was slowly sobering up, and realizing that we're complete strangers. She said that we had done enough and she didn't want us to cook for her too.
"Who are you? Why are you young people doing this? What sect are you from?" she kept asking puzzled. Than rummaged around the table and showed us our church invite. "My mom knows you!" We chatted on and off.. praying inside our hearts.
As we said good-bye, she hung on to Marina and me, burying her tear stained face in our necks. In such an embrace we all stood, silently.. As the tradition goes here on ukraine she kissed us and thanked us..starting to cry all over again.
Coming home tonight I was shaken.
Satan, of course, furious, always comes up with some physical earthly disaster once you're on the right track. Entering the house, my dad informs me that my computer died. Or the screen doesn't work. As I said before, my computer had been so public, over-used, eventually out-used by many people.
Now i'm uncomfortably sitting on a chair typing this on a huge screen..
But nothing can ever take away the happiness in me. Nothing. Nothing else is better than being in tune with God.
