Karhova

With breakfast on the bus our six to seven hour journey to Karhova began, taking just a bit over eight hours.  As I texted my friend from Liberia, the only reason the roads in Liberia were worse was because there was more traffic there.  We actually could attempt to avoid pot holes!  We did arrive, though, and a family from a church there had us over for ... drum roll ... chicken and potatoes!  Praise God for delicious meals for there are many ways to make chicken and potato!

Once again it was well over 100°F and we received an opportunity to rest as the churches in Karhova did all the inviting.  And onces again the band set up with out grumbling or complaining in that horrendous heat. Talk about living Jesus!

It was a night of spiritual battles.  I found myself praying over the venue and the people.  While I was praying, and unbeknownst to me, the NLM electric guitar player, Alex from Brazil, was hit in the face with pepper spray.  Only by the grace and mercies of God he was able to finish the show.  

I met up with Max after the concert and we tried to share the gospel with a group of young men. It became argumentative - and in Ukrainian - so I prayed over the situation.  God brought Dema, who I had met at lunch over, and he was able to de-escalate the situation.  Praise God for our Karhovian brother.

Max was beating himself up afterward, because he felt he had allowed the situation to become aggressive.  I shared with him Isaiah 40:5 which says,"The Lord will give you an instructed tongue ..." and I encouraged him to ask God for that.