Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a far away land …

Every night as my granddaughter and I go to bed, she asks for a bedtime story. Well, at least one. And usually as many as I allow or until she simply goes to sleep. She gets all kinds of bedtime stories. Some are traditional fairy tales, Cinderella, Snow White, etc. Some are simply tales that I make up. Some are stories from my life – which I will always end with the line “and this is a true story about my life.” And some are Bible stories – which I will always end with the line “and this is a true story from the Bible.”

So she is learning about my life, and about God. And Mayme wants you to know that she believes in Jesus. She enjoys the story of creation, but wrestles with questions such as, “Just how did God make each flower so beautiful and different?” Or “When he made man from the dust of the ground was it like he sat down with playdo and shaped him? What do God’s fingers look like that he could do that?” The Bible doesn’t offer all the details. And, of course, Maymezhan wants all the details, in order, exact. Sometimes stories don’t particularly help her go to sleep.

So how do you answer those questions?

“Are all the stories in the Bible really true?” she asks. “My friend Valeria says that some of it is just like fairy tales so that the Bible is more interesting, like Jesus walking on the water. She says no one could walk on the water.”

“So Mayme, what do you think?” I ask her. “You know the story about Jesus walking on the water and Peter joining him on the water, what do you think?”

“It must be true, since Jesus is God and can do anything he wants. I haven’t walked on water yet, Kazakhstan doesn’t have much water. Valeria says she believes in God, just not the Bible. So how can I tell her it is true so that she listens? Especially when I don’t have all the answers?”

So how do you answer those questions?

Once upon a time, a long time ago,

That is sometimes how I start telling my testimony here. Like a fairy tale.

Starting back with my grandparents, who were disciplers and church planters; going through my uncles and my father’s testimony; then my own salvation and that of my brothers; then sharing of God in my life through the ages and stages of everything that has happened so far. Sometimes it is a very good approach – making it a bigger picture than just me, making it a multi-generational drama. Often this is helpful in this extended-family, story-telling culture. And I can encourage young, new believers with the power of their faith in the lives of their children and grandchildren.

Sometimes, this is not the best approach. Like when addressing Muslims who are hesitant to leave the faith of their fathers. Obviously I would follow in my parents and grandparents’ footsteps – one should maintain the faith of their fathers. At least that is their view. When I am in this situation, instead of sharing a full heritage history, I share about the personal decision that I have made to follow Christ and how God has worked that out in my life. Maybe, over time, as they are open to the idea, then I am able to share about a personal decision that my father made, and his father, and how each singular decision, in each life, is something that blessed their lives and influenced mine. But only when they are ready for that part, of course.

My friend Sergey was told me about the lady at the bank. I don’t know her name, so lets just call her ‘Gulzhan’ for the moment. Anyway, Gulzhan was a firmly avowed atheist. But over time, she allowed Sergey to share his testimony and she began to investigate spiritual things. She was just beginning to show real interest in Christianity. Then her father died. Her father, as everyone else in her extended family, considered himself a Muslim. And even Gulzhan, back in her atheist days, depending on the question would have said she was Muslim, as her whole family. Now, as the family entered grief, Gulzhan was challenged by the family to firmly embrace the faith of her father. Normally around the death of a loved one, all the Muslims get a lot more serious in their faith, at least for a while. Now Gulzhan has fully embraced the Muslim faith. She prays five times a day, attends mosque, wears full coverage clothing. Yet she is still hungry spiritually.

Gulzhan just recently asked Sergey for more of an explanation of his faith. He was so excited for the opportunity to share, but also very concerned that he would say something that would drive her farther from the truth. When Gulzhan said she wanted to talk, Sergey wracked his brain for ideas to share but came up empty. By the time they finally sat down to talk, Gulzhan’s questions had changed ever so slightly. And as she asked her questions, the Holy Spirit gave Sergey the answers. Gulzhan has not embraced Christ yet, but she is still seeking and becoming open again.

• Please pray for “Gulzhan” so that she, and others like her, may find and embrace the truth of Jesus Christ. Pray for all of our staff as they share the gospel with the people around them in their lives.


• Pray for 6-year-old Mayme as she learns more of the truth of the gospel and wrestles with how to communicate those truths to her friends.


• And pray for me, that I would be bold and proclaim the truth of the gospel fearlessly. And that I would be patient and understanding in the process.


• And please continue to pray that I could speak the Kazakh language.