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- TeamUfa
- We are a team of people trying to reach people in Ufa and Bashkortostan in Russia. It is no small task and we want your support!
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Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Lessons Learned and Hope For The Future
8:33 PM | Posted by
TeamUfa
I want to begin by expressing how thankful I am to Chris, his wife and family, the members of his team in Ufa, and all of the people I met along the way for making this trip so incredible and teaching me such invaluable lessons during my time there. God has taught me so much in such a very short time, and I am so grateful for all the opportunities to teach and to learn that I was given while in Ufa.
Perhaps one of the biggest (and hardest) lessons I learned in Ufa was that my story is meant to be shared. While at the House of Prayer Baptist Church, I felt an overwhelming need to share my two-year struggle with cutting as part of my testimony presentation. I have only shared this with very few people in the past, let alone an entire congregation. As soon as Chris let us know that we would be sharing our testimony, I instantly understood that this part of my story was intended for someone in that audience. Afterward, I got to talk to a girl who was very touched by my story and said it was really encouraging for her as she was going through some similar things. I knew that I had told that story for her. That experience has encouraged me to share my story more, because there are girls who desperately need to know that it only gets better. I hope to begin a project at OBU to provide help and support for girls who have struggled and are struggling with depression and self-injury.
I also learned a lot about friendship in Ufa. Chris was explaining to a group of college students one day that his friendships in America are many but shallow, and his friendships in Ufa are few, but very deep. My friends in Ufa taught me some very valuable lessons and really got me thinking about what friendships can and should be like. I felt an almost instant connection with many of the people I met there, and I knew that even though we weren’t saving souls left and right, we were preparing them through our influence. Many of the students were obviously very curious and open to new possibilities, and I hope that our conversations with them sparked even more interest within them.
Again, I am so grateful for my time in Ufa and all of the wonderful people I was able to meet while I was there. I am so excited about the possibility of returning to Ufa and cannot wait to hear more about how God continues to work through the people there.
Thanks again,
Rachel Raney
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