The Missionary Life

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

                I would first like to thank those of you who are supporting me in your daily prayer time.  Your prayer is greatly appreciated.  Without prayer Gods work would not be going forward as smooth as it is.  Also I would like to thank those of you who are obeying Gods leading in your life by giving financially to His work going on here in Kyrgyzstan.  I am able to take part in activities and trips, and I am able to help people in need because of your faithful giving.  Thank you all so much for your faithfulness in finances and prayer! 
                I would also like to apologize for not updating you all on what’s going on for a little too long.  From now on I will try to find some time in my schedule to write you guys more often.  With that being said, let me tell you about what has been going on here!
                I have been here since March 22, and it has been absolutely incredible every day since arriving.  I am busy doing different things every day.  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings I go to Russian lessons for an hour and a half.  Monday night is prayer night at the church.  Tuesday mornings are a day where I work on different things for the church, like finding information on persecuted areas around Central Asia.  Tuesday afternoon is men’s Bible study time.  Wednesday afternoons and evenings I use for work times and also for meeting up with locals that are my age and just hangin’ out and discipling.  On Thursday mornings we have team prayer time with the core team of missionaries here. The team consists of Pastor Paul Billings and his wife Melanie.  They have 5 children.  Pastor Jed Gourley and his wife Renee.  They have 4 children.  Melanie and Renee are sisters and their mother is Pamela Markey who was my teacher for the Missionary Training Program at the Bible College in Hungary.  Then there is Zhenya and Tracy Kucherov.  Tracy is an American woman who is married to Zhenya who is a Ukrainian man.  Then there is Olya Lutsenko and Anya Trofimova. They are from Ukraine as well.  The missionary team that is here is quite possibly one of the greatest missionary teams currently serving in the world!  They are amazing people, all with their own incredible gifts and skills, yet they all work so well together to make an incredible missionary team.  It is truly an honor to be serving here with them! Then on Thursday night we have our Koinonia service.  Friday afternoons I use for either preparing for my English lesson that I teach on Saturdays at the church, or hangin out with more people.  Saturdays as I said I teach an English class for intermediate to advanced speakers.  Then at 5:00 every Saturday evening we meet at the church and then go out into a particular village or community to evangelize.  This is one of my favorite things to do! And it would be awesome to see some of you guys start to do this.  We have experienced some awesome fruit from this!  It’s such a good way to meet the community and tell people about the love of Christ.  Every Saturday we meet and go out in pairs of two through the different communities and either talk to people walking by or knock on peoples doors.  It is so awesome!  The conversations God opens to us are so awesome and encouraging!  Yes it is a little scary at times because about 90% of the people we talk to are Muslim, but we know God is with us and His will will be accomplished no matter what!
                   Also a little over one week ago we had a three person team from the Bible college in Hungary come for a 10 day outreach.  We didn’t do anything very special, but we did really enjoy having some extra hands to help with the work that is going on here.  The girls on the team painted a mural on one of the walls in our courtyard next to the playground.  The one guy on the team named Collin helped Pastor Paul and I sand and stain a bunch of boards to make benches for our Easter service.  One of the days, all of the girls went to an orphanage and us guys stayed behind and did some more work at the church.  Also while they were here with us we had some really good times of prayer for the city of Bishkek.  And to end the 10 days we went hiking in the majestic Tien Shan mountain range on a trail called Ala Archa (Ала Арча), then later that night sat down and had a delicious meal with the main course being dog!  It was a really great time!
                  This past Sunday in all of the former Soviet countries Easter was celebrated.  I’m really not sure why they celebrate it in a different month than us, but it was a really awesome day for the church here.  Like I mentioned above, every Saturday we go into a particular neighborhood of Bishkek and do evangelism and talk to people about the Gospel and invite people to check out our church to learn more about Jesus and what the Bible says about Jesus and eternal life.  This past Saturday, however, we walked around the little village right where the church is on the outskirts of the city, inviting people to our Easter service.  On Sunday morning we were all hoping that God would bring some of the people that we spoke to, to hear the message of the Gospel.   And as I was playing drums during the worship service, I noticed one man that we had invited.  It was so encouraging and I praise the Lord that He brought those whose hearts were ready, even if it was just one man.  After the church service we had a huge Easter celebration in our courtyard for everyone to stay and fellowship.  Some of the guys from the church made a traditional rice dish called plove, so that more people would stay and talk.  In Kyrgyzstan, if you have a large amount of delicious food, people will be drawn together!  Also, to prepare for all of the people that we needed to accommodate, Pastor Paul and I built eight benches for people to sit while they ate.
                     The last topic I want to let you know about is a very important one.  From June 25^th – July 1^st Jeremy Camp is supposed to be coming here to play a concert in the Center Square of Bishkek!  I’m talkin’ about a huge Christian concert happening in the massive Center Square of a 90+% city!  That is an incredible opportunity that God may be providing us with.  Before we bring him here however we need the officials of the country and the city to approve this.  So we need your prayer! Please!
                       Also, if Jeremy does get approved to come we will desperately need help with sound and set up over here, and my brother Taylor was asked by the missionaries here to come and give a hand if he can.  He said he would love use the skill that Christ has given him to help with this.  However, he can’t afford to buy a plane ticket all on his own.  So if he is to come here and help with this incredible event where he is sorely needed, he will need some help from faithful believers.  By praying for this concert and through giving some financial support to get Taylor here, you could be helping to pave the way for one the greatest moments in Christian missions history in this region of the world!  I would really like to encourage you to pray about what the Lord is leading you to do! 
                       Thank you all so much for your support! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.  I miss you all very much, but I have joy knowing that I am serving the Lord in a foreign land, and also because I know that God has me right where He wants me!

For His glory!
Evan

I WILL BE POSTING PICTURES OF THE THINGS I SPOKE ABOUT HOPEFULLY TODAY!

Arrival!

Well, I have arrived in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan today!  I was picked up by Zhenya who is one of the missionaries I will be staying with!  It is so good to be here finally after a long day of traveling.  I am pretty jet lagged so I am excited to get some sleep!  But most importantly... I am very excited to start doing the work that the Lord has for me, and to just try and live according to His will for my life daily!

The view of the Tian Shan Mountains from the apartment that I am staying in

Please continue to pray for me and what God has planned for me here and in the future! Also, pray for the team here, that God would use us inn incredible ways!  And pray for Hillary and Collin who are trying to come to Bishkek from CCBCE in Vajta, Hungary for their 10-day outreach!

I miss you all and will be praying for you guys!

For His glory!

Evan

The Next Step

          From February 1^st until December 10^th of last year, I was a student in the two semester Missionary Training Program at Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe in Vajta, Hungary.  During my time in school, I went on mission trips to Serbia twice, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia and Romania.  In all of the places we were, God used us as His hands and feet.  Both of my 10 day outreaches were spent in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and were incredible for many reasons. Mainly because they were saturated with the Holy Spirit, the love of Christ and the leading of God in all that we did.  Our team from the Bible College worked alongside an amazing team of people from the United States, Ukraine and Brazil.  Some of the members of the team have been in Bishkek now for about 7 years! 
            The first section of scripture that I read from God’s Word which convicted me that I need to be in the mission field,  is known as the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20 which says:
 

                           18“Then Jesus came and spoke to them saying, “All
                                 authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
                           19“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
                                 baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
                                 the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
                           20“teaching them to observe all things that I commanded
                                 you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

When I read this I realized that these words are the last words of Jesus.  Also God revealed to me that these words aren’t just for the Disciples of Christ, or for Paul and Barnabas, but these words were and still are for anyone who would say that they serve and follow Jesus Christ.  From the very moment that I read this passage, I knew that I needed to start doing something for the Lord, but what was it?  A few days later I was reading in Isaiah, and came across Isaiah 6:8 which says:
                                         6“Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
                                                  “Whom shall I send,
                                                    And who will go  for us?”
                                             Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

After reading this verse, I thought to myself, “I am willing, and this kind of sounds like me.”  So I prayed and told God, “Here am I, send me to do Your will.  Where do you want me and for what?”  And I heard God say, “Be prepared.”  A few nights later I was in my bed and had a Holy Spirit inspired dream or vision, and I saw a globe spinning very fast, as if time is running out.  Then I saw two giant hands grab the globe, indicating God is in control of the world and time all together.  Then finally a place on this globe became highlighted, and one of the fingers of the hands pointed to the same location, and I recognized the location as somewhere in northern Russia. 

            After seeing this clear vision, I asked the Lord what steps I should take in preparation for this calling.  I had suggestions from people in authority over me to consider going to Bible College, and through prayer God led me to Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe.  Not only did CCBCE give me the proper training to go out into the mission field to be a powerful tool for Him, but God also gave me many useful contacts and recourses that will be invaluable to me.
          In the last few weeks I have been praying and seeking what the next step is in going to the Siberian region where I know that God has called me. Currently, God is calling me to go back to Kyrgyzstan, to help the team that I was with, in Bishkek.  They are in need of male support there, and God is calling me there to support the ministry.  This is what I am hearing the Lord tell me to do, in my pursuit of reaching Siberia.  Kyrgyzstan is a former Soviet state, so they are a Russian speaking people, which will immerse me in a culture similar to what I will experience in Siberia.
            I need you all to know that this Gospel message that I am going to these distant lands for is the most important thing in my life.  I love my friends and family, and my fellow brothers and sisters who share a common faith in our amazing God.  However, they all pale in comparison to the love that I have for Jesus Christ and His will that He has for my life.  There is nothing more important than going where the Lord has called me; to do His good work of telling all who I come in contact with of the almighty and all powerful name of Jesus.  There are some in this world who have never heard the name of Jesus.  That is heartbreaking, and makes bringing the name of Jesus and the Good News that goes with His name to those of utmost importance to me.  The director of Outreach To Asian Nationals and a very close spiritual mentor of mine, Chris Gnanakan, has a little “slogan” about missions: “Christians need to be reaching the lost, at any cost.”  I remember hearing that and thinking, “What am I willing to go through for the Gospel?  How far am I willing to go to reach the lost?”  I can say with confidence that I am willing to go to any extreme to bring the Gospel of Christ wherever the good Lord calls me.  I have three life verses to challenge me and encourage me to be prepared, and to be excited to endure all things for the advancement of the Gospel. One of them speaks of why missionaries do the things we do, and two of them ensure Christians that we do not need to fear anything.  The first one is:

                           20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who
                                 live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live
                                 in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
                                 me and gave Himself for me.
                                                                                            Galatians 2:20

This verse is why I have to go to Kyrgyzstan and fulfill what God is calling me to.  The moment I accepted Christ into my heart and was baptized with the Holy Spirit, it was no longer I who was living but Christ took up residence inside of me and is now literally living inside of me.  Once we finally allow God to come in and take up residence inside of us and we finally submit to Gods will we realize that we are meant for Gods amazing plan, and it is absolutely magnificent.  That is what I have recently discovered.  God has been teaching how to submit to His will this whole past year, and I have finally submitted to Gods will for my life and I know that His next step for me is to go to Kyrgyzstan, and eventually Siberia to do His good work among a lost and unreached people.  There is nothing else on earth that is more important to me than to do that for my God.

          The next two verses tell of why I do not fear the next step of the Lords will in my life.  The path that God has me on could be dangerous, but I am confident in the Word of the Lord, and he tells me not to fear:
                                                              
                             9“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good
                                 courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord
                                 your God is with you wherever you go.”
                                                                                                        Joshua 1:9

          In this verse, God tells us that we don’t need to fear anything, but Him.  He has control over everything, whether that’s our finances, or a family situation, our health, our car breaking down, or our life.  I know that God will use this verse to sustain me in times of trouble in the future on the mission field.  And my third life verse says:
       
                             21“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
                                                                                               Philippians 1:21

            I love this verse so much!  Like Joshua says “do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  I do not need to be afraid of anything the Lord puts me through or what the Devil throws at me.  Even if God puts me through a situation that will have me wind up in prison or lead me to my death, Gods Word tells me that I do not need to fear.  For to me, to live is Christ, is saying that I want to live, because I get to do the work that Christ has for me and living life for Christ is wonderful, because we get to help non believers look to God and we get to help lead people to Jesus.  However, to die is gain!  If you look past Philippians 1:20 and read 22-24 you see that Paul actually says that for him death is better and he would prefer that, because he would be in the presence of Jesus.  He says however, that it is more beneficial for the people he is helping to continue on with what Christ has him doing.  And in doing the work that Christ has for me and obeying His will for my life, I might die by execution or by life in prison, or by accidental cause, but whether I live or die Christ will be honored with my body.  To die means that I am transported from this fallen world, to the presence of our amazing heavenly Father!  That is amazing and I honestly can’t wait for that day.  That is why this verse is my most cherished life verse.  I am not going into the mission field to become a martyr, but I am going to live like my heavenly Father showed me to live while He was on earth.  To love everyone, and to be kind to all who I come in contact with.  To not be afraid of anything and to be bold for Christ in all that I do.  And in doing that, I will not fear death, because I know that to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

          I will be going to Kyrgyzstan as a long term missionary with the Обновление Calvary Chapel church in Bishkek.  While I am in Kyrgyzstan I will work with the youth group there by helping to build the teens in the church up in the Word of God.  I will be challenging the kids to truly be followers of God, and to be bold for Jesus.  I will also be involved with a mid week Bible study and I may even lead that.  I will be doing practical ministry for the church by doing upkeep on the building.  I will be doing a weekly orphanage ministry where we go and spend time just loving on the kids of the orphanage, and teaching them the Word of God.  After I go to Kyrgyzstan and complete the work that the Lord has for me there, I will be continuing on to Siberia, Lord willing.  That is where I will meet up with David Markey who I originally met on my first trip to Kyrgyzstan.  David has the exact same calling to Siberia as I do.  We both have had Holy Spirit inspired encounters in which the Holy Spirit showed us the Lords will for our lives by going to the unreached people of Siberia.  I have faith that God will still lead me to Siberia in His time, but for now He has me going to Kyrgyzstan as a stepping stone, for a reason which He has not shown me yet. 

I am writing this letter mainly to inform you of where I have been and where the Lord is taking me, and also to ask for your prayer support, because it is so vitally important.  Although prayer support is the most important kind of support that you can give, I ask you to pray about financially supporting the mission that God has set before me.  By prayer support and financial support you are taking part in the mission with me, for without your prayer and financial support, the mission is next to impossible.  Having a strong prayer support and financial support team is so crucial for missionaries.  So I encourage you to pray about supporting this mission financially so that the task that the Lord has set before me may be accomplished. 
          Below is a list of all the needs I will have while in the mission field:

Housing/rent - $200-$250 per month
Food - $150-$200 per month

Transportation - $70 per month

Utilities - $70 per month
Ministry - $70 per month

Incidental/miscellaneous - $100 per month

Total: $700 monthly support

There are many different expenses that missionaries have to deal with overseas, and it is very hard to be able to afford everything.  I will be busy everyday serving the Lord by helping people and visiting orphanages and working with the youth group, that I won’t have time to work somewhere else to get money.  All the work I will be doing is for free.  So in order to be able to do the Lords work and still be able to live in an apartment, and pay for food, I need the body of Christ back home working their daily jobs to be willing to commit to supporting me and my monthly needs that I will have.  By supporting me and the work that I am doing, whether it be through financial means or through prayer, you are a huge part of everything that I will be doing.  I encourage you to pray for the work that I am going to do in Kyrgyzstan, and also to be in prayer about supporting me, a fellow brother in the faith, with monthly support.  Whatever you feel God telling you to invest into His kingdom, I encourage you to be faithful and give, and God will bless you for it here on earth and you will also be rewarded for it in heaven one day.
          For those of you who feel led to be a part of the financial support, you can send your tax deductible donation to Calvary Chapel Downeast and indicate on your check that is for Evan Valarik:
513-1 Bar Harbor Rd
Trenton, ME 04605.

I want to thank you personally for taking time out of your your days to pray for me and for what God is doing with me and where he intends to send me next.  Prayers for protection, and encouragement and conviction are all very much appreciated.  Also thank you for any financial support you invest into the Lords kingdom through me.  Your money will be going towards helping people who have never heard the name of Jesus, come to know Him in a personal way, and one day in eternity, you will be able to meet the people that your prayer and financial support helped lead to salvation.  This work that the Lord has given me vision and calling for is absolutely incredible, whether your going out into these countries with me, or supporting it from home, we will all be blessed and we all can know that we are helping the Lord bring people to the saving knowledge and understanding of Himself.
            I pray that you will take part in helping me join with the team in Kyrgyzstan.  With an abundance of prayer and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, God will do unfathomable miracles for me in my goal of joining with the missionary team in Kyrgyzstan. 
          Many people have said to me, “We’ll be praying for you, it’s the LEAST we can do.”, but I need you to understand, that prayer is actually the MOST that you can do for somebody.  We serve an amazing, unfathomable God, who has no boundaries and no limit to His capabilities! Through prayer God CAN make the impossible happen if it is the will of the Lord to do so.  I really hope that all of you guys believe that.  God is so incredibly faithful to hear and answer our prayers according to His will.  He wants to sustain and hold us up in our time of need. I will leave you with this verse that shows us the love and faithfulness of God.

9“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth,

to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him"

                                                                        2 Chronicles 16:9

My Email: valarik92@yahoo.com

Our Bubbles

       Everyone has bubbles; social bubbles, personal bubbles and spiritual bubbles.  Our social bubbles keep us from delving into new people groups that are different from what we see as “normal.” Our personal bubbles keep us from being able to get close to more than a few select people.  Finally, our spiritual bubbles keep us from being able to move forward in our relationship with the Lord.

          First I will start with the last, our spiritual bubbles; we allow ourselves and others to create this invisible wall around our spiritual life (A.K.A. a bubble) that prevents us from seeing our true potential that the Lord has called each of us for.  We are wonderfully made beings, made in the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, yet we allow things to creep into our lives that prevent us from either realizing or acting upon our true calling. It can be as simple as not wanting to speak because you don’t like the sound of your voice, or you don’t like the way you look so you don’t want others to be looking at you, or things as big as you are scared to death to speak in front of people. Each of these can become pieces to a bubble building up in your life preventing you from either seeing or pursuing that amazing task God has for your life. There are also other things that can create a bubble in your life and those things are the words and actions of others.  This one is much simpler to extinguish while at the same time can be the hardest to nip if not dealt with properly.  It’s hard to constantly hear you are wrong, and stupid, and insignificant and yet still continue to stand firm in the fact that all you do is for the Lord and not for man.  That is the simple fact though; all things we do, do them as unto the Lord not as unto man, if we are always trying to please man and not God we will never win. Whereas with God he is always the same, and won’t ask more of us then He knows we can handle, hence if we just trust in Him and stand for Him alone, not man, we will not fail!  No matter how much we get beaten down and talked down on by other people, the only opinion that matters is Gods, and that’s what makes this side of the bubble creator so easy to extinguish.

          Second we have our personal bubbles; many people have this bubble already in place in their life without even knowing it is there.  It all comes down to one simple word: TRUST.  We as humans realize instinctively that other humans are sinful just like us, so we create a bubble to shield us from getting hurt by others.  This can be in Family, Friends and even Love; we are very slow to adapt to being able to trust someone, but all it takes is one thing for that hard earned trust to fly out the window. Yes we are all sinful, and bound to mess up sometimes, but we as Godly people need to realize one thing; If we didn’t constrict ourselves by not trusting and allowed God to protect us, instead of trying to protect ourselves, imagine the kind of witness you could be, if everyone you witnessed to could see and feel that you are trustworthy and actually care, instead of leaving your personal self hidden in the shadows.

          Last we have our social bubbles; this is the most common and the most understood “bubble” of the three hence why I saved if for last.  This one is a mixture of both your spiritual bubble and your personal bubble being mixed into one and being more of a visual key of both.  If you find yourself always hanging out with only one kind of crowd, or people with only certain kinds of personalities then my friend you are missing out.  If you could set aside your differences and just realize how many people that don’t fit into “your crowd” are out there crying out for a savior or people that already know Christ and just need a true friend, then shouldn’t you be burning inside wanting to reach out and be that one voice and one friend that is so badly needed?  You have to see past differences in social status, differences in interests and differences in personality and instead see what one thing that you could have in common: SALVATION, is that not more important than any difference you could ever have with anyone?

 Let me challenge anyone and everyone who reads this; 
 Imagine if we could live life without bubbles,
 Imagine how much we could do for the Kingdom!
 Focus in on your life;                                                                

 Examine yourself for these so called bubbles…

 If you find any, work through it and try and rid yourself of them, 
 Just see what God can do with you then….