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In the
year 1900, when Isaac was eight and his younger sister, Hamas, was four, the
news arrived that a hundred Russian Christians were coming over the mountains
in their covered wagons. Everyone was pleased. It was the custom in Kara Kala
to hold a feast for the visiting Christians whenever they arrived. In spite
of the fact that he didn’t agree with the ‘full Gospel’ preached by the
Russians, Grandfather considered their visits as times set apart for God, and
insisted that the welcoming feast be held on the large level plot of ground
in front of his own home. |
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Now,
Grandfather was proud of his fine cattle. With the news that the Russians were
on their way, he went out to his herd and looked them over. He would choose
the very finest, fattest steer for this special meal. |
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Unfortunately,
however, the fattest steer in the herd turned out, on inspection, to have a
flaw. The animal was blind in one eye. |
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What
should he do? Grandfather knew his Bible well: He knew he should not offer an imperfect animal to the Lord, for
didn’t it say in the twenty-second chapter of Leviticus, verse 20, ‘But
whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer; for it shall not be
acceptable ….’? |
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What a
dilemma! No other animal in the herd was large enough to feed a hundred
guests. Grandfather looked around. No one was watching. Suppose he
slaughtered the big steer and simply hid the blemished head? Yes, that was
what he would do! Grandfather led the half-blind steer into the barn,
butchered it himself, and quickly placed the head in a sack which he hid
beneath a pile of threshed wheat in a dark corner. |
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Grandfather
was just in time, for as he finished dressing the beef, he heard the rumble
of wagons coming into Kara Kala. What a welcome sight! Coming down the dusty
road was the familiar caravan of wagons, each pulled by four perspiring
horses. Beside the driver of the first team, erect and commanding as ever,
sat the white-bearded patriarch who was leader and prophet of the group.
Grandfather and little Isaac ran up the road to greet their guests. |
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All over
town preparations for the feast were underway. Soon the big steer was
roasting on a spit over a huge bed of charcoal. That evening everyone
gathered, expectant and hungry, around the long plank tables. Before the meal
could begin, however, the food must be blessed. |
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These old
Russian Christians would not say any prayer – even grace over meals – until
they had received what they called the anointing.
They would wait before the Lord until, in their phrase, the Spirit fell upon
them. They claimed, (a little to Grandfather’s amusement), that they could
literally feel His Presence
descend. When this occurred they would raise their arms and dance with joy. |
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On this
occasion as always, the Russians waited for the anointing of the Spirit. Sure
enough, as everyone watched, first one and then another began to dance in place.
Everything was going as usual. Soon would come the blessing of the food, and
the feast could begin. |
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But to
Grandfather’s dismay, the patriarch suddenly raised his hand – not in sign of
blessing – but as a signal that everything was to stop. Giving Grandfather a
strange penetrating look, the tall white-haired man walked from the table
without a word. |
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Grandfather’s
eye followed the old man’s every movement as the prophet strode across the yard
and into the barn. After a moment he reappeared. In his hand he held the sack
which Grandfather had hidden beneath the pile of wheat. |
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Grandfather
began to shake. How could the man have known! No one had seen him. The
Russians had not even reached the village when he had hidden that head. Now
the patriarch placed the telltale sack before Grandfather and let it fall
open, revealing to everyone the head with the milk-white eye. |
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‘Have you
anything to confess, Brother Demos?’ the Russian asked. |
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‘Yes, I
have’, said Grandfather, still shaking. ‘But how did you know?’ |
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‘God told
me’, the old man said simply. ‘You still do not believe that He speaks to His
people today as in the past. The Spirit gave me this word of knowledge for a special
reason: that you and your family might believe. You have been resisting the
power of the Spirit. Today is the day you will resist no longer’. |
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Before his
neighbors and guests that evening Grandfather confessed the deception he had
attempted. With tears rolling down his face into his bristly beard, he asked
their forgiveness. ‘Show me’, he said to the prophet, ‘how I, too, can
receive the Spirit of God’. |
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Grandfather
knelt and the old Russian laid his work-gnarled hands on his head.
Immediately Grandfather burst into joyous prayer in a language neither he nor
anyone present could understand. The Russian called this kind of ecstatic
utterance ‘tongues’ and regarded it as a sign that the Holy Spirit was
present with the speaker. That night Grandmother, too, received this ‘Baptism
in the Spirit’. |
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It was the
beginning of great changes in our family’s life, and one of the first was a
change in attitude toward Kara Kala’s most famous citizen. |
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Read the
next testimony to know who that person was and other interesting things |
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From:
The Happiest People on Earth. The long-awaited
personal story of Demos Shakarian as told to John and Elizabeth Sherrill,
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