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Staff Reports
Reports of recent Trips and Work by Godspeed Missionary Care
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Staff Missionary Reports
Reports and Experiences of the Godspeed Staff
"...Indeed,the very hairs of your head are all numbered..."
Luke 12:7
June 2003, Part One
"Hello, I just moved-in to Moscow and currently looking for an
English Speaking Church to attend on Sunday. I live in
Northwest section of Moscow and Metro line between Planernaya
and Skhondenskaya. Please send me a church address of
recommended church near by. Thanks in advance, Shingo"
Dear friends and family,
The numbers can be impressive:
Ten thousand: the number of "hits" we receive on
the Godspeed Missionary Care web page each month, some spam of
course, but many from missionaries and others seeking
information or referral resources. Some people e-mail us
directly from the web page, such as the person who wrote the
note above, received about six weeks ago at our home office in
South Carolina. That's all he wrote, that's the only name he
gave: Shingo. He had found us on the web and, seeing
that we had been in Russia on a number of occasions, thought
we knew the city and the available churches there. I had no
idea who he was, or how to answer him. I forwarded his message
to a missionary family we know in Moscow, and thought no more
of it.
Twelve million: the population of Moscow, capitol
of the Russian Federation. The economy of Russia still struggles,
but here in the city new buildings abound and there are even
mega-malls where any desired staple, furnishing, or appliance
is available. Karen and I are visiting a missionary team which
has had a rough year; while Moscow's growth is dramatic, there
has been increasing difficulty obtaining the necessary visas
for ongoing missionary service. The continued stress of dealing
with a still-ponderous bureaucracy is now worsened by never
being sure if the next trip out of the country (currently,
necessary every three months) to renew a visa may find one
restricted from return.
Fourteen: The number of Metro stops to reach the
International Church where we go with a missionary family to
worship this morning. For them, getting to church requires
walking two blocks to the bus stop, taking the bus to the Metro
(subway) station, ten stops to a transfer point, four more
stops on another line, then a three block walk; total time 1
hour.
One hundred and twenty five: approximately, the
number of attendees at the International Church, a multinational,
multicultural group of mostly expatriates; the service is
largely in English, with Russian translation available. We sit
in the back row, and directly in front of me is a young Oriental
man who later tells me he is from Japan, recently moved to
Moscow, working for a Russian-owned pharmaceutical firm before
returning to his home country as a sales representative. He
graduated from Philadelphia College of the Bible (now
Philadelphia Biblical University)
in 2000. We have lunch with him after church. His name is
Shingo.
One: and only one God could orchestrate such a
meeting across megabytes, months, and miles. Once again this
Creator God has shown He is in charge, of all the details. What
a blessing it is to serve Him.
We will be in Moscow for another few days, at which time Karen
will return home, I will proceed to Hungary, and both of us
each and every day will give thanks for all your prayers and
gifts which have made this trip possible. Write when you can...
Godspeed,
Barney, for Karen and the Godspeed team
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