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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
"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that
they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and
they took note that these men had been with Jesus..."
Acts 4:13, NIV
Russia, March 2004
I had lunch with an ordinary man Sunday.
It is springtime in Moscow, which at this point in
the season is defined more by slush than by sprout. Temperatures
hover around freezing at night, with just enough warming during
the day to keep snow flakes from sticking. And there is work now,
menial though it may be, for many of the unemployed: I see men
(and women) shoveling snow from one pile to another, just
breaking up the large mounds and drifts which have accumulated
and frozen over the winter. Such working of the snow speeds
melting, turning many of the kiosks, bus stops and walkways
into waterfront properties. It was hop, skip, and jump from
puddle to pond as I visited a missionary team there this past
week, and my slush-stained pants legs attest to my increasing
age and dwindling agility.
Members of churches where we speak about missionaries' lives
and needs sometimes ask us about the character, the qualities
of a missionary. There still is a widely held belief that the
missionary is cut of a special cloth, specifically and
particularly gifted for the mission task. Our experience has
led us to believe otherwise, as my recent Sabbath experience
would suggest:
I walk to the bus stop, go to the subway station, get off at
the first stop (instructions all memorized and rehearsed; if
lost, I would be unable even to ask someone for directions),
proceed to the middle of the platform, and wait. I see him
coming from the other end of the platform, his characteristic
gait evident from afar. A childhood fall on the ice more than
sixty years ago has left him with an asymmetric pelvis and
resultant chronic back and leg pain. It is hard enough to
navigate in Russia with no orthopedic impairments, even more
so in the winter, yet he moves up and down stairs, over rough,
slippery, and slushy streets, on and off precariously placed
bus thresholds, balancing against the lurching of the subway's
rapid acceleration and braking.
He originally hails from the northeastern part of the U.S.,
from a family of minimal means. He worked in construction and
drove a taxi to support himself through college. At one time
married with young children, he was a non-ordained pastor of
(sequentially) several small churches, each one unable to pay
more than a less-than-subsistence salary; he was told this
was to "teach him to have faith". His wife left him; he
subsequently spent twenty years working as a salesman for a
bakery. Less than ten years ago, when most people his age
would be looking for less to do, he realized his dream of
serving as a missionary. Spending one year with a team in one
city in Russia, he returned for a second year with another
team in another city. Recognizing the need for language
acquisition he returned to the U.S. to take an intensive
Russian language course where he lived in a house with other
students, speaking only Russian all day, every day. His
teacher remarked that most people his age couldn't learn a
new language, particularly a complex and challenging one such
as Russian. He completes that program and returns to Russia,
now working with a team in Moscow. He does not like to lead,
preferring to serve, which he does in several ways. He may
travel on overnight trains to visit and encourage fledgling
Russian pastors and churches in distant towns, or be
responsible for the logistics of scheduling a meeting such as
I have come to Moscow to attend. Or on a particular Sunday he
may go out of his way to shepherd a visiting shrink to church
and then to his flat for lunch. As we sit on stools at the
small table in his tiny kitchen enjoying the hot chicken soup
and cold cuts he has prepared, he tells me of his life and how
God has faithfully met his every need.
His eyesight is in need of correction as he chronically sees
double images. His hearing is impaired and he struggles to
catch words voiced softly. Only a few years short of seventy,
he is looking forward to returning to the U.S. briefly this
summer to attend his fifty-year high school reunion, then come
back to Russia for an indefinite period of time. This is his
home, this is where he serves the God he loves.
Missionaries: ordinary people from ordinary circumstances
who serve an extraordinary God who faithfully provides for,
equips, and prepares those He chooses for the work. I thank
Him for this opportunity to be with this ordinary man, a man
who has been with Jesus.
As always, we are grateful to you all for your prayers and
your support that make it possible for us to serve missionaries
all over the world. I look forward to hearing from you...
Godspeed,
Barney, for Karen and the Godspeed team
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