Staff Missionary Reports
Reports and Experiences of the Godspeed Staff
Kiev, Ukraine, May 2001
Dear friends and family,
I have written to you many times from one place or another in the world, as
we travel to minister to missionaries. This morning found us in Kiev, with
plans to take an overnight train to Yalta to begin a seres of conferences
requested by two different Ukrainian missionary groups. Preparations for the
trip were hectic, in view of our recent house and office move and two trips
to Texas and Louisiana, but as we left Wednesday from Baltimore I felt like
things were well in hand. We had been here before, and knew the process of
entry, customs,and travel. One "minor" omission: I had not written our
friends, all of you, to ask for prayer for this trip before we left. I
thought about it, but there was little time, and I decided there would be
time to write once here. That way seemed right to me. After all, what could
go wrong, since I knew what to do and what to expect? We did have prayers
from our church and friends in Easton; did I really need the prayers of many
more for this to be a successful trip?
Business as usual, from Baltimore to London, thence from London to Kiev
Borispol airport. I had been asked to transport some valuable items for the
missionary team, and had received some information that I might consider
undervaluing what I had to avoid any unnecessary customs problems. There is
always a tension between being fully informative and open with foreign
customs officials versus being passively uniformative; there are many places
in the world where the rules and regulations are vague and very fluid.
Exorbitant fees can be assessed, and valuable goods can be capriciously
confiscated. Not wanting to lose anything that had been entrusted to me, I
decided to be artificially conservative on my declaration form. That way
seemed right to me...even though "Something" was telling me otherwise. I
thought for a moment, and decided to go with what way seemed right to me. The
result: an hour-long beaurocratic process involving up to seven customs
agents, unimpressed with my creative customs declaration. I was not
frightened, but terribly embarrassed and disheartened that once again, I had
followed my own sense of what to do rather than to trust the Holy Spirit to
advise and direct. The outcome was the loss of some of money (which may be
retrievable later, with considerable hassle), and more problems for our hosts
than I would have ever expected.
This morning, as we awoke to prepare for our departure to Yalta, we received
an e-mail that Karen's aunt had died the day we left. The situation is such
that it would be best if Karen returns to be with her family during this
time, and we have now spent the last hour trying to arrange for her return. I
will proceed to Yalta and give the conferences without her, which is a huge
loss for me and for those who had come to hear her.
So, belatedly, I ask for you all to pray for us. For safety, yes, for Karen
as she travels alone back to the U.S. today and tomorrow, and eventually to
her family in Florida. For our daughter, who is holding down the house for us back
home. And for the conferences, the talks, and that all we two would have
done together might be done in an acceptable fashion by only one of us. We do
trust God to care for our safety and work when we go to serve His servants.
The prayer for me would be that I would surrender any of "me" to Him. My ways
do not work any more. His always have, and always will.
I will write more as this humbling trip continues. I covet your prayers.
Godspeed,
Barney M. Davis, Jr., M.D.
Executive Director,
Godspeed Missionary Care
|
