ABWE - Association of Baptists for World Evangelism

(I don’t always have) Why missionaries need your prayers

Recently we arrived in Russia and had to register our family. The process of registration is a carry-over from Communism that helps keep tabs on where people live. On the day of registration, Bill left to get in line before the office opened at 9:30 a.m. There is a system in place in Russia where people arrive and take note of who is ahead of them. As they keep arriving, they ask who is last, and then they fall in behind the last person. Occasionally, they have a paper and pen and the people in line fill in their names to keep the order straight. In this case Bill was second behind a man who had spent the night in his car near the office building.

Bill called around 9 a.m. to tell me to bring the kids quickly because he was next in line. We scrambled to get to the off ice and arrived around 9:40 a.m., expecting to be seen rather quickly.

Then we waited. And we waited and waited some more. Meanwhile, the kids were getting restless, and a drunk man was in Bill’s face yelling that he was ahead of him. Our neighbor, a deacon from our church who had traveled with us, squared his shoulders back and yelled right back at the man, telling him that BILL WAS NEXT IN LINE. The drunk man persisted, testing Bill’s patience, until a quick look at “the list” confirmed that Bill, indeed, was next.

Eleven rolled by, and then we watched the clock strike noon. Bill had been in and out of the office, filling out forms. All eight of them, which contained the same information, needed to be completed error free.

I hadn’t been prepared for such a wait since we were second in line that morning. Our son Isaiah needed to be changed. I hadn’t brought diapers or anything else for that matter. The kids were starving and were climbing the walls.

As for me? I was just plain mad. At one point during this process, I banged on the door and let the employees know “that people are waiting out here!” At 1:40 p.m., I had finished my part, which took about five minutes. Finally, Bill escorted our ragged bunch home. He immediately returned to the office and was there until after 3 o’clock.

Why do I share this story? So that you will know that we are just normal, f lawed people? No, you already knew that. I share this so you will understand some of the types of struggles we face in our life overseas. Things that would be quick and simple in North America are unnecessarily difficult and frustrating in Russia (and other mission fields).

After our registration experience I had to ask God to forgive me. I had lost any platform from which to share the gospel due to my anger and impatience. Often situations in which we mingle with Russians provide opportunities for witnessing, but on this day I would have died of embarrassment had I been asked by any of the others in line, “Why are you here in Russia anyway?”

“Oh, well, uh, I am here to share with you how Christ can change your life.”

I know that this is true—I cannot represent Him well. God has to empower me through His Holy Spirit at ALL times to live and to respond rightly—whether I am in a Russian registration line, on the bus being yelled at by a rude person, or in our home as we deal with just the ordinary frustrations of life.

Will you please pray for our family and other missionaries serving around the world, that we will be enabled by His power to be a shining example of Jesus’ love, even
in those situations that are a special challenge to us?

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