Notes from a Mission Trip in 1993

I was reading one of my old journals today, and I came across an entry for July 30, 1993 (almost 20 years ago).  I was on the way to Siberia with a team from Athletes in Action.  We were going to Ulan Ude and Irkutsk to support a church plant by doing evangelism and discipleship programs in a youth camp using American sports as a tool to share God's Word.  I miss Russia, to be honest, and I want you to know that this particular trip forever changed my view of the call to evangelize or the call to missions.  At any rate, I wanted to share the words from that journal entry; the words of a single 33 year old PhD candidate who was on the adventure of a life time!  This is what I wrote on that day:

Russia--Inconvenience really seems to be the name of the game here.  After a rough start Wednesday, KLM airlines was delayed, and we had to reroute to Frankfurt from Amsterdam in order to catch a Lufthansa flight to Moscow.  As a result we missed our Aeroflot flight to Ulan Ude (Bill and Steve are even now negotiating a new flight schedule for the team), but nonetheless we are finally here in Moscow!

We spent a rough first night in Russia.  Some of our team ended up in a room next to a very rowdy party and got little sleep.  We spent the night in a "hotel" near Moscow--actually "hotel" may be too nice of a word.  It was really more like spending the night in an old cabin left for several years in disrepair.  Few of the toilets had seats, and none of them had toilet paper!  The showers were nothing but a bare pipe out of the wall pouring out cold water in a steady, wakening stream of "refreshing" Russian water!  We found it a bit harder to wash than we expected, but we found a way.

One of our Russian contacts (Sasha) really came through for us!  He met us at the airport like a knight in shining armor.  He had a great attitude, especially considering the fact that he had been at the airport since 3:00 p.m. and our flight did not arrive until almost midnight.  He arranged a better place for us to stay as well as making the necessary arrangements for our flight to Siberia. 

Some interesting encounters and conversations have come our way on this trip!  I got to talk briefly to a Saudi student on the KLM flight from Houston.  We've had the privilege of sharing the story of Jesus in several major airports (e.g., Houston, Amsterdam, Frankfurt).  On the Lufthansa flight we were privileged to meet a young woman named Olga, a Russian living in Dublin.  Her hometown is Irkutsk, and she will actually be there when we are doing our camps.  She was thrilled when we told her our plans for the youth camp and the support of the church plant there. 

We also met some young ladies from Ireland.  They were striking women who seemed determined to drain the marrow out of life.  The shared stories of their home and sang beautiful songs about Ireland while accompanied by a flute.  The old Irish folk songs were matched by our singing, although instead of folk songs we regaled them with TV theme songs and commercial jingles (yeah, we actually did that!).  The flight attendants came back and "shushed" us with the reminder that some folks were actually trying to sleep!  What fun on Lufthansa! 

It is now morning, and I am waiting for good news about our trip to Ulan Ude.  The Lord has blessed us with endurance and encouragement this far, and we have found ourselves driven to pray for and to love the Russian people.  How I long to get to Siberia!  A 13 year dream soon to come true!

I'm beginning to realize that many of us in the West are spoiled and selfish.  We are fools to think that God's light of salvation will come to any land without our commitment to go.  Unless we commit our lives to be witnesses, to bear the story of grace to them, how can we expect them to hear?  Is it inconvenient?  Yes!  But it is worth it!  Jesus died for us, how can we offer him less than our very lives?  How can we give him less than he gave us?

How can I begin to compare the "comforts" of this life with the beauty of Jesus and his kingdom?  How can I deny ANY person that beauty?

Lord, forgive us for our selfishness.  Teach us to swallow our pride and to be willing to face any inconvenience to advance the message of your salvation.  Use us to advance your kingdom against the kingdom of our enemy Satan.  May this trip be used to bring many souls to a knowledge of God through Christ!  May many souls be snatched out of the dragon's mouth and out of the fire in the next few weeks.  Help us, Lord, to stand firm on your Word and to set our faces like flint to go to Siberia!  Amen.

There you have it.  The ramblings of a so-called missionary on his first major trip!  I will tell you that the trip succeeded beyond our expectations, and we were blessed to have the privilege of leading many to salvation by God's grace and the help of his Spirit. Of course, those are stories for another day.  For now, let me thank you for your patience, dear reader, and wish you blessings!

Thanks for reading!