A Time for All Seasons:
2004 Mission trip to Minsk, Belarus

This is a brief report on some exciting things that happened on our recent mission trip to Minsk, Belarus. (Watch for future articles from the other missionaries.) First let me say that it was most exciting to watch the three remarkable women from Christ Church who were also on the team. They had never been on an overseas mission trip, and one had only been on a plane when she was too young to remember. To see the excitement of them having fun with the Belarussian children and adults, and to grow with them in our faith as we ministered together was the real blessing

I remember a seasoned missionary from Christ Church who at our meetings in years past always used to say that he went "to be changed." I used to think "How idealistic." And, "that’s not the primarily reason why I’m going." What he said was important as you will read below.

The trip was exciting and went very well. We praised the Lord twice each day with music and heard a message about the Good News. In the mornings we had small groups where we could talk about how much God loves us and wants to be in our lives. In the middle of the day we made crafts and had lots of fun, including cross country skiing, watching fireworks New Year’s Eve and making an 8’ tall snowman! After the evening service we had a voluntary time for prayer. Many children prayed to invite Christ into their lives and we left Bibles with them and some helpful instructions. That’s exciting!

When we started back we waited on the plane in Vienna for 3 hours for loading, de-icing, takeoff (which didn’t happen), cleaning the runway of snow, and re-de-icing. But, then, just when the sun was coming out, the pilot said the flight was cancelled, probably because it was going to be too many hours in the cockpit. Over 300 people had to figure out how to get back to the United States, and needless to say it wasn’t going to happen that day or the next as most flights are close to full, especially flights overseas. I had appointments scheduled already for the next 2 days back home, and, of course, that is my business. We went back into the airport with no help from the airline, and got in a line with about a hundred other people. We waited 2 hours and were then directed to a hotel about dinnertime, without having made any reservations.

The airline was supposed to make our new plane reservations while we were sleeping – boy was I wishful – they didn’t! I definitely had to do some mind and heart adjusting. At first I thought this whole episode was a ploy from satan to make it difficult for us and discourage us. I believe that was a true part of the experience. After standing in that line and waiting a few hours I decided that God was also using this event to show me how my days are His, and I should not agonize over what happened, but just use the time as best possible and enjoy it. I was growing. As a matter of fact, the four of us prayed that evening for our situation and our families and one team member said she was eager to see how God was going to use us, that He obviously wasn’t finished with us on this trip.

So stage three of our wait was God using us. Looking back, while we were waiting to get on the plane in Vienna, I remembered that I met two young missionary ladies who were returning from Rumania. When we got on the plane that didn’t go anywhere, I had time to show them some of our pictures we just had developed. And at one point one of them turned to me and said, "Its really nice to see other missionaries over here. Sometimes it gets a little scary by yourself." I smiled as this, of course, made me feel useful. I tried to say some encouraging words to the ladies, and then later in the evening we met a missionary from the Ukraine! God was using us. God blessing us was stage four of the experience. We got to spend three hours the next night in Paris, before leaving for Houston!

So satan does attack us and God does teach or prune us. He also uses us and blesses us in our most difficult situations. I hope I learn as much the next time.

And the title above, what does it mean? God has a plan for us, a plan to prosper us and not to harm us. He is bringing us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11), and the time for sharing this wonderful "Good News" is every day!

Thank you so much for all of your support! We could not have gone without the prayers, supplies and financial support of our Christ Church family. It is hard to explain the feeling of knowing you are being prayed for when you are overseas. We get to see God’s little miracles almost every day, and we know it’s mostly because of you!

Thanks,
Greg Sethness and the Belarus team
(Tina, Linnea and Renae)