Seaford Members Ministering in Belarus
January 27-February 10, 2007

A Final Report on the Trip
by Sandra Burgess
 
On behalf of Amy Nuttall, Rick Sadler and me, we would like to take a moment to thank the Seaford Family for partnering with us on our recent missions trip. When I returned from this trip in 2006 I truly believed that Seaford would become partners with other Christian believers in Belarus. I was not sure how but knew that the Lord would lay out the plan in His timing. In May of 2006 we had six women go to the warehouse in Lancaster, PA, to pack aid to go overseas. In September we held a school supply and backpack drive in which we donated 48 backpacks' worth of supplies for our team to take to the warehouse in October. Then in October about 25 people went to work on the fall project at the warehouse. At the last minute, the Lord raised up a team of three people from Seaford to participate in the distribution of these supplies in Belarus. So when I share the things that happened on this trip, know that you were a part of all that happened. 

The week before departing for Belarus we were informed by the Ministry of Ideology in Belarus that we would not be allowed to visit many of the sites that had been set up for us. In the midst of many emails and frantic prayer requests, God was doing an incredible work. Many of us who had gone to Belarus before and knew how the system worked felt like we would be cheated out of some true ministry time. 

This trip turned out to be an opportunity to be humbled, challenged, and stretched in new ways, though. Most of the sites had been closed to us but over 2500 families had registered to receive aid. So, there was now a dilemma of where could the aid be distributed from. The only building big enough in the town of Lida to hold 300 people at a time was a Pentecostal church. Evangelical churches are not well attended in this town due to the government propaganda which states that evangelical churches are a cult. They are not allowed to evangelize outside of their buildings nor go into any public site even to offer help when needed. So the new plan was that everyone who had registered for aid would now go to the church to pick up this aid. 

Our teams were told that we would be notified on a day by day and often hour by hour basis whether we would be allowed to share the gospel, pray, or distribute Christian literature. We were walking a fine line between being an aid organization and helping the local church spread the gospel. As a group we were sometimes frustrated, but as we caught the vision of what God was doing in the midst of government control we were amazed. We were able to meet most of the local Christians and all the pastors due to this new environment. We were able to learn firsthand their trials and tribulations of living in this land. We were able to watch as God united all the local believers and pastors in this project with us. We were able to minister in small home settings of families, teachers and foster families as they requested time with us. In public our goal was to hold the church doors open for our fellow believers and be the "bait" to draw people in out of curiosity and the desire to receive the gifts we brought. We would be humbled as the Lord showed us that we were bait for our brothers and sisters in Belarus. We were not the main game in town, contrary to what we originally thought we would be. God had bigger plans for us—to get out of the way!

It took very little time  with these Christians to know that they would bring in the harvest. They are brave, strong, and vigilant believers who have waited and prayed for a long time for the Lord to fill their churches. I learned from a dear friend that bait is often nasty, leftover fish parts called chum! How is that for a humbling experience? I will never be the same since I watched these believers join together in seeing a dream come true in their town. 

I believe that this town will be the start of a powerful move of God in this country. What Satan meant for evil God used for his purposes. We learned another valuable lesson on this trip. With each new day came another restriction in our sharing. When you can no longer use words like, Blood, Holy Spirit, Sin, Jesus, Sacrifice, how do you share the Gospel? Well, we leaned that our job was to show love, teach laughter and bring people in to our Belorussian believers to nurture. Did we ever get to share the Gospel message? Yes, every day! We went to a prison and were able to present the Gospel with nothing held back. In a few of the orphanages we were allowed to share and pray the sinner's prayer, but mainly our job was to put a smile on a child’s face, allay the fears of an adult, helping them see that church could be a good, safe place for their child. 

One of the last things Amy, Rick and I did was meet with the In-Country Coordinator for GAiN and talk to him about visiting our church here at Seaford. We have tentative dates set up and Lord willing He will be with us this summer.

Please keep Belarus and its believers in your prayers and consider going with us next year as we continue to partner with them.

Serving Him Together,

Sandra, Amy and Rick
 

Sunday, February 4

Please click and read carefully: Significant news of testing and of great joy from Sandra Burgess, now in Belarus, on Sunday February 4.


Our Fellow Church Members
Sandra Burgess, Rick Sadler, and Amy Nuttall are traveling to Belarus to minister relief supplies and the gospel of Jesus Christ, on a trip sponsored by Global Aid Network, January 27-February 10, 2007. The picture above was sent from the trip, with apologies for poor resolution in the transition. Amy Nuttall is third from the right in front, Rick Sadler is third from the left in back, and Sandra Burgess is three more from the left in back.


Daily Prayer Updates
Prayer updates will be posted daily here. Please support your friends in prayer!


News As It Happens
Stay in touch with what's happening day by day: follow the GAiN (Global Aid Network) Mission Trip blog. Watch for comments there from sburgess (Sandra), Falcon (Rick) and from Amy (not sure what her nickname is there yet).

Stories and Testimonies: Updated Daily!