Seth Barnes - Putting missionaries in harm's way

What a summer it's been! Karen and I are doing a debrief in Guatemala now, but it's gotten a little crazy elsewhere in our world. This morning, our leaders and those on our project in Matamoros, Mexico awoke to assess the damage left by Hurricane Dolly. Thankfully everyone is OK.

More traumatic was what happened to our team in Johannesburg, South Africa two nights ago where a squad was robbed at gunpoint in the hostel they were staying at in (for a more detailed report see Kim's blog). Here's team leader Rusty Jackson's report:

Dear World Race Parents,

Guns were pointed at people, threats were made, but NO ONE was physically harmed. Praise the Lord! However, LOTS of our stuff was taken: cash, cameras, computers, passports, phones, clothes, IPODs, etc. Id say the whole thing lasted about 20 minutes. As soon as it was over, the first thing we did was to make sure everyone was OK. Then we started taking an inventory of what was taken, I called AIM, and then people began calling and canceling cards. So anyway, things are just now settling down.

Just so you know, I got the squad at a missionary base an hour away from JoBurg. Luckily, when we get to India our team coaches Michael and Kathy Hindes will be there to help us process thru everything. Believe me, we are taking this matter seriously and we do understand the need for counseling at this time.

Here's a list of my personal losses:

1. Laptop computer

2. Bible

3. Journal

4. iPOD

5. Two cell phones

6. Passport

7. Credit card and two bank cards

8. 100 USD cash

Plus some other small items that were in my small backpack.

"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ." - Philippians 3:8

I love the response of our young people. Robbed of everything, they are undeterred and continuing on in their mission. And the youth leaders from the Jamaica trip are pretty awesome too. One said, "Let me know when you guys open up Kingston again. We want to be the first ones who go back there!"

It's time for the Church that Jesus gave his life to establish to stop trying to find ways to arbitrage risks and to start responding to attacks with this kind of loving boldness.