We had another guest speaker this past Sunday. The gentleman that spoke was Duane King, who is a missionary to Russia.
His ministry began right here in Longview, Texas at our church (then Pinewood Alliance)where he began serving, ministering and traveling with R.G. (Pop) LeTourneau. He worked at Longview Welding where he really saw the power of the Gospel through a bold witness for Christ through his mentor, Faye Livers.
Another one of his mentors, J.C. Harder (one of my close friends as well), was the one who really instilled the training and vision necessary for missionary flying work. Of course, anyone who knows J.C. also knows how pro-Alaska he is and it appears that he converted Duane King as well!
Mr. King spent some time flying in Alaska, but his heart was really pulled across the Bering Straights to Siberia. In 1990, he prayed that God would open Eastern Russia for ministry. Now you have to remember that during this period of time, the U.S. and Russia were still in the cold war mentality and Russia was still the U.S.S.R. So he applied for a visa, but was turned down. However, in 1991, he reapplied and received approval for a flight to Russia.
So he and some other missionaries took off from Alaska and flew west heading for Russia. With them they carried several hundred New Testaments written in Russian. These Bibles were, of course, contraband and prohibited in Russia. However, that was not a detriment to Mr. King.
One of the humorous things that he mentioned was that as they neared Russia, they realized that all the fruit they brought with them would probably not be allowed into the country. So the missionaries on board quickly ate all the fruit. But what to do with the peels? Duane opened a side window of the Piper airplane and threw all the peels into the Bering Sea. As they neared touchdown at a Soviet airbase, Duane realized that a banana peel was caught on the tail elevator and was flapping there for all to see!
When they landed, they were instantly surrounded by a group of Russian soldiers brandishing AK-47's and were escorted for processing. Duane stated that a female Russian soldier (most likely an officer) asked him what he was carrying in his luggage. Duane told her that it was clothing and some 'gifts'. She insisted that he unpack the entire suitcase, which he did. On the table, he laid out 200 Bibles and one change of white underwear. The Soviet officer, in very broken English, stated insistently that the Bibles were contraband and were not allowed! After a moment, however, she paused, thought, and asked if she could have one. Duane stated, "You can have two!".
During that first trip to Russia, they stayed in the home of the Air Traffic Controller, Nicholai, who was Soviet military. They were able to share the Gospel to Nicholai, who gave his life to Jesus before they left for America. Duane mentioned that as they flew back, Nicholai came on over the radio and said, "God bless and come again". Duane and other missionaries made an additional 16 flights to Russia.
In 1993, Duane and his wife, Carolyn, moved to Russia to continue his ministry work.
Today, Russia is in need for mature Christians to continue ministering to many cities that still lack even an established church. Can you commit to the principle, "Here am I Lord...Send me!"?
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