Vol. 1 - June 2021

Everything’s BIGGER in Texas! Largest state in the US! Friendliest people in the world! Famous globally for our big personality. Being raised in Texas forms a culture in its citizens that we never outgrow. Wherever I’ve lived, I’m proud to say, “I’m Texan!” People envision huge houses, giant ranches, cowboys, and horses.

I was a young woman when I moved away from the Texas Panhandle to live in the former Soviet Union. As with most American missionaries, my suitcases bulged with too much stuff, and my personality contained too much ‘Texan’. Lots changed as soon as my boots hit the ground in Belarus.

The Cold War had just ended. The ‘Iron Curtain’ came down. Freedom had not been experienced for 70-years under the Communist rule of the Soviets. Socialist control had put its thumb on nearly three generations. My ‘getter-done’ mantra and well-planned schedules that shaped my life clashed immediately with my new environment.

God’s abundant grace taught me to live in the Post-Soviet culture. Generously kind and loving Belarusians showed me how to live small, with little, and to be genuinely satisfied. We all embraced sparse grocery store shelves, standing in lines for eggs, sugar, milk, bread, and other daily necessities.

I remember one of the first Bibles I handed to a Babushka (grandmother) at an evangelistic park meeting in Minsk in 1992. Tears leaked down her cheeks. She gratefully offered us a few crumpled-up rubles from her coat pocket. We refused and learned to say, “Это подарок - Its a gift”. She replied, “When I was a child, the government took our Bibles and told us God was dead. Nevertheless, I prayed all my life for a Bible.”

The culture changed me during my 14-years, living in Eastern Europe.

I’m not the same Texan, but I do love and enjoy the freedom, liberty and opportunity that my Christian forefathers forged at the founding of the USA. Socialism is contrary to American culture. Personally, I’ve gone through SO many changes since becoming a missionary. During this past year, I’ve strengthened my grip on my Heavenly Father’s hand of grace to help me embrace more changes. No matter where or what the circumstances, I’m finding that He still is with me.

I’d love to read your comments below of how you’ve seen God’s grace in your life.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor 3:17-18

Love and blessings, Becky

click here to donate towards becky’s mission

Please visit our International Networx website. There’s much to see. Share our site with others. And consider partnering with us in God’s Great Commission. (Mt 28:18-20)