**Names/locations marked with an asterisk (*) have been changed for the privacy of individuals and their families**
Before continuing further with the meeting, I would like to present the email that Matt sent to Pastor Andrew Ray himself about Doug Stauffer’s actions that evening, considering that Matt was the one in the meeting while I was either in the nursery or outside with the children.
Email from Matthew Olds to Pastor Andrew Ray
Date: June 29, 2016 at 4:14 PM
Dear Pastor,
After our meeting I realized how important it is that you know as many of the details of our trip as is possible due to you being the one who will decide to take it before the men of the church or not. I would also like to take the time to apologize for being so defensive during the meeting. As you may remember, Brother Stauffer mentioned telling me I did not do my homework and that “It was not very nice to say.” He had told me that just before meeting with you and I had just finished informing him otherwise. So when he mentioned it and didn’t tell the rest of the facts it left me defensive. I am sorry for my attitude while I was in there. I also feel that Brother Stauffer attempted to mislead you to believe that the missionaries I am conversing with are not from America, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. I do not know if he was attempting to cast more doubt upon their counsel in where I found safety or if he is just genuinely being cautious, but I feel it is best to have you as thoroughly informed as possible. The missionaries I have been corresponding with are [The Dickens*]. They are missionaries specifically to the deaf in [Zambian city*] and they actually run a school for the deaf there. I learned about them my freshman year in college and have been keeping up with their prayer letter ever since. I have also been conversing with Brother Smith*. They minister in [Zambian city*] which is where we desire our flight to land. He tells me that the [Zambian city] is an open door for deaf workers. I have also been in contact with the Simmons* from a town [a certain distance from*] Lusaka. The latter two families Brother Colvis helped me find. They are all American missionaries, and [they*] have all suggested that I postpone the trip or at least change the destination to [Zambian city]. If the dates were kept the same, the additional costs would still be present even though it only involves a different destination.
The following is a concise timeline of all that has transpired as well as to our reasoning of it. None of it excuses the fact that we didn’t seek the Lord on the timing, but hopefully this will shed some additional light on the subject:
As you know my wife, and I have been desiring to take our survey trip for quite some time now. To be honest, the desire to see the field that God has for us grows stronger with each passing moment. In the early part of February I began reaching out to missionaries that I actually knew, but there were no responses. I don’t know if the Prince of the Power of the Air was snatching them up, or if they were just being sent to their spam boxes. It is beyond me. At the same time, Crown has been pressuring me to take my internship, which is doubling as my survey trip. They are threatening to give me a failing grade and making me pay for the class/ opportunity again if it is not taken care of by the Fall. This is mostly due to their becoming accredited and having to run things differently from how it was done before. Prior to their becoming accredited, the college had me pay for the class and told me to take it when it was possible. We have since then spoken to the college about what the previous counselor had said and he said that I could take it whenever the Lord allowed. As much of a blessing as that last part was and is, there is still an underlying pressure to get it done and I do want to do right by the college as well as the Lord.
We went ahead and purchased the tickets for later in the cool dry season so that the cost of the tickets would be lower, but still avoid the time when the mosquitoes would become worse. This was in March that we did this. We bought the insurance for them thinking it would cover emergency situations, so that we could change them if need be, but it turns out that it does not include civil unrest, only a documented medical emergency or death in the family. In the middle of May, missionaries began responding to me only to tell that they were on furlough. This was very disheartening. Finally a missionary said that they could host us only to change their mind two weeks later. At the end of May the Lord opened up the doors and several missionaries began saying that they would host us! This is a great blessing, but they are also asking that we postpone the flight anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks due to our flight being scheduled to land in Lusaka, the capitol, on the day of the elections. During the time of the purchase, there was no mention of this on the Embassy website. Now that the elections are a little over a month away, the website is filled with it. We do feel it would be best and that the Lord is leading for us to postpone the trip until September as well as change to destination to [Zambian city*]. This works out well because the missionary families live there and it is [several hours in a direction away from*] the capitol, away from the majority of the developing civil unrest.
To make these changes, it will cost us $200/ person. (there are four of us.) plus the difference of the cost of the tickets which is currently about $400 per person. There are also the penalty fees that the airlines will not release the costs of until the changes are made. Thankfully the Lord has provided for a large portion of this within the last few days although the funds will not be available until July 1st. We are still seeking the Lord’s face and asking for wisdom in how best to spend it.
In His Grip,
Matt Olds
In this series I share my thoughts and opinions concerning these ministers and the events which led to my departure. Click here to continue reading: “Blindsided: Douglas Stauffer’s Motives Revealed” or click on the link below.
For a list of the complete series, click here.
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