FRM Newsletter
October 2024: Going Where Few Would Dare to Go
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I first met Jason and Britny Havertape almost 17 years ago. They were a young family with three small children and had been serving for about nine years. They had both learned to speak the foreign dialect and were planting a Calvary Chapel. Even the children were speaking the language. They did not own a car because they lived off of only about $900 in monthly support. During the winter, Britny would take the children around by pulling them on a snow sled, even going to the church and to buy groceries for the family. Eventually, the family would grow to include eight children. Jason and Britny came home from the mission field for a couple of years, but both realized that they did not belong in the U.S. They prayed and decided to go and start a new work in the country of Georgia.
While it is a former part of the Soviet Union, it has a completely different language. People refer to it as the spaghetti language because the letters look like curled up spaghetti noodles. Recently, Vicky and I flew into Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and Jason picked us up and drove us to the hotel. We were having a pastors’ conference with pastors from a closed country to encourage them in their respective ministries. The subject of the conference: Preparing for Persecution.
The country of Georgia is rich in history and in the middle of Tbilisi is a castle that dates back to the year 400 A.D. And the Caspian Mountains are one of the most beautiful mountain ranges I have ever seen. The Georgian flag has five crosses on it to testify to their Christian roots.
On our first day in Tbilisi, we had lunch downtown with the Havertape family and a few other missionaries. After we left, while I was walking, all of a sudden, I felt this little hand slide into my hand. When I looked down, it was Maddie, one of the Havertape’s daughters. She looked up with a sweet smile and then began to talk to me. I was blessed by how well-behaved all the children were and the sweet innocence of being protected from all the things of this world that kids in the U.S. are exposed to. The girls’ hearts are very innocent. One day at church, Maddie brought me a piece of cake and started talking to me. She said, “Uncle Wes, people in Georgia wear black when they are in mourning.” I was wearing a black shirt, so I said, “I know. Your Aunt Vicky served me a salad for lunch today; that’s why I am wearing this black shirt.” You could see the wheels turning in her head, then came a smile, and she said, “You’re funny, Uncle Wes.” After that, wherever Vicky and I walked, we would have at least one kid holding our hand, but most of the time, we had one on each
hand.
While Georgia considers itself a Christian country, most do not know the Lord. They are orthodox and just follow traditions. Jason has done a great job going to all the poorest areas of the city to reach people for Christ. One building we visited was nine stories and was a complete wreck. But, as we walked through the hallways, everyone greeted Jason and invited us in for tea. What I found out is that a great many women in the city are the second or third wife of a man who has multiple families. The women come from villages, and they have a tradition where men will drive down a street and grab a young girl, take her home, and rape her, then say you are my wife. Many women stay in this situation because, in her mind, she thinks that no man will want me. If the women make it to the city, they have no way to support themselves, so they put up with tremendous abuse. One mother had a 13-year-old daughter whose husband refused to allow her into his home, so she lived separately. I could see the rejection on this poor child’s face as she played us a song on a local instrument that kind of had a clunky sound. I found myself feeling the pain of this young girl. I asked Jason if she played a guitar, and he said yes, but the one she was using was only worth about $20, so I bought her a Yamaha guitar. I told her the way men behave in this world does not represent the way God does and that, in God’s eyes, she was a princess. I know the ministry is bearing fruit, and it is our hope that these women would learn to trust the Lord and His provision.
Jason and Britny spend a great deal of personal support to help these families, taking away from themselves so others might know God’s love. It is an attribute that I see in only a few missionaries. His interpreter, a young woman named Kaytia, is about 25 years of age. She gave me a great testimony of Jason. She said that she visits another church in town that does not have any ministry to the people of Georgia; they focus on missionaries and foreigners, but everyone in Jason’s church is Georgian. She said the missionaries and foreigners live in the best part of town, yet Jason ministers in the worst part of town. She said they hardly minister, and Jason and Britny never stop ministering. She was not being critical, just telling me her observation. Her being Georgian, she sees the work ethic of Jason and Britny as a strong testimony. I have given Jason permission to look for a church building. Right now, they are leasing a small office that they use for the church, and it can seat about 50 people. They also have a Bible school and teach English so they can share Christ with non-believers. In Tbilisi, a home big enough to have a church will cost about $350,000. If you would like to help Jason and Britny, we encourage you to do so, and we will make sure that all donations get to them.
On another note, there is a need for a van for a Calvary Chapel in South Los Angeles. The church is in an area heavily entrenched with gang activity, and bullets have even come through their front door. On the same block, there have been several murders, yet the church is committed to reaching the people and gangs for Christ. There are many former gang members now in attendance, and they need a van to bring other gang members to the church. So, we are raising money to help them with the purchase of a van. The pastor showed me that Watts is just a block over. Two blocks the other way is controlled by a different gang, which is the way it is every several blocks. In this area, gang members cannot walk to church without passing through a neighborhood that could get them shot. It takes real courage to choose to serve in this neighborhood, but the pastor and his wife are committed. I spoke with several former gang members, and you could see Christ in them. They are learning what it is to be a real man by following Christ. Because of the church’s commitment
to reach the lost, I pray many will join us in helping them get this much-needed vehicle. I appreciate the pastor because few would choose to ever pastor or plant a church in this neighborhood, but he and his wife are driven by a higher calling–going where few would dare to go. Paul, in II Corinthians 11, speaks of all the danger he faced for the Gospel, and in Acts 20:24, he says: But none of these things move me nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Often, in prosperous areas, people plant churches right next to each other because it is easy and safe. I do not think they will have to worry about other pastors moving into the neighborhood wanting a piece of the action. The only reason you would come to a place like this is a holy calling from the Lord.
Wes Bentley
Far Reaching Ministries