HOPKINSVILLE, KY (2/22/12) – A Hopkinsville pastor is once again sharing his collection of artifacts acquired while in the mission field. The items owned by Pastor Ron Hicks of Henderson Memorial Baptist Church will be on display at the Pennyroyal Area Museum through the end of March. The pieces on display represent artifacts from the country of Tanzania in Africa.
The collection includes ebony carvings such as a monkey and drums, boat with travelers, mask, letter opener and chess set. You can also see a mortar and pestle, woven tapestry, a tunic, an animal-skin drum and an array of African currency. The pieces are part of the museum’s Pennyroyal Treasures display. In January, Pastor Hicks loaned items he had collected while in Russia on mission trips.
Hicks tells an inspiring story of faith while on the Africa trip to Tanzania. He was there with a team to help local Southern Baptists in Africa with evangelism. He says they originally went to Morogoro, a city of approximately 600,000 people. They discovered that there was a system of bribery and the local officials had not been properly bribed. They wanted each of the 36 members on the mission team to pay $200 in order to minister the Gospel there.
The team was asked by the local missionary not to pay the bride. Hicks says, “We were told, if you do this then every team that comes in from now on will have to bribe the officials.” Hicks says they decided against paying the bribe. The officials were going to take a few days to decide the team’s fate. While they waited, they were told not to preach or they would be arrested.
Pastor Hicks and others with him decided that they would preach and accept the consequences. Hicks asked his 19-year-old son, Josh, to stay behind when he went to speak as he thought they would all be arrested if discovered. Hicks said before he left his son said, “Dad, let me pray over you.” Hicks says that night he preached like never before. When he safely returned following the service, he knew his son had the assurance that God wasn’t going to leave or forsake them. After four days, the team was kicked out of Morogoro and moved to Dar es Salaam to continue their mission work.
Hicks says that when he sees this collection of artifacts, it reminds him of what he, his son and others on the team learned on that trip…that the God of the Bible is the God of today. He says that’s the true lesson to be realized.
David Bryant
SurfKY News
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