When Alabama Baptist volunteers walk into the lobby of the Kiev International Airport in Ukraine after passing through immigration control and customs, they look for a man head and shoulders above the crowd — literally. That man is Brad Atkins.
At 6 feet 4 inches and 250 pounds, Atkins towers above most Ukrainians. And his personality is just as big as his body. “Hey man, welcome to Ukraine,” he says with enthusiasm as he shakes hands with all around. It is as much of a down-home welcome as one will receive anywhere in Alabama.
A North Carolina native, Atkins’ current assignment as a Baptist representative in Ukraine is volunteer coordination. He looks after volunteers from the moment they arrive in the country until they are safely on their way back home.
Atkins personally greets most volunteer teams. That has meant as many as four trips to the airport in one day, a trip that can take up to two hours from downtown when there is heavy traffic. He works on travel schedules, logistics, meals, resources and anything else volunteers might need. “This is what I did in the (United) States,” Atkins said. “Before coming here, I managed a department for a Fortune 500 company with more than 85 employees. God put me doing something here that I know how to do.”
Atkins seems to spend most waking hours with a Bluetooth device from his cell phone wedged in his right ear. That enables him to multitask when stuck in traffic. He will confirm plans and do last-minute checks with co-workers to make sure everyone is doing what he or she has agreed to do. All the while, he safely negotiates the challenging driving habits of Kievans. In Kiev, lines on the road are only “suggestions.” It is not uncommon to see cars driving down sidewalks or crowding into intersections despite traffic signals.
When things do go wrong, Atkins speed dials from Baptist representative to national Baptist leader, talking first in English and then in Russian to solve quickly whatever problem needs attention.
“I sleep with my cell phone under my pillow whenever we have volunteers in the country,” he said. “I can be reached 24/7.”
Inconveniences for him or his family seem not to matter. Wife Melissa welcomes people into their home, joins Atkins in orienting visitors, runs car pool to get people to and from train stations and work assignments and handles the million other chores that go with coordinating volunteers.
Still Atkins finds time to coach his fourth-grade son’s baseball team and host 20 guys from his oldest son’s high school for a sleep-over. When asked about the demanding job, he said, “The Lord has given me far more out of this than I have contributed. I have great friendships with people across the United States.” Atkins said in 2008, he was in Alabama for a few weeks and the people there “treated me and my family like royalty. It was great.”
Atkins said he is glad to be part of the partnership with Alabama Baptists and hopes that he contributes to its success by helping care for the volunteers who come to Ukraine.
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