The Pennsylvania missionary operates the orphanage for victims of the war in Sudan's Darfur region and elsewhere in Africa, and he is in a fight with federal aviation officials over a $28,000 fine for some supplies he tried to send to his shelter.
For more than a decade, he has transported needed supplies to operate the orphanage's power generator in a clearly marked household plastic container. That is until April, when 3 quarts of motor oil, two bottles of diesel treatment and a can of spray lubricant in the crate were confiscated by airline screeners.
Mr. Childers, president of World Missions Shekinah Fellowship, apologized in a subsequent letter to U.S. government officials, saying he was not aware the supplies were classified as "hazardous materials" and illegal to ship by commercial plane.
The minister thought the matter was resolved, but six months later, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) notified Mr. Childers that he will be fined $28,000 for the transgression.
"We don't have that kind of money to start with. I just don't know what to do," said Mr. Childers, who operates the shelter in Nimule, Sudan, for 200 children whose parents have been killed in the civil war-torn country.
Mr. Childers' orphanage, the largest in Sudan, was featured on NBC's "Dateline" program two years ago for its efforts to rescue Ugandan children kidnapped by an ultraviolent guerrilla group. An ex-biker who became a born-again Christian in 1992 and started his Pennsylvania ministry in 1999, Mr. Childers built the orphanage in 2001. Since first coming to Africa in 1996, he said, he has rescued 800 children.
Jim Peters, FAA spokesman for the Eastern region, said Mr. Childers has the option to obtain an attorney and arrange for an informal conference with an FAA attorney to further discuss the matter.
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