ELCA chaplain Romeo Dabee (right) visits his neighbor in Terminal 4 at JFK Airport in New York— Ajay Dhawan, a native
of India who directs JFK operations for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
Airport witness for Christ
Chaplain is reassuring in a frantic environment Text and photo by Mark A. Staples
I
t can take Romeo Dabee (pro- nounced Day-Bee), the Protestant Chaplain at JFK Airport, an hour to walk from his parked car outside Ter- minal 4 to his office near the Christ for the World Chapel on the fourth floor. Since last December, Dabee, a 36-year-old ELCA pastor, has served here under the auspices of the Coun- cil of Churches of New York. As Dabee leaves the parking lot, he steps in front of an airport vendor’s vehicle. The driver had nearly struck a passenger crossing the street to enter the terminal. Dabee isn’t about to ignore the episode. His clerical garb catches the driver’s attention. Dabee says two words: “Slow down.” Dabee’s low voice diffuses, rather than escalates, the episode.
Staples, who is retired, writes for the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadephia and is a mem- ber of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, Pa.
36 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
His point made, he moves on. That’s just one episode in the fast-paced, confused atmosphere that is JFK International Airport in Jamaica, N.Y. There are seven terminals and more than 70 airlines, 10 square miles of territory and 42 million passengers each year. Everyone is on the move, wearing the varied, colorful garb of a hundred homelands and chatting in 50 dialects. Some 30,000 employees from varied backgrounds staff airline desks, ground transportation, cleaning crews, cook- ing enterprises and carry out myriad other tasks visible and less visible to the scurrying travelers. JFK is a whirling, jet-propelled cosmopolis, a U.N. on wings and wheels.
Everyone on a journey “Everyone here is on a journey,” Dabee said. “When you want to be part of a ministry that serves the globe, this airport is the place to be … a place to let Christ be known around the world by witnessing in one space.” Last week Dabee was a helpful host to orphans arriving from the Ukraine to spend the summer with prospective adoptive families. Today his colleague, a Jewish rabbi, welcomes to the airport schoolchildren bound for an educational adventure in Tel Aviv.
“The airport is a unique animal, more of a community than a congregation,” Dabee said. “You serve travelers, strangers you may never see again, and the community of staff who work in the airport whom you get to know over time.” Continuing his “commute” from the parking lot, Dabee encounters a woman who appears to be struggling for bearings and cheerfully offers directions.
Occasionally he is rebuffed, Dabee said, adding: “You can’t let that bother you because right around the corner will be someone else you can assist. Hos- pitality is a crucial aspect of ministry here. I work to assure that people are somehow not blocked off from [help] … that travelers can hear a sane or still voice [and] see a smile that brings … peace in a stressful environment.” Next stop is Mr. Kim’s dry-cleaning service on the first floor, where Dabee exchanges greetings with the proprietor. He then says hello to the currency
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