Set Free to Become a Slave of Righteousness

"And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."

Romans 6:18

Recently I have been thinking about what it means to be free in Christ and a slave to righteousness.  It is great to know that when I came to know Jesus, I had been set free from the bondage of being controlled by a sinful nature.  Yet I am challenged as I remember that neither am I independent nor free so that I can do whatever I feel like doing.  In fact, I do not belong to myself and it is impossible for me to live without a master.  Before knowing Christ I was mastered by sin, but I now have the Good Shepherd as a master. I face the choice everyday of walking in the flesh or walking in the Spirit.  Recently I have been convicted and challenged to ask the Lord on a regular basis, what would you have me do? I don't want to say that God calls us to seek Him over every minute detail, but we are called to seek the Lord and walk in obedience to Him.  I believe that the good news is that when we spend time in His word and in prayer we have that confidence that the Good Shepherd is there to guide our steps so that we are able to walk in conscious obedience.  Nonetheless there are times when I notice myself thinking more about my ways and less about His ways. I believe it is at those times the Holy Spirit reminding me to pause and consider my steps and to turn them back to Him. How wonderful it is to know that the Lord is a kind, loving, and gentle master who does not leave us and knows what is best for his own!

Continuing the Translation

I have continued to work on translating and correcting bible stories.  As of now I have nine stories translated.  Some of them I am feeling pretty good about while others still need a lot of work.  I feel that I need to continue practicing them and making corrections and adjustments on the stories I currently have before I add any more.

Pastor David has returned to Loryok from his home in Kenya and it has been great to have another missionary on the ground with me.  We have started regularly meeting in the evenings for a short time of devotions and prayers and on Thursdays we have begun to have a prayer and worship time for the church.    

The Lord Calling His Workers

Recently I was reacquainted with a young Laarim man, Angelo, whom I had met last year.  He is schooling in another town where he is being discipled by some Kenyan missionaries, but comes back to his home area during school holidays.  This time when Angelo came, he excitedly told me what the Lord had done in his life since the last time that we met and he expressed an eagerness to join me in ministry on school holidays. While we were together over his break Angelo willingly joined me and helped me in whatever ways he was able.  There has been another Laarim youth that I know from Torit who has recently helped me to correct some of my stories.  Last week when I saw him in Torit he shared with me that he wants to do ministry among his people after he finishes school.   

Wearing Out the Soles of Our Shoes

While I was in Loryok this last time, Pastor David asked if Angelo and I could join him in visiting some of the people on the eastern side of Camp 15.  We walked out there together, but found most of the people had left their homes to go and cultivate in the fields.  We greeted a few people, but out of curiosity decided to move eastward toward the hills outside of town.  As we continued, we could see family settlements at the base of the hills so we decided that we would visit whoever would be around there.  When we reached though, we found that the compounds had been abandoned.  With our curiosity still driving, us we decided to follow along the footpath southward around the hills having heard that there were people living in that direction.  The trail led us through a bit of a forested area and about forty minutes later we reached a Laarim village of about 100 people.  After briefly sharing a bit with them about what our purpose was in living among the Laarim, we were told that there was another settlement if we continued eastward.  Pastor David said that since we have already come out so far, we should continue forward since it may be his last opportunity to see what was in the area.  We pressed on for a couple more kilometers until we finally reached the base of the hill that we needed to ascend to reach the next village.  The path was steep and the hill was high so made it to the top winded. We found the village along with some beautiful views of the surrounding hills and Loryok in the distance.  When we approached the village we could see children around, but they went and hid themselves after seeing us.  Despite Angelo being with us, the children were probably still afraid of the white-haired Kenyan and white person who had come with him. Though most of the adults had gone down to cultivate, we did find one of the mothers who then called the children to come meet us.  We sat together and David and I shared a little bit about God's word, with the help of Angelo who translated for us.  After the short visit, we headed back to Loryok.  Pastor David and picked wild fruits to eat along the way trying to satisfy our thirst and hunger for the next hour and a half until we reached home.

On the following day, Angelo and I walked 20 kilometers up to Kimatong in the Boya Hills together.  I wanted to visit a few people in the different villages and Angelo wanted to see one of his relatives.  After making a few visits around, the headteacher of a nearby primary school along with one of the chiefs informed found me that he and the community were giving me the house near the vehicle road in the village of Kerenge about 3 kilometers outside of Kimatong.  The building needs some simple repairs, including some iron sheets to make it livable, but I am nevertheless excited that I now have a place to stay when I visit the villages of the Boya Hills.  I look forward to soon starting bible storying there.  I am considering alternating weeks between Kerenge where I will begin storying and Loryok where I will continue to get help translating the stories.  Next time though, I should have my motorbike with me to make the travelling a bit easier.

How You Can Pray

-Pray for Angelo and other young Laarim people who sense the Lord's call to reach their people with His love. Pray that wherever the Lord leads that they would have mature believers in their lives to disciple them. 

-Pray for the process of the repairing of the house that I have been offered.  I need to work on a way to get the building materials up to Kerenge. 

-Continue to pray for the translation work and my language learning.

-Pray for the church in Loryok and for Pastor David as he leads.