When a Crocodile Gets in the Way

During my first year of living in Loryok, I loved going out to jog in the mornings.  I would get up at six o'clock when there was just enough light to see and go along the road out of town for a few kilometers and then turn around to come back. Those mornings outside of town were quiet and peaceful and I enjoyed watching the sun rise from behind the hills in the east as I ran.  One morning I jogged along looking straight ahead of me as I was crossing an irish bridge at the edge of town.  I must have really had my eyes fixed on something ahead because at the moment I looked down I saw a crocodile right next to me that I had not noticed beforehand.  It wasn't very large but it didn't matter to me.  Terrified, I sprinted ahead as quickly as I could.  I don't think I even bothered to look back.  Once past the bridge I slowed down to a jog.  On my way back as I approached the bridge again, I saw the crocodile ahead of me still in the same place and I began to worry about how I would get around it.  When I reached the bridge though, I realized that the crocodile had been dead and I could cross without fear.

A year and a half ago I came back from Africa for a five-week visit to Omaha.  I was happy to see friends and family, but the sudden change of environment hit me pretty hard and I had an anxiety attack that night of my arrival.  The feeling was like looking down and seeing a crocodile at my feet.  For awhile the anxious feelings would come and go, and sometimes I feared that I would be overwhelmed by them.  Jump ahead to the summer of this year when I was returning to the US for home assignment and those familiar feelings returned.  This time around though I have been learning that such feelings and thoughts need not control me or even the way that I think.  As I consciously cast my anxieties on the Lord, those moments of anxiety become less intense and less frequent.  It is like coming back to the bridge and seeing that the crocodile that was once so terrifying never had the power to harm me as I feared.

Back in the US

I have now passed the halfway mark of my home assignment.  It truly has been good seeing and spending time with family and friends here and to be with my home church.  In the beginning of September, I was able to enjoy a couple of weeks in Mississippi with family.  At the end of September, I enjoyed a long weekend with relatives in Minnesota.  I have had the opportunity to share at a few churches and groups. Wherever I have gone, I have been encouraged by the many who have taken a genuine interest in what I am doing in South Sudan.  Time here has been a good balance of rest, fun, and work.

But in some ways, it has been hard to be away from South Sudan.  Since I left Loryok two people who were dear to me there have passed away.  My adopted Laarim father Joseph, had been ill for a few months before he passed away in August.  I spent quite a bit of time with Joseph over the past two years.  We often sat, talked, and prayed together.  He taught me a lot of practical things for working on and around the house and in the garden.  Though I was often slow to learn, he was always patient.  He also demonstrated a love for Jesus and a love for his people.  I will miss him.  More recently I received news that Mama John, a kind and caring Kenyan woman who was active with the Loryok church, passed away.  She often would join us during our times of fellowship and outreach throughout the week.  When neither David nor I was in Loryok, Mama John gathered the children together and led them in singing and prayer on Sundays. She will be missed in our fellowship.

Joseph with Laarim youth in Torit

I now have less than two months to go before my planned return to South Sudan.  With eight weeks left and more to do, I am beginning to feel the pressure.      

How you can pray

-Pray for the church in Loryok.  There are no leaders there at the moment so I am often concerned for the young believers.

-Continue to pray for the nation of South Sudan.  Pray that the door would remain open for the gospel to spread among the unreached.

-Pray for me as I spend time here in the US and make preparations for returning to South Sudan in December.

Thank you for praying.

Wrapping Up for Home Assignment

Last week, I began my journey for my first home assignment.  Home assignment includes R&R, but it is also a time that I get to speak and present at churches, meet with supporters, visit friends and family, etc.  There are some plans in place for my time in the US, but there is still a lot of wondering what these next five months will look like for me.

Regarding ministry among the Laarim, I thank the Lord for what He has been doing in Loryok.  For the previous few months I had the privilege of spending many evenings with children and youth on the compound where I stay singing, telling Bible stories, and praying.  As I stumbled over words and phrases with the Bible stories, those listening did not seem to mind helping to correct me with my Laarim grammar and vocabulary.  After we closed in prayer each time, a number of youth would thank me for taking time to share with them.

In the early part of June, Pastor Joshua came from Juba to spend 10 days with me.  On our first Sunday service together, we found a number of young people who had either expressed that they had committed their lives to Christ or wanted to do so. For those who professed faith in Christ, Joshua called them to come for several days of teaching which would be followed by baptism.  We had five youth who were temporarily staying in Loryok on the side of the military barracks and two Laarim youth who attended the teaching.  After doing the teaching and baptizing the youth, Joshua returned to Juba. I remained in Loryok with Pastor David and we continued teaching on different topics in the Bible for the following week until it was time for me to leave.  For most of the days we had a good turnout of youth who were coming for the teaching and Bible study and it was greatly encouraging to see them hungry for the word of God.  That last week I spent in Loryok for me was stretching yet joy-filled.  Stretching, because I was doing teaching on different bible topics in Juba Arabic every day, but joy-filled because the youth that I was working with were willing to come together to learn and pray together each day.

After I finished that week of teaching, I said a few goodbyes, packed up my items, and hopped on my motorbike for a three and a half hour trip ahead to Torit.  Thankfully the trip was uneventful, though it was taxing on the body.  I am glad to be on my way for a change of scenery and I am looking forward to spending the coming months with loved ones on the stateside.  While I am away, Pastor David is continuing to meet with the youth who remain in Loryok. 

I am now in Nairobi and in a few days I will be getting on my flight to the US.   Just a couple of days ago, I had anticipated going to Kampala, Uganda and flying to the United States from there.  But the flight to Kampala that I was supposed to catch out of Torit was cancelled.  This meant I would have to find my way to Juba and go commercial from there if I wanted to reach Kampala. It was something I was determined not to do. By the grace of God I found that there was space for me on a flight to Nairobi from Torit. Also for a price that was not unreasonable to me, I was able to change my ticket from departing from Kampala to departing from Nairobi.

Prayer items

Please pray for the Laarim youth who are active in the church of Loryok and have a need to be discipled.  Pray that they would grow in their faith and stand firm amidst

frequent temptation.

Pray for Pastor David who stays in Loryok and Pastor Joshua who makes visits there every few months from Juba.  Pray that they would have the strength to effectively work together to teach and disciple those who are in the church

Pray my return to the United States.  I am excited to see friends and family, but I have usually found culture shock to be more difficult returning to the US than it is returning to Africa.

Bible study at my home in Loryok

Growing Through Everyday Life

Since a month out in Uganda, I have now been back to South Sudan for two months.  Times here have been challenging, but it is still a joy to be here.  I usually feel like I am taking baby steps of progress.  Other times I feel that I am standing still, and occasionally I feel like I am stepping backwards.  I'm sure many can identify with such feelings. To me, serving in a nation such as South Sudan always sounded like an exciting and challenging task and often just the thought of it was energizing.  In reality it is challenging and exciting, but it still requires focus and self-discipline that does not always feel so exciting.  Language learning is hard work demanding much time and effort.  Other aspects of life here such as health and a good energy level are not easy to maintain and I find myself needing to spend more time resting that I would like.  But in living out here, I am frequently reminded that we as followers of Jesus have a responsibility to preach the Gospel and make disciples.  And that is a worthy task that makes the daily discipline worth it.  I wish I could say that I am always well-disciplined in every area, but that is certainly not the case.  It is something that I have been working at most of my life though.

One area recently that I have been concentrating on is my prayer life.  I had always acknowledged and believed that being devoted to prayer and spending time in God's word was important to truly effective ministry.  Now I am seeing that an active prayer life is more than just important, it is absolutely essential.  I must say that prayer is wonderful and often refreshing.  It sometimes feels like a discipline, but it is often something that I enjoy.  There are still those periods of time where it seems to be difficult to focus in prayer and I find sometimes that I just need to press through. Other times I find simply adjusting the way in which I spend my time in prayer or in studying the God's word helps me refocus.  But I want to encourage you that if you know Christ, remember what a privilege it is to spend time in prayer listening and talking to our Father and learning from Him through His written word.  Recently I am being challenged to pray throughout my activities in the day. For me, this currently looks like praying in my heart for individuals as I encounter them or pass by them.  Some days it is easier to do than others, but I find that the more intentional I am about it, the more naturally it begins to come.

My last stay in Loryok had its ups and downs.  I was blessed to have Pastor Joshua from Juba visit.  He held some evangelistic meetings that I often joined him in and it was encouraging to have another believer to fellowship with as well as lead the our Sunday morning gathering for the two Sundays that he was here.  The heat was quite intense though making the nights difficult to sleep.  I found it easier to sleep outside despite the constant wind dusting me at night.  Thankfully some rains recently came cooling things down and reducing the amount of dust in the air.   

One of the current difficulties I have been facing in Loryok is regarding living space.  While I had been focusing on getting a home established in the Boya Hills area, I also desperately needed to get a new grass roof on my current home before the rains came this year. The termites over the years had taken their toll on the roof.  I talked to the owner of the house who agreed that the roof needed to be replaced.  He has allowed me to put my belongings in another, but smaller space so that the roof could be replaced. The work has progressed most days, but it has moved very slowly. Today the roof is near completion.  Another layer of grass still needs to be added before the final bundle for the peak is added.  I am hoping it will be done before I return within the next few days.  Once my home in Loryok is finished, I hope to get my building materials up to Kerenge so that the work can get started there and I can have a place to stay in the Boya Hills area.   

 Thatching the roof

Note:

All the names of places probably are a bit confusing, so I have added something here on my blog.  If you look at the side bar, near the top you will find a link named "Map of Frequented Places" to a map I have drawn.  Below the map here is a bit of info about each place that I stay or regularly visit.

How you can pray:

-Continue to pray for the nation of South Sudan as it is still facing turmoil in a number of areas.

-Pray for the Lord to raise up other believers who have a heart for sharing the Gospel with the Laarim people.

-Pray that I would have wisdom in balancing caring for my body and needs and working.  I feel like often fall on to both sides sometimes overworking and other times taking it too easy.

Hoping for the Green Light

While I hear about sub zero temperatures in the US, I am comfortably sitting in AIM's guesthouse in sunny Kampala where the highs are consistently in the low 80's and the lows are in the mid to lower 60's.  For weather, it's as good as it gets for me and with Kampala being a larger city I can find almost anything I would want or need. What is even better here is that for a reasonable price I can take a motorbike taxi to wherever I would need to go in town usually get there quickly.  I always enjoy coming here, but I really am hoping that in a couple more weeks I will be back in South Sudan.  Though with the current conflict it is still to be determined whether or not I will be able to return that soon.  Thankfully the areas where we live have remained calm so far, but there are other places that have fighting.  I am concerned for people's lives in South Sudan, especially for those whom I have come to know and love, but I am hopeful that we will be able to return soon. Though the question remains "How soon?"

Life and ministry rarely go as planned here and disruptions often seem to come at the most inconvenient times.  In thinking of such times though I am reminded of the words written by the apostle Paul in II Corinthians 4:8 "we are perplexed, but not in despair." In November, I made a visit to Kimatong in the Boya Hills area.  My purpose was to meet with the chiefs in several nearby areas to ask for some land options for permanent housing for me and another missionary family who I was waiting for to join me early this year.  After several days of visiting the chiefs and seeing different options, I returned to my home in Loryok to contact my unit leader and another missionary who would take charge of the building project.  Due to a family emergency for the builder, they were to be delayed.  A few days later, I got word from my unit leader that the family who was to join AIM to work with the Laarim had changed their plans and they would not be coming. This was after more than a year of anticipating their coming.  The news hit us hard as we were all hoping to have more missionaries to work with the Laarim. I returned to inform the chiefs of the change of plan and thankfully they were gracious to me. Because of this change though we have decided to wait on building a permanent house for myself, but instead I will complete my temporary home which is made mostly of local materials.  Once that house is completed, I would then be able to take frequent short periods of time in the villages of the Boya Hills to get started with ministry there. 

After my initial return from the village to seek out land options for building in November last year, I was visited by my friend Angelo who just finished his primary school in another town.  We spent the week together and met with the children on my compound each evening for a time of singing and a Bible lesson.  I am thankful that Angelo was with me when I had gotten the news that this missionary family who was intending to join me had changed their plans. Though it was difficult news, I was encouraged to have Angelo with me as it reminded me that God does not leave us to do the work alone.  That following week, Angelo and I went to Torit and we met up with Loboi another Laarim youth attending school there.  Together we attended a five-day seminar on Transformational Development which teaches on the root issues of poverty and our role as Christians to be ministers of reconciliation so that we see lasting transformation in individual lives and communities.

Both Angelo and Loboi are youth that have demonstrate a genuine faith in Christ and a desire to reach their people with Gospel.  Though we all live in different places, I have been able to spend significant amounts of time with them working, doing ministry, and living life together.  I am learning to be more intentional in doing what I can to encourage growth in these guys to help them be effective in ministry.  At the same time I am humbled when not only do I depend on them for help, but I see them more effectively minister in specific ways to their own people than I am able to.  That's one of the things that is wonderful thing about being part of the Body of Christ.  I do hope that I can see Angelo and Loboi again soon.

How you can pray

-Please pray for the current fighting in South Sudan to stop and that the door would quickly open for us to return.

-Pray for the church of South Sudan including the Laarim believers to not lose heart but to stand firm for righteousness during this time in South Sudan.

-Pray that we will be able to complete my house in the the Boya Hills area soon.