Church Opening

I was able to attend one of our church openings yesterday, it was a real blessing to be a part of. Here is a little video of the children's choir and some practicing outside.






Please continue to pray for the Christians of Sudan as they face many difficulties, pray that this new church would not just be a building but would be a place of hope and light in a world of darkness.

The last rain

In a few weeks I will be heading off for R&R, I am looking forward to the time away. Life in Nuba is good but it is also nice to have a break; have some good food and cooler weather. Things have been going okay here. The rain is ending, we had a nice heavy rain a few days ago, just enough to settle the dust, but it looks like it will be pretty dry from now on. It is fairly warm here, with it getting up to 100-110 in the daytime but this is the cool season and it will get warmer.

The work is going well. Everyday we face difficulties but we are moving forward. There was accident the other day up here but no one was hurt and we are sorting through the political quagmire. Our region continues to be in flux and doubt as the political powers 'discuss' how to settle things. Still one of the main issues is the oil around here and where the boundaries should lie. It has been peaceful here, that is truly a blessing; there have been too many years of war and too much suffering. Please continue to pray for the Christians in this area of the world as many continue to face persecution; homes destroyed, walking 45 days with little food or water, being shot, set on fire, chased from ones home while everything they own is set a blaze. As Thanksgiving comes next week, may we remember God's faithfulness, provision and salvation.

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8

Photos

Here are a few photos for you.  Things are fine up here, by the grace of God we move forward.

Home sweet Home...here is where I live with another guy.

A local restaurant where she made some great lunch and a nice strong cup of real coffee.  Here they often add ginger to the coffee to give it a little extra kick.

Church under construction:

Some local kids:

Kauda

Well many of you don't know this yet but I have changed jobs a bit and have moved to the middle of Sudan.  I am still with the same program but have taken on the roll of program manager for the Nuba mountains.  We are doing lots of things here including church reconstruction, there is a technical training school, a nursery for plants, and a bible college.  

One of the great things is that I can now see my old friend Sergey.  Sergey and I know each other from Afghanistan.  He is from Uzbekistan and has worked for SP several years now.  Here is a photo of us...he is on the left, and Josh, a guy from Canada, is on the right.  It is also great to be working with Josh as we went through orientation together and he has a lot of experience.

 I am really enjoying the mountains here and am looking forward to some good hikes.  I will be putting more photos up later but here are a couple more.  Here is a local watering hole:

And today I went for a little motorcycle (Honda 200) ride to one of our projects...here is a photo:

More later....

Anyone have a shovel? Road between Yei and Juba

Ethiopia

Well I just returned from a wonderful R&R in Ethiopia.  I was able to visit Sarah and James Bauler whom I have know since Afghanistan and I was able to see some of the sites with my friend Dan.

Please pray for James, Sarah and Noah working for Samaritan's Purse in Ethiopia

• Pray for Wisdom as they work: James as the Country Director and Sarah working part time for SP and as a full time mother
• Pray that they would find/develop meaningful relationships with fellow believers
• Pray that the Lord would bless their work and that the gospel would be spread in Ethiopia
• Pray for the believers in Ethiopia, that they may be encouraged and blessed as they face many trials

Here are a few pictures of the sites.  I was able to go hiking for 5 days (in the Simien Mountains)and was able to see some of the famous rock hewn churches.  We hiked about 35 miles, up to 14,500 feet.  It was incredibly beautiful and really great to be able to get out in nature for a bit.  The nights were cold and usually wet but the days were fantastic.  I have tons of photos but will try and put up some interesting ones.  

I would encourage anyone who loves to travel to visit this amazing country at some point. Ethiopians are very hospitable, love good coffee (often served with popcorn) and are very friendly.  I hope to put more photos up later.

You think your commute is bad

Peace?

Please continue to pray for peace and for the gospel to be spread while there is time in this volatile land.


Tension Rises Between North, South Sudan Over Abyei Region
By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi15 August 2007


The government of south Sudan says dialogue with the Sudanese government in Khartoum has completely broken down and a peace deal signed in 2005 is in jeopardy. As Nick Wadhams reports from Nairobi, tension continues to rise over the disputed Abyei region, an area between the two that is rich in oil.Leaders of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army will meet in the southern city of Juba on Friday to try to figure out how to revive the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, a landmark 2005 deal that ended 21years of civil war.But southern officials are warning that they believe the ruling part yin the north, the National Congress Party, is refusing to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. They say they have no desire to resume Africa's longest civil war, but warn that the north may leave them no choice.Of serious concern is the Abyei region, which both sides claim. The Reuters news agency reports that about 30,000 people who had fled the civil war could not return home because of the continued dispute over Abyei.

The southern Sudanese envoy to Kenya, John Andruga Duku, says the north is no longer acting in good faith."The dialog between the SPLM and the National Congress has not produced any result. We have the feeling now that they are using the dialog as a delaying tactic. We will not be the first ones to go back to war but we cannot accept to be pushed around without implementing the CPA. So to start the war, it will require very small mistake here and there. As we speak now, the situation is tense in Abyei and any slight mistake can trigger the situation back to war," he said. The civil war was fought between the largely Christian Sudan People's Liberation Army in the south and the forces of the Sudanese government in the north, which is mostly Muslim. More than 1.5 million people died.

Last month, the United Nations said the north had missed a July 9 deadline to withdraw its troops from some areas of the south. U.N.officials later said that the SPLA had also missed the deadline to withdraw all its troops.Duku warns the failure of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement could threaten efforts to bring peace to the Darfur region, to the west."What is the incentive for factions from Darfur to resolve the issue when they can see that the same government, they are not able to implement what they said they are going to do? So there will be no incentive for the Darfur group to go for agreement with this government," added Duku. Leaders from both north and south say they are also awaiting the results of mediation efforts by Kenya's former president, Daniel Arap Moi, who was appointed envoy for the Sudanese peace process in July. He returned from Khartoum last weekend.A chief mediator in the Sudanese peace talks who is accompanying Moi,Lieutenant General Lazarus Sumbeiywo, says they will visit Juba in September. He tells VOA that it's still far too early to talk about Moi's efforts having succeeded."Until I go there, I don't know, we'll have to get it from Juba, get the version of the south," he said. "We want to see peace prevail in southern Sudan. Peace and prosperity, peace and development, peace and harmony."

According to the peace deal, south Sudan gets six years of autonomy leading up to a referendum in 2011. Its people will then decide whether to secede from Sudan.

Rainy Day

Well I just wanted to give you a quick update, thank you for those of you who prayed for the situation. Henry the driver is doing fine, still in prison but we hope to have the hearing next week. Samaritan's Purse is a bit out of the situation now as he was not our employee, nor was it our vehicle but we are still trying to help as much as we can.


An update on our 20 ton....well we are starting some churches up north around Rumbek and sent it up with supplies. However, there are apparently around 500-700 trucks backed up on the road and our driver is stuck. Once the driver sees there is a blockage, its too late, and more trucks pile in behind to where they can't go forward, or backwards. There are 3 'bad' spots in the road. Here are a couple of photos.








A 4x4 pickup can make it through these but a loaded 20 ton truck has a bit of difficulty. Please pray for wisdom as we try to figure out if we should move locations. Also pray our drivers as they are pretty much stuck. We are sending a pickup to try and find them to bring the food.
These are not our trucks but it is the road they are on...basically it is a river across the road giving the difficulty.

Another Day in Sudan

This is a long story but the gist of it is that there have been many challenges these past few days but God is helping us each step of the way. Satan loves to stop our work out here and can complicate, frustrate and irritate us very quickly.

A truck we hired (10 Ton Lorry) was involved in an accident on Monday. We hired this truck because several other vehicles are down and needed this truck for several weeks work. The driver (Henry) was coming back from Kupera (about an hour and a half away) with a load of supplies and a drunk guy on a bicycle collided with the truck. The driver then stopped to see if he could help. A group gather and beat the driver, stole his money (we had just paid him earlier that day), phone and took his documents. He was then taken to the Yei police station where they called for us to come take him to the hospital. Andrew, Matt B. and I went and got him, took him to a clinic where a doctor gave him some pain meds and such. He was then taken back at our compound and rested. He was badly bruised and shaken up but other wise fine. Henry is from Kenya, and seems to be really great Christian man.

Around 8am the next day I headed out with Allison (interpreter/office assistant) and about 8 police officers to see the scene of the accident and bring the truck back. We arrived around 10am and the ‘investigation’ began. After some measuring and questioning we were ready to drive back with both vehicles. But of course the key to the truck was missing. So we drove to the next town so that the police could use their cell phone and try and track down the key. After going back and forth a few times, they just decided to try and hot wire the truck. They did eventually get it to turn over but alas it did not start. So I called back to base to have our 20 ton come and pull it back. (this was around 11:30). It then turns out that the key for the truck was given to a local guy who was just showing up. He gave the key to his brother (so we went to find him), turns out he gave the key to the brother of the injured man and they were both now in Yei (of course they were)!

Switching to the 20 ton - Just on the out skirts of Yei, the 20 ton stopped along the side of the road for some water before coming out. While stopped there, a motorcycle passed by and hit the back of the truck, breaking a mirror. The driver demanded that we pay for the mirror and anything else that might be wrong. So Matt B. (an expat working with us) joined the 20 ton crew at the police station, while I with the rest of the police, waited hoping it would come. After quite of bit of discussion, Matt was asked to pay $100 reckless driving fine and $100 to fix the mirror. Of course this was all bogus as our vehicle was clearly off the road and stopped but at that point it looked like we were going to need to pay something. Anyway Matt goes outside where my ‘friend’ John (head traffic police man) is sitting. Aloro (our driver) recounts the story and John decides he needs to see the place of the incident.

Well while this is going on, the other traffic police and I decide to head back to Yei, thinking we will see the 20 ton any minute and do not need to stay there. On our way we met Maurice (our engineer), who is headed in that direction, who relates the story of the 20 ton above. Maurice agrees to pick up the most important thing out of the 10 ton, a gen/weld, and then continue on his way. So, I arrive back in Yei just as John and Matt are ready to head off to the other incident. I wait behind and they head down the road with the truck I was driving. After helping the traffic police fix their 35mm camera, Matt arrived back saying the matter was settled. I asked how much we needed to pay, and he said zero!

The way is was settle is a bit strange. Matt and John arrived at the scene looking at the incident, John speaking to the driver of the motorcycle and a few others. Nothing was really said at the scene to Matt. On the way back to the police station (mind you this is only about a ¼ mile) a boy was in the middle of the road with his bicycle acting very strange. John (remember he is the main traffic police guy), jumps out and slaps the boy across the mouth making him bleed. He then throws the boy and his bicycle into the back of our truck and tells Aloro to head to the police station. On arriving there, John says that the matter with us is dropped and then turns his attention to the boy. Needless to say, a very very strange outcome but we all get out of there as quickly as we can to avoid any second thoughts. So we all head back for lunch to try to come up with a new plan as the 10 ton is still out there.

Later that day, I was trying to finish some paper work and ask Matt B. to go back the police station and work on getting the 10 ton back to Yei. He ends up spending 2 hours getting yelled at by John (similar to my first experience with him) and eventually I am called to assist. The room (traffic police office) is very tense as I arrive, every one is a bit upset and the police are not happy. Imagine a 10x10 room with around 10 people in there all angry about something. After listening to some long comments about how horrible we are, I basically agree to their terms of providing care for the injured man even if the accident was not our drivers fault. Believe when I say it is very difficult to sit there and have some one tell lies about you. John loves his power, and if you humble yourself to him he is okay but he can snap in a minute and make your life miserable. Anyway we got out of there around 6pm and were glad to have that behind us.

Around 9:30 that night, I was told that the guy on the bicycled passed away. We were asked to send drivers to go and get the 10 ton immediately as the family may destroy it but luckily the police had already sent some one before we got there. This was good as that meant we did not have to drive at night or put our staff in harms way.

This morning the traffic police and 4 relatives of the family came here to the base to discuss the funeral arrangements. You may think this is strange but for us, like it or not, we will always have some amount of responsibility, whether the incident was our fault or not.

After several hours of discussion and a couple of calls to our Nairobi office an arrangement was agreed upon. It is not saying we were at fault but since we are an outside organization we are expected to pay. I did everything I possibility could to get us a ‘fair’ deal on the matter and to up hold the name of SP. And at this point I think we are in good standing with both the police and with the family.

The hearing date is September 27th. The driver will remain in custody until that date. He is now in the prison which is somewhat nicer then the holding cell. I spoke with him today and he seems to be doing fine.

For the truck, it is now back at the police station in Yei. All of the materials in the truck have been off loaded and are now in our possession.

There has been no issue with the family. I think they were accepting of the funeral arrangements and I left them on good terms. So security wise I think we are fine but we are still trying to be a bit more diligent.

There may have been better solutions but I have done what I could. Please continue to pray for wisdom and safety. If you don’t think this is a spiritual battle, then you are crazy.

If you have made it all the way through this story I congratulate you. If you were able to follow it then I think you should come out here work with us!

A few prayer requests:

• For Henry, the driver, who is in police custody. Jail is not an easy place to be.
• For the court hearing on the 27th.
• For the family of the man killed as they mourn the loss of a loved one
• For me and the team here as we try and work through these difficult issues
• For safety as we move about the country. This could have happened to any of us and with the amount of traveling we do it will most likely happen again

Well last week we held our semiannual staff appreciation day; here is a group photo from the event. Life has been busy here in Yei. We are building churches faster then ever (around 5 per month) and our staff keeps growing. Right now we are building more housing and working on getting more equipment in but as the rains keep coming logistics here becomes more and more of a challenge.  My work is to try and keep things running, making sure everyone has what they need to do their job.  No more jail visits, although I did have to go down once to talk with one of our staff as he put his wife in the hospital over a domestic dispute.  Needless to say he will not be working for me any longer.

Some prayer requests:

• Staff safety as we work and travel
• Wisdom as we try and figure out the many logistical issues
• And as always, for the Christians of Sudan; for the churches being built, that these would not be mere structures we are building but symbols of hope; that many in this land would know our Lord; that the window of peace would remain for as along as possible.

Thank you for your prayers, emails and comments - they are much appreciated.  Thank you also to those of you who helped out on my computer, it is great to have and makes the work much easier.

Lebanon

Well I just got back from a wonderful few days in Lebanon visiting friends and seeing a few sites. I was able to stay at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary where I had volunteered 8 years ago. They are really doing some great work there, training pastors from all over the Middle East. Please be in prayer for them as that part of the world is in a constant state of uncertainty.

Pigeon Rocks off the coast of Beirut

What was really wonderful about the trip was to be able to spend time with several friends that I have known for a long time. While I was in Lebanon last time I developed a friendship with a family, specifically a brother and sister - Henri and Janet and we were able to reconnect. I was also able to spend time with some old family friends - Paul and Anges Sanders; Paul directs the seminary. They are doing well and continuing to proclaim the gospel. A friend of mine from World Vision, Melanie Scherf was also able to join me. We were able to see many of the sites and were able to spend a day visiting some World Vision projects.

(left to right) Janet (Henri's wife), Henri, Melanie, Me, Janet and her husband Elle

Famous Ceders of Lebanon - the tree here is probably over 1500 years old. You can see the new trees grow straight up but then as they age they flatten out.

Here are a couple last pictures of the Mediterranean.




Please be in prayer for the Christians in Lebanon as they face many struggles. Lebanon is one of the last Christian strong holds in the Middle East. Many have fled because of the flighting and the country has become more and more Islamic. Please pray that the gospel will be preached throughout this region.

Football Match

Last weekend we had a friendly little football (soccer) match with our neighbors, a vocational training school. Even though our boys didn't have shoes or jerseys we were still able to pull off a win. Actually it was great for the workers to have a bit of a break. Here is few photos:

Here is our accountant Andrew showing his stuff:

The next three are kids who were at the game:

(Click to enlarge)

Every day is washing day for these young girls

12 yr. old Joyce collects water for washing,

some also use this water to drink

Little girl playing in the grass

Who doesn't love a good fort!

“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Be still, my soul - the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul - thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul - thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul - the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul - the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul - when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

"Be still my soul" - Katharina A. von Schlegel, 1752

may I rise, my Lord

My Utmost for His Highest
"Out Of The Wreck I Rise"

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Romans 8:35

God does not keep a man immune from trouble; He says - "I will be with him in trouble." It does not matter what actual troubles in the most extreme form get hold of a man's life, not one of them can separate him from his relationship to God. We are "more than conquerors in all these things." Paul is not talking of imaginary things, but of things that are desperately actual; and he says we are super-victors in the midst of them, not by our ingenuity, or by our courage, or by anything other than the fact that not one of them affects our relationship to God in Jesus Christ. Rightly or wrongly, we are where we are, exactly in the condition we are in. I am sorry for the Christian who has not something in his circumstances he wishes was not there.

"Shall tribulation…?" Tribulation is never a noble thing; but let tribulation be what it may - exhausting, galling, fatiguing, it is not able to separate us from the love of God. Never let cares or tribulations separate you from the fact that God loves you.

"Shall anguish…?" - can God's love hold when everything says that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice?

"Shall famine…?" - can we not only believe in the love of God but be more than conquerors, even while we are being starved?

Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver and Paul is deluded, or some extraordinary thing happens to a man who holds on to the love of God when the odds are all against God's character. Logic is silenced in the face of every one of these things. Only one thing can account for it - the love of God in Christ Jesus. "Out of the wreck I rise" every time.

Holiday

There are not many holidays that you can awake to the sound of AK-47s, however, this morning this was how I was awakened at sunrise - 6:30am. Today is the celebration of the formation of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army. Guns are still pretty common around here and are used in many celebrations. I asked Simon how many people had guns and he commented,"Oh, everyone has a gun, I only have one but most families have two or three" (these are assault rifles, usually AK-47s which cost about $100 in the market). I asked where he learned to use his gun and he told me his father had showed him but also his mother (his biological mother; Simon's father has two wives) and his wife knew how to use the gun - everyone does he said.

Most people believe there will be war again before the vote in 2011. This is the vote on whether the south should become its own country apart from the north. The main issues here though is not religious but centers around power, money, and resources (oil). However, as Christian's we know this is a spiritual battle.

Please pray for peace here.
Pray that many would come to know Christ during this window of peace.
And pray that the Christians here would be strengthened as they endure many hardships.

Some large size photos for your enjoyment

Click to see larger

As you eat today remember....

This is an interesting little photo show from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/programmes_cooking_in_the_danger_zone/html/1.stm

A few photos

Well, this last week has been busy with guests and thankfully there have been no more traffic incidents. One car is still at the impound but we hope to get it out Monday. Kevin and Oliver are fine and back to work. Their cases are not quite resolved yet but it looks like everything will be okay.

One of the people I have started working with a lot is Simon.

Simon is a 21 year old Sudanese man from Yei. He is married with one child and works as our procurement/supply officer. So everyday we are working out what is needed for the sites and how to get it - either trying to find it in town or decided whether we should order it from Uganda or Kenya. Some days it can be very frustrating when looking for various items and not being able to find them. Take for instance welding cables; all of our crews need these for their work and if something happens to a cable we are stuck. Well these cables can only be found in Uganda and it takes several days to get them here. Simon is great to work with and I hope to write more of his story in the coming weeks.

Another person I have been working with a lot is Amon.

Amon is our mechanic and manages the fleet down here in Yei. He is from Kenya, not married and has been with SP many years. He is a great guy and a really hard worker; it is not an easy job keeping all these vehicles running.

Here are a few more photos of the compound:

Shower (when it is raining it is like a double shower)

Dining Room in the middle with two large sleeping rooms on either side

Well, until next time -

Prison Break - Take 2

Well, some days are better then others!

After writing my last blog entry on Tuesday, I was so happy that I would not have to be revisiting the traffic police any time soon. But as it would happen, Wednesday morning I received a call from one of our sites that he (Kevin, a missionary kid from Kansas) had an accident and that there were multiple injuries. So off I went in the wild, it was about a 2 hour drive to the place he was – I started off at about 9:30am. The basics of the accident were that he was coming around a sharp corner and a motorcycle was suddenly in front of him. He applied the brakes but the bike was in his lane and he could not stop on the sandy soil. There were two people on the bike, the driver broke his leg, arm and maybe some ribs, while the passenger broke his arm. We used the vehicle I was moving in to transport the injured to the hospital in Yei, while I went with Kevin to the police station. We spent time there taking statements and reviewing what happened. They then gave us a choice to either head back to Yei or head on to Juba to have the case heard. I was really hoping to settle this up there but no such luck and I really did not want to face the guys in Yei again but since we have no base in Juba, we headed back. Three soldiers accompanied us in the back (we had to pay for their nights stay and transportation back) - I got them good with a couple of mud puddles though. By the time we reached Yei it was around 5:30pm. So, we go into the traffic police office to tell them what happened. The first 20 minutes was yelling at me for hating the Sudanese people, for not liking black people, just one thing after another. I tried to sit silently not saying anything as whatever I said just further irritated this person. So then we go the hospital to see the wounded, then back to the station, then some more yelling and the writing of statements. Now fortunately for Kevin, they do treat those of us from the west a bit differently. They arranged for Kevin to be held at the UN police office and not in the Sudanese one. Kevin was ready if he had to but was very grateful he didn’t. The UN was really nice to us and very supportive. So by the time we did all this is was around 9:30pm, I hadn’t eaten all day and I was a bit tired but at least Kevin was safe and relatively comfortable; and the injured were in a hospital. However, I found out later that no doctors came to see them because a different patient’s relative had beat the doctors and nurses the day before when a patient had died.

For Kevin, the reason they said they were having him stay at under protection was because of the way things work around here and because of some very difficult circumstances. First, it turned out that the person hit on the bike was just coming from his brother’s funeral. His brother, if you can believe this, was killed three days earlier on the same corner while driving a motorcycle. When this happened the people of the village burned the vehicle that hit the motorcycle and threatened to kill the driver – praise the Lord this did not happen to Kevin. The second reason for the protection was that the driver was part of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA). They have also been known to take revenge when one of their own is hurt.

So, in the morning I first worked for Kevin’s release. The family insisted that the injured go to Uganda for treatment because no one at the hospital was treating them. Although the accident was not Kevin’s fault we agreed to pay for all medical bills. So to keep the peace, we hired a car to transport them and sent them with one of our staff down to Uganda. While the car was being hired, I met with the traffic police and the relatives of the family. I wrote up several things and worked with the family to agree that Kevin could be released into Samaritan's Purse custody until the case could be heard. So off to the judge (with the traffic police guy who hated me – actually though he asked how my morning was) we went to have him agree. The judge neither spoke nor looked at me but he did agree to let Kevin go with us – this was Fantastic. So by 12:30pm I had Kevin back at the compound. Next I needed to work on the vehicle. Of course this is the second vehicle we have there in police custody and this one had very little damage; we really needed this back to be able to do our work. So for the next 5 hours I worked on this. We again went to the judge, signed more papers, this and that, here and there. But praise the Lord, I did return with the vehicle by 5:30pm. Small victories, but victories non the less. I hope not to visit that place for some time, although I still need the other vehicle.

Some prayer requests around all of this.

We have serious vehicle issues. Many of our vehicles are broken down, our mechanic has malaria and one car is still in police custody. Please pray that our vehicles are protected and can be repaired quickly. Please pray that these two cases are resolved quickly and the injured are healed; neither one will be finished until the injured are better - in Kevin’s case this could take a while. It definitely feels like we are in a spiritual battle over here.

I am thankful that both Kevin and Oliver are safe and back here with us. These were some long days but the Lord has been faithful and we will keep moving forward.

Prison Break

Have you ever seriously considered breaking someone out of prison? Have you ever seen injustice right in front of you but been helpless?

Well these have been my thoughts the last few days. As I posted last time, one of our staff, Oliver, was in a car accident. He lost control over a rough spot and put it on its side. Traveling with him was a woman and her baby. Neither Oliver, nor the baby were injured but the woman sustained a head wound and was taken to the hospital, while Oliver was taken to prison though he shouldn’t have been. It is a little hard to describe how it works here but if you are in a car accident the driver goes to prison until any injured are released from the hospital or it can go to court. However, that is only if someone is hit or there is another car involved, not with one vehicle. So we were all confused in this case as Oliver was taken but no one outside the car was hurt, it was simply an accident in an Samaritan's Purse vehicle.

So he was taken Saturday night, and we were told to come back in the morning to get him out. Now, this is not a nice jail cell, it is very crowded, no light, no bathroom (you use the corner of the cell) – sort of what you might imagine over here. So on Sunday several of our staff went to help get him. However, they met one road block after another and were told to come back on Monday. On Monday, this happened again and they were told to come back Tuesday. Monday night we went to take him food and found that they had moved him to the prison (as oppose to the jail). The prison was actually a little nicer because during the day they could go outside but it closes at 5pm. At any rate, the police had told us that if the family of the injured agreed for Oliver to be released he could be. However, one of the issues was the husband, the woman was married but the husband had not paid the full dowry (usually many cows over here) so she was not officially his wife, therefore only the father of the girl could say whether it was okay to release Oliver.

Tuesday, we went to get the father from the bush (deep off the main road). This took several hours, then it was off to the police station to get Oliver released. We were a little concerned how the family might react but the father in particular was very understanding and really wanted to see Oliver go free. From about 12 until 6:30, this is where I was with a few of our staff. How to describe what took place…mostly it was a lot of waiting around, getting this signature, meeting this guy or that guy, or going to someone’s house to get him to sign and then more waiting, Just when we thought we were close, they told us they needed the husband now, luckily he was at the hospital not far away. By this time it was about 4:45 – why do I know this? Well we were also told that the prison closes at 5pm and will not open. It seemed as if they wanted to harass us all day and not let him out just to spite us. One of the guys slowly, painfully slow took a signed piece of paper at 4:58 to this other guy who we thought was the end. Well, 5pm came and went – we feared we had lost the battle but we were not going to leave without a fight. So we kept on, working the system trying to find the right people. There were many times during the day when I wanted to ring someone’s neck but this probably would not have been a good move on my part. Well to end this story, they did reopen the prison and we did get Oliver out at around 6:30. Wow, was he happy to get out. He thought he was in for another night. Tomorrow we will roast a goat for him. Our vehicle will stay with the police until the woman recovers but she is expected to be fine.

Thank you for those who prayed. It is only by His grace and mercy that we had victory today. You never know what tomorrow may bring, hunger, prison, death – enjoy today while you can, live today, love today. Let your light shine in the darkness that those around you may see the hope you have found in our risen Lord.

Home sweet Home

Well after some discussion with some of the management over here, looks like they want me to stay on and work as the compound manager here at the Yei base. It is not quite as hard core as I wanted but I am willing to fill the need and I think I can be an asset. It does mean that I will be doing some more computer work but will also have opportunities to get into the community Mostly, like I said before, it is a lot of getting things to where they need to be at our sub bases and then making sure this compound runs smoothly. There are probably around 50 staff here at the compound (work shop and metal shop). So now I am working to get the rest of my things sent down from Tonj. Someone else will replace me as mobilizer up there. I am glad to be where I can be used for the kingdom and it will be good to be in one place for a while.

Some prayer requests:

• Today, one of our staff (Oliver) was in a car accident. He is fine but there are a lot of complications with it, pray for a quick resolution.
• As I start my new role for wisdom and direction as we work toward excellence and stewardship
  
• In this role, I am in need of a computer (going with a Mac this time) , prayer for the funds and someone willing to bring it
• Prayer for my relationships with the staff, that I may be a blessing to them
  
• Prayer that the hearts of the Sudanese people would be broken for Christ, that the churches we are building would be used to bring hope throughout this part of the world.

So after work one day I went next door and played a little football with the kids, it was a good game but they really took it to me ( I was playing goalie). Actually it was great to get out and have some fun with them.

Besides playing football, other very popular thing to do around here this time of year is to pick mangos. Sometimes they can be really hard to get to...this guy was reaching with his stick to try and get a good one (he is in the red shirt, holding a stick down to the right). I have had several really good ones - one of perks of being in Southern Sudan!

Anyway, things are going fine over here. I am still in Yei for a while as we sort things out for where I should be. It has rained several times over here, which is nice and helps to cool the air.
Anyway, things are going fine over here. I am still in Yei for a while as we sort things out for where I should be. It has rained several times over here, which is nice and helps to cool the air. We are currently working on about 10 churches in this area, 3 up in Tonj, 4 around Lui, and about 7 just about an hour from here, and there is a whole other operation up in the Nuba mountains. This year the goal for the whole program is around 100 churches. At any rate it is a lot of coordination as we try and get supplies to all these sites. A lot of our supplies come up through Uganda and we stage them here in Yei . Well I am beat so that is all for tonight.

Thiet Church

Here is the story of Thiet Church which I mentioned a few days ago. This was written by a colleague of mine last year. How many of us have ever had to face this type of situation? Have you given yourself in serving another today? Have you proclaimed the Word of God in your life? Believe me that life is short and today is the day.

Thiet Church is located in the Bahr El Ghazal region of southern Sudan. In the ‘70s, evangelists from the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) visited the town of Thiet and established a church there. Over the next two decades, the church grew and by 1994, attendance reached 300 people. In the same year a temporary structure was built. The building was made with mud walls and benches and a grass roof. Until that time, church meetings had been held under a tree.

Only six months after Thiet Church was erected, the Government of Sudan (GOS) invaded Thiet and set fire to the entire town. The army burned down everything in the village, including the church. The people fled to nearby villages and returned days later to find their town in ashes. Because it was a dry time of year, in only took a few hours for the GOS to burn down the entire village and leave. The invasion had come without warning, and the people lost everything they had.

“When you hear the people coming, you just take your kids and run, you don’t have time for anything else,” said Santino Manut, a former pastor at the church.

When the soldiers left, the people of Thiet cautiously returned and began to rebuild their homes. The congregation at Thiet Church met under the trees and began to rebuild the church when supplies became available. Despite all of the devastation, the congregation continued to meet faithfully four times a week. In the winter of 1995, one year after the invasion, a new church building was constructed.

Unfortunately, for the people of Thiet the invasion in ’94 was not the only attack from the northern government. The GOS routinely bombed the area for seven years beginning in 1992. The worst attack came in 1998, when eight bombs hit the town. That incident killed 27 people in the town, including one woman who attended Thiet Church. One bomb fell through the roof of the church, but did not explode. When the congregation returned to assess the damage, a few people tried to explode the bomb themselves, but were unsuccessful and were forced to bury it. Remarkably, soon after the bombing, the roof was repaired and worship continued at Thiet Church. Throughout the war and in the midst of bombings, Thiet Church persevered and continued to meet together four times a week. Today the congregation consists of about 450 people. The church frequently has to repair the grass roof because of rain and termites and is eager to build a more durable structure. Now that peace has returned to southern Sudan, the people of Thiet Church have hope that better times are ahead and are eager to build a new church to replace their decaying mud and grass facility.

“A new church would be a new beginning,” said current pastor Joseph Ayei, who has pastored the church for the last seven years. “People have started coming back to church since they found out a new building was being built. Even the elders of the town have started coming [to church].”

Pastor Joseph AyeiJoseph Ayei has been the pastor at Thiet Church for the last seven years. Though he is now a faithful preacher of God’s Word, earlier in his life Joseph fought against the government as a rebel soldier in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) When he was a young man, Joseph had good reasons to be angry about the civil war that was destroying many lives in southern Sudan. In 1984, his village was burned to the ground. At that time he did not have a strong faith in God, and his anger towards the government motivated him to join the SPLA.

In order to receive military training, Joseph was sent to train with soldiers in Ethiopia, where he met many others who were also filled with anger and bitterness. He was trained to operate the guns on a tank, and became close companions with his comrades on his tank crew as they fought in many battles in the following years.

In 1992, Joseph’s life would forever be changed during a battle against the GOS near a city in southern Sudan called Bor. In the heat of battle one evening, Joseph’s tank was hit by a rocket from an enemy tank and his body was riddled with shrapnel and bullets. The other four soldiers in the tank were killed, and Joseph remembers seeing one of his friend’s head decapitated. Because he was sitting higher up in the tank as the gunner, Joseph was able to escape the burning tank by climbing out the window. He slept beside the tank for the night but did not cry for help because he feared GOS troops would kill him if they knew he was alive.
By the morning, the fighting had subsided and SPLA medics came and took Joseph to a hospital in Kenya. When a doctor finally examined him, he found that Joseph had shrapnel lodged in his legs, hands, stomach and neck. Some of his teeth were even broken. After a few days, Joseph asked one of the nurses about his comrades in the tank and was told that they had all been killed.

“The medics told me to thank God because they had all died and I had lived,” Joseph recalls. “That is why I decided to become a pastor, because of the new life God had given me.”

Joseph realized that God had given him a second chance and found there was an alternative to anger. While recovering in the hospital, he dedicated his life to Christ and promised the Lord that he would become a pastor if he ever became well enough to leave the hospital.
Four years later, Joseph followed through on that commitment and was ordained as a deacon for the ECS. In 1999, he became the pastor in Thiet, where he has served faithfully to this day.

Pastor Joseph has never fully recovered from his injuries and still has shrapnel lodged in his body that doctors have not been able to extract. His health has deteriorated of late and he may have to travel to Kenya to receive treatment if things don't improve. However, despite the lingering effects of his injuries, Joseph continues to preach the Word of God week after week.

Shake and Bake

Okay this is the second time I have written this blog so hopefully this one works. So Ben and I went to Wau for Easter, basically just to use the internet and get some cold drinks. We were able to find some goat and chips at a little restaurant and it wasn't too bad so that was nice. The bad part about Wau is that it is 2 1/2 hours away so it is a long drive but it was a good day. Here is a street in Wau:

The next morning I awoke to find that our driver's wife and family were sick and that he would not be able to take a little trip that was planned and as Ben knows the most about the projects up there, the task fell to me to drive. So I threw a few things in a bag and together with Emmanuel, a great guy working for us, we headed off down the road in our 4 ton truck.

A few things to note about this truck, first the radio does not work (luckily I have some little speakers for my ipod), second the gas tank leaks (we had to stop every 100 miles and refill the tank by hand – more diesel in my clothing), third it is that it is a right hand drive (Afghanistan prepared me well for this), fourth is that this vehicle was not made for these roads and really does not do well (there are some huge potholes out there) - hence the shake, and fifth is the fact that there is no a/c (poor poor phil – I am making fun of myself here) and here is the bake. But this also means having the window open and getting a nice layer of dirt all over.

So off we go, 386 miles in 15 hours. At one point we had traveled for 2 hours and I realized we had only gone 30 miles! Actually the trip went fine, we traveled through Mango tree forests, swamps, land mine fields (the road was clear but you definitely didn’t want to use the shoulder), vehicles the LRA had attacked and burned, and some crazy bridges. One bridge in particular was a real challenge. We arrived to find that there was a 6x5 hole on one end and there was no way around it. It was about a 20 foot drop, and would not be pretty if we didn’t make it but there was only one road and we had to go. So we said a quick prayer and started finding logs to lay across. Apparently this has been this way for about 2 weeks but hadn’t been repaired yet. Well we made it across fine but I have to say I was a bit worried as I drove across.

I had already driven 12 hours and an hour past dark, as we are not suppose to drive at night, so we found a nice little rest stop (it was a stop anyway) about 3 hours outside of Yei for the night and relaxed a little. At any rate we got in around 10 this morning with no real difficulties. It was great to spend sometime with Emmanuel and learn his story which I hope to tell in a future blog. Here are the two of us:

Upon arriving in Yei, I came to find out that I was going to need to stay here for a few weeks. One guy is headed up to another site and so they need someone here to help run the base. So…I am hoping to have my clothes sent down (as I only brought an extra shirt) on the next flight but I am glad to help where I can. The rains have started here and we might even get some tonight. I desperately need a shower (pun intended).

Well that is all for now –