Family Visit Photos

Here are a few photos from the family visit:

Mel and I

The mom's playing frisbee at an orphanage

The parents brought some balloons for an orphanage....they really enjoyed it!

Left to Right: Tim and Lynne Scherf, Buz and Linda Bloodgood, Steve and LaNea Ewert

It was really a wonderful time! Thanks for coming parents.

Long Time

Well it has been way to long since I have posted. It has been a very busy few months with a family visit and lots of work. It was really a blessing to have family out last month and I will be posting some photos (you can also look at Mel's blog)

Things in Sudan are going good with our programs although there are still many concerns for the country itself.

A good article on Sudan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/world/africa/12sudan.html?_r=1&hp

I am headed to France with Mel in just a week for Christmas so I am looking forward to that. We will be visiting some family friends there and just relaxing.

more later...

Some days you wonder....

We have just started our work in Jonglei as I put on a previous post but the challenges we face are more and more difficult.

Some of you may have read the report on the latest battle:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8194060.stm

It is hard to know how exactly best to approach this difficult area but we are praying that the Lord would give us wisdom to bring hope in that region.

We have also had a tragic situation here in Kenya where the mission agency that we fly with had a plane go down. Please be in prayer for the families of those who pasted away.

More info here: http://www.aimair.org/page21/page21.html

Both the pilot and the mechanic left behind a wife and several children.

Photos

Here are a few photos for you from my last month:

David, Angelo, Josh and Matt in Kurmuk....looking at some fun finances

Kids in Kurmuk

Sunset in Kurmuk

Katie and I in Yei

Traveling Around

This past month has been a crazy one for me, from visiting various project sites to traveling to Uganda, Khartoum, meeting with the Vice President of Sudan and having a ministry conference for our team.

All my travel went well and it was a blessing to see so much and visit so many places. Last week we had our first ever ministry conference with 80 staff from all over South Sudan. Some of these folks had never even met each other so it was really a blessing to have everyone in the same place at the same time. We had a great time of games, worship, spiritual nourishment, and fellowship.

South Sudan Team

Another blessing was to have my cousin Katie come out for a couple of weeks and volunteer. She did a great job and it was really fun to share a bit of my life with her. Hopefully she will come next summer as well.

Nairobi is cold these days (in the 60s) but Sudan is still pretty warm. In fact, you can be praying that Sudan would receive rain. This year has been very dry and although it makes it easier to work, it is very hard on the people as they plant most of their food.

We continue to pray for peace here and for the hand of our Lord to touch the lives of the people in Sudan.

Sudan...

Well things have been going fine out here but there always seems to be something to keep me on my toes.

If you are interested, here are two good articles on Sudan that just came out. Both give a good picture of what is going one and the real struggles we face here. In recent days we have had staff shot at, vehicles robbed and as the rainy season gets fully underway, logistics will become much more complicated.

http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13849342

http://www.enoughproject.org/publications/sudans-election-paradox

Thank you for your prayers and for your support. By the grace of God we move forward.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” 6 And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. 7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.

Revelation 21:1-7 (New Living)

Complex South

This is a long but interesting article from Bor (where I just was from the last post). I think this is fairly accurate, and reminds me how much prayer is needed here.

Most situations in the world are much more complex then the media portrays. It is not simply one group against another but often involves 100's of years, multiple political agendas and motivations that do not seem logical to the western mind. I am still trying to understand the conflicts here in Sudan but this article gives a little insight.


SOURCE: | The Washington Post - April 25, 2009
By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, April 25, 2009

BOR, Sudan -- The nascent government of southern Sudan, a key U.S.
ally in the volatile nation, is threatened by severe problems
including severe cash shortages and growing ethnic tensions spawned by
a national ruling party determined to see the south fail, southern
officials say.

The future of Sudan as a whole is closely tied to what happens in this
oil-rich region, where the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement,
or SPLM, fought a brutal, 21-year civil war against the government
rooted in claims of discrimination by a northern, Arab elite. More
than 2 million southerners died in the conflict, and millions more
were displaced.

A U.S.-backed deal ending the war in 2005 transformed the rebels into
a semiautonomous government, and promised power-sharing with the
central government and a referendum on southern independence in 2011.
In the process, the SPLM emerged as a symbol of hope for millions of
Sudanese and became one of the few viable political challengers to the
ruling party led by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, whom the
International Criminal Court has charged with war crimes in a separate
crisis in the country's western Darfur region.

But as attention has focused on Darfur, the south's troubles have
multiplied. The four-year-old government is facing a $100
million-a-month cash-flow shortage caused by declining oil revenue,
according to a recent report by the group Refugees International. And
across the south, massive cattle raids are overwhelming local
authorities and increasing tribal tensions kept at bay during the war.

In the scrubby landscape surrounding this town where the civil war
began, the spear-and-machete raids of the past have become more like
military operations. Machine-gun toting, camouflage-wearing tribal
militias use satellite phones and launch rocket-propelled grenades to
move thousands of stolen cattle. In February, young militiamen from
the Lou Nuer tribe captured an entire town, displacing at least 5,000
people as southern soldiers stood by and watched, according to local
officials and aid workers, who say that more than 700 people were
killed in the incident. A retaliatory attack by the Murle tribe
against the Lou Nuer this month killed more than 250 people, according
to local officials.

"With this insecurity, we can't collect taxes, we can't open schools,
we can't drill for water," said Abraham Jok Aring, the Bor county
commissioner. "Sometimes people tell me it was better during the war,
because at least then we were getting support from the international
community."

Southern officials accuse Bashir's inner circle of continuing to arm
tribal militias that were used as proxies during the civil war and of
other dirty tricks aimed at destabilizing the region ahead of the 2011
referendum on its independence. They say the north has gerrymandered
boundaries to ensure that oil areas are in the north, undercounted
southerners in a recent census, and dispatched militia leaders to
contested oil areas to intimidate war-weary southerners.

The incidents are "indicative of the ruling party's intention to
sabotage the referendum," said John Prendergast, co-chairman of the
Enough Project, an advocacy group working to prevent genocide. "This
regime will set the south on fire using these proxy militias rather
than allow a referendum to occur."

Corruption and Tribalism

Increasingly, though, southerners are blaming the southern liberation
movement itself.

In recent years, southern officials have been caught up in corruption
scandals in which they have been accused of wasting millions of
dollars. Tribalism is emerging in southern politics, with politicians
accusing one another of manipulating ethnic divisions for their own
gain. Some complain that power is concentrated in the hands of the
Dinka, the tribe of the movement's revered late leader John Garang.
Government campaigns to disarm civilians have been spotty at best,
with weapons left over from the war fueling the cattle-raiding
epidemic devastating southern communities that depend on cows for
everything from marriage dowries to school fees.

"The SPLM has not endeared itself to many parts of south Sudan," said
Taban Lo Liyong, a literature professor at the University of Juba, in
the regional capital, and a frequent critic of the movement. "You
can't keep repeating, 'It's the Arabs, it's the Arabs, it's the
Arabs.' "

The government of southern Sudan started from scratch four years ago.
Newly appointed officials fresh from the bush had to learn to call one
another "honorable" instead of "comrade," as well as how to run a
government. Juba, the swampy capital, was essentially a collection of
straw huts along the Nile River. Outlying towns, including Bor, were
mostly bombed-out bush clearings.

These days, the capital has a few paved roads, power in some spots,
newly constructed government buildings and fleets of government
sport-utility vehicles that clog the roads along with goats and cows.

But as millions of southerners have returned home, the government has
had trouble extending its reach beyond the capital, a problem evident
in this town four-hours away by dirt road.

Maj. Gen. Riak Akon Riak, the state police commissioner here, said he
has 3,000 officers to patrol his state, Jonglei. Most of his police
officers don't have weapons. For the entire force, he has eight
trucks. By comparison, he said, the various tribes in his area are
"armed to the teeth," with people able to acquire a Kalashnikov for
about two cows.

"All the counties around here have tribes that took on the military
culture during the war," he said. "And the police cannot do anything
unless the tribes are disarmed."

Distrust of Government

Just 10 miles or so beyond Bor, the village of Chuet Padol -- an
expanse of a few hundred straw huts and yellow grass ringed by forest
-- has one officer on foot patrol.

Cattle raiders from the Murle tribe struck four times this year, in
groups of 50 or more. Recently, the raiders came in broad daylight,
shooting one herder and shooing away 50 cows into the surrounding
forest, said Daniel Chol Anyeth, a local Dinka chief, who was sitting
under a tree with several other men with little to do now that almost
all their cows are gone.

Like many villagers around here, Anyeth complained that the government
had disarmed his people but not the Murle, some of whom served as
militiamen for the Sudanese government during the civil war. Recently,
southern soldiers intercepted several cases of ammunition that were
being floated down the Nile in a boat from points north, allegedly
headed to Murle territory. People here suspect the Khartoum government
of providing the ammunition to the tribe, which many here accuse of
stealing young children during cattle raids and selling them to
childless families.

The result is growing frustration among locals who suffered through a
war and now must teach their children to hide before a raid.

"We've not received anything from the CPA," said Anyeth, referring to
the peace deal, known as the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. "Even
during the war it was better -- at least we had guns. We've had one
water tap since the CPA. One school. One health clinic."

But many SPLM loyalists say the movement is suffering from
understandable growing pains complicated by the ruling party's
attempts to undermine it.

Many southern leaders acknowledge that much of the movement's success
was wrapped up in the persona of Garang, who died in a helicopter
crash in 2005 and whose photo hangs over every government minister's
desk.

A charismatic and at times ruthless leader, Garang put his young
rebels through political training intended to stifle tribal issues and
instill his vision of uniting all of Sudan's marginalized people.

"Garang's vision was more powerful than clans and divisions," said
Bouth Chou, a local SPLM party official. "I'm not saying the
government is not capable, but you can be effective during war, but
with development, not be so effective."

END

The old west

Last week I was able to head into a new area of Sudan where we are starting some medical infrastructure projects. The trip went very well with no issues but it is a very tough place and we will face many challenges there - hence we need lots of prayer.

Here is an article about the area; Cattle-rustling leads to warfare in southern Sudan : http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LM932601.htm

While I was there, several children were stolen by one tribe, so the other tribe got all of there men, all of their guns and went after them. Well here we are driving down the road and all these guys come running toward us with guns. We weren't interesting to them but it still makes you think for a second. It reminds me with out the love of God there is unrest and ciaos.

more later...

Hell's Gate

Last weekend Mel and I had a great time camping, biking and hiking at Hell's Gate National Park here in Kenya.

Here are a few photos:

Visitors

Well we had a wonderful visit from Franklin Graham this past week. He met with many Sudan leaders and was able to remind them of the grace and power of our Lord. It was a very busy week but I think what needed to happen did.

Here is a photo of us in Yei:



Please continue to remember Sudan in your prayers as tensions are still very high in the north and there are many in need there. But we press on, asking the Lord for strength and wisdom.

Visitors

This week is a busy one for me as we have high level visitors from the head office coming. Please be in prayer for their visit.

Couple of interesting things for you. One, if you go to the SP website: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/ you will see on the right hand side a video of our work here in Sudan. Please watch it if you have a chance. I had the privilege to work with Zaki and have truly appreciated his service here.

Here is also an interesting article from Franklin today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/opinion/03graham.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=franklin%20graham&st=cse

Tomorrow my also be a difficult day with the potential of the ICC coming out and again I would ask for your prayers.

Mt. Kenya

This last weekend a friend of mine from Sudan and I went and hiked Mt. Kenya. We had a great time, hiking over 30 miles in just a few days all the way up to 16,000ft. We left at 3am to make the summit by sunrise. It was amazing to be up on top as the sun came over the horizon.

It might not be climbing a mountain, but hey, get out there and do something interesting, even a little crazy.

Pain

Not sure if many of you follow the news in Africa but one issue that comes up a lot around my work is the LRA rebels. They have been causing a lot of pain as of late and been attacking areas near where our teams work.

Please remember our teams and for the Christians in this area as they face many hardships.


Here is one story from the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7837526.stm


And here is a story from one of the pastors we have worked closely with.


1. From Bishop Bismark Avokaya, ECS Diocese of Mundri, sent to church partners January 15.

Subject: Urgent Prayers Needed for Mundri!!

There is insecurity problem caused by the so called Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) of Uganda in two of our Archdeaconries which has affected seven Parishes. It has displaced all the villages in those Parishes and we are yet to get the exact number of the people. However, we are aware that people from Tore Wandi (about 85 miles south of Mundri town), Moba (about 70 miles), Bangolo 50 miles, Ledinwa about 38 miles up to Garia (about 30 miles). These distances are measured from Mundri to locations mentioned.

At least about four people were confirmed dead. One of those killed was Rina's uncle called Wilson who is our Lay Reader at Moba Parish.
What happened was that his last son was abducted together with one of his grandsons. Both were about ten years of age. So Wilson decided to follow the LRA with another young in the hope of securing the release of these boys. But later after walking with the LRA over 20 miles under arrest, Wilson and the young man were both tied. Their hands and legs were chopped off while still alive, and were thoroughly beaten on the neck to death in front of the boys and some other new people they abducted. But the LRA decided to leave these boys to go their way, though they could not know where to go.

However as people were running towards Mundri, a Good Samaritan (who was riding on a motorbike) found the boys on the road and decided to carry them to Mundri. They had arrived Mundri only two days and are now with their cousin sister (who already had other displaced people).
We had the boys in our house yesterday for consolation etc. Both are traumatised like many others and we could not believe our ears as they shared the stories with us.

Also we learnt that Rina's other uncle, Rev Sylvester Yona, who is one of our Pastors, had one of his daughters abducted as well. Rev Yona himself had gone to Juba for medical treatment last November and he is still in Juba. And one of the homes that was looted and burnt at Tore Wandi was said to be his home. As these events took place in his absence, we were told he now so much devastated in Juba. So pray for him too.

Some of the injured are now admitted at Mundri health Centre and the rest in Lui Hospital especially those with gun shots. And about eleven people were reported to have been abducted from Tore Wandi and their fate is not known to date.

Because of the shooting in those areas resulting in a lot of fear, desperation and displacement many people are still trekking towards Mundri from Friday to date. When we saw those who arrived and learnt that many were on the way trekking to Mundri, last Sunday the Diocese decided to arrange, sent a truck to Ledingwa (about 37 miles) to carry some of the women, children and the elderly people who were struggling to reach Mundri.

However, when the driver reached Garia (about 30 miles) before the expected destination, they found the attack had reached Garia and was still going on! Two tractors (which were carrying some of the people to Mundri) were attacked; one man was shot dead, a baby was shot dead from the back of the mother, another man was injured, and so was Wilson's wife injured. Remember Wilson is Rina's uncle (who was killed previously and the tractors were set on fire. This made the driver of the truck we sent to return, but was able to carry some of the women and the children he found on the way.

As I write this message there is a massive displacement of our people into Mundri from these affected areas. Some of the displaced people have been identified by their relatives and are now living with relatives. For instance, at the home of the former Bishop of Mundri are 29 people not to mention the people who reside in his family. In another family, there are 16 people just to mention but a few.

But we are not able to identify all the relatives of these people and some said they don't have extended family members in Mundri. Hence they are now living in the Church (Cathedral) Compound. We did arrange to collect sum cash from Christians in Mundri for emergency to cater for those in the Cathedral Compound and some of those with families around. And we raised few Sudanese Pounds for porridge or fast food as they had spent over three days or so without food on the way. Also we (both Church and local authorities) had informed our Community members in other towns (like Juba, Khartoum, Nairobi etc) to collect whatever they are able to get and sendto Mundri for the same ASAP. For instance, yesterday we got SDG 4,000 (or $2,000) from Khartoum for this. However, because of the intensity and the number of the people, these are not enough.

Unfortunately it is now time for harvest in Mundri areas. The people had left their crops/ grain in the fields. The LRA had burnt most of the homes in those places including the bush/grass around. Moreover whatever basic utensils people had were taken and should peace return in nearest future and they return to their home places, they had nothing to return as far as I am aware of the situation.

Nevertheless, we are hereby praying and asking you to prayers with us as those of us who are in Mundri are even generally in fear, though we are still trusting God to rescue the situation.

The Government had sent some soldiers to Mundri and on to the affected places to contain the situation. But we are counting on your prayers for God Alone has the last word not the gun.

Yours truly, in the fellowship of the Gospel.

Christmas Time

Here are a couple of photos from my time at home. We had lots of snow but were able to make it to the beach for our Christmas. It was really a great time there. These photos are from my cousin Alysun.

Pretty Amazing

Here is a pretty interesting article that I would recommend reading. The Lord has really given us favor and I feel honored to be a part of this work.

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article29802

Happy New Year

Well I do hope to post some pictures soon but wanted to wish all those that read this blog a Happy New Year. I had a wonderful little break at home with friends and family but am now back in Kenya.

I am excited to see what the Lord has for us this new year. The team here is a blessing to work with and I know the Lord has great things for us to accomplish.

Please continue to remember the Christians in both Sudan and Zimbabwe as they face many challenges and struggle daily to survive.

More later