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.