CHE!

Over the past month the IDAT Community Health Evangelism (CHE) team has had the privilege of meeting with the leaders and churches of 8 different villages to share the CHE vision, and to gather information about the communities’ attitudes and resources. Every single village has begged us to please come back and start the CHE program! The very first chief we met said that what his people needed the most was Jesus, so he was excited to hear that sharing the gospel and discipling believers is a key component of the CHE program. We have heard many encouraging stories during our community visits. For example the Christians of our church plant, Calvary Chapel Warrak, were so moved by the suffering of people in their community they started a special church garden in addition to their own personal gardens. Every few weeks the people from the church would gather together to plant, weed and harvest sorghum and peanuts. Then they built a shelter for storing the crops in, and distributed the harvest to widows and needy people in their community.

In the village of Bobi, where there was no school for local children, Pastor Pasquelo, who was trained by Sabet and graduated in 2012 from IDAT Bible school, has volunteered his time during the week to run a small village school under a large tree. His only resources are a blackboard and chalk!

It is awesome to witness the fruit of our ministry in these remote villages. One transformed life can transform an entire community! That is where CHE is so powerful. It teaches ministry is about relationships, which are more important than having all the latest equipment and right facilities. Simply take what God has provided you with and be the best steward you can be, no matter how small the resources or insignificant you feel, give it to the Lord and allow Him to use you and bless you! It is awesome to see the initiative of a few CHE champions being so blessed by God. They get it…they are more blessed to give than to receive. They are not waiting for us to make a difference with their people, they are making the difference themselves. They are the future of South Sudan that can transform this politically messy country into a nation that glorifies God. We are working with 10 potential villages for future CHE centers. We are praying for 10 supporting churches in USA to ‘adopt’ a CHE village and commit to praying for their leaders, elders, chief, CHE volunteers and CHE committee. Please email us if you are interested in more information about adopting a village.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
–Mark 10:45

Visiting Friends!

Our family was blessed to take some much needed time together to visit Troy and Jeamette Lock in Idaho. Jeamette served IDAT as the stateside coordinator for 13 years. This was followed by a visit to Montana to spend time with Amanda, who was a mission pilot in Africa with AIM AIR and medevac’d us when Matoch (7 year old boy) was shot in 2010.

August, we are doing an East Coast drive up to Rochester and back. We’ll be visiting ministry partners and friends along the way. Please email us if you would like us to share with your church group or if you can offer us a place to overnight.

Security!

At the beginning of July, South Sudan marked it’s 5th anniversary whilst renewed fighting broke out in the capital city, Juba. Clashes resulted in many military and civilian casualties. The entire country has been on alert for the past month. Thankfully, Tonj has not experienced the violence and bloodshed but like all areas people are suffering from lack of medicine, food and supplies caused by the insecurity. Please pray!