Today I had a visit from Mary, Rebecca’s mom. She had been to the compound on Sunday and talked with Sabet for a while. I was sick so I missed seeing her. Fortunately, she came back today. She has been walking from the village to Tonj a few times a week to bring food to Rebecca in prison since the food there had been making her sick. Mary has a garden in the village where she has grown ground nuts. Once she harvests them next week, she’ll come back to Tonj to be closer to Rebecca.

Mary was very discouraged today. Life has been hard on her since Rebecca’s involvement in the scandal. Mary’s husband blames Rebecca and took away Mary’s bike so she has to walk two hours each way to come to Tonj. He is also refusing to help Mary find a home here. So right now, when Mary comes to Tonj, she doesn’t have a place to stay. People are still upset about the scandal and don’t want to help her. I see her as just a mom, trying to help her daughter out.

So Mary is worried about a home, worried about food for Rebecca, worried about so many things. She asked me to read her something from the Bible to encourage her. I said I would be glad to and as I walked to my room to get my Bible, I asked the Holy Spirit to give me the verses to share with her. I began with Philippians 4:6,7 which talks about worrying about nothing, praying about everything, thanking God for what he has done and experiencing his peace. Then we looked at Matthew 6:25-34 which tells us not to worry. Just as God provides for the birds and flowers, how much more does he love us? Of course he will provide for us too. Then out of my Bible fell out a small card telling the “Footprints in the Sand” story. I intended to give it to Rebecca on Wednesday, but forgot. God must have known Mary needed it more. So, I showed her my tattoo of footprints and told her the story. Although she doesn’t read English, I gave her the card and told her whenever she looks at that card to remember that God carries us through the storms. Then we prayed. She rested her hands on her legs and buried her head in her lap. After we finished praying, I saw that she was crying. Whenever I see someone from here cry, it breaks my heart. This culture is so strong and tough, that when someone cries, you know they are deeply hurting.

Margaret had joined us by then and we invited Mary to come next Wednesday when we see Rebecca again. She said she would. She also said she was leaving feeling more encouraged than when she came. When she was alone in the village, she would cry all the time and bad thoughts would fill her heart and her mind. Now she has good things to fill her heart and mind with. Thank you God for the peace that comes from your word.

Yesterday, Margaret and I went back to the prison for our weekly meeting/Bible Study with Rebecca. When we got there, the courtyard was packed. The previous times we were there, it was very quiet; only the prisoners sat outside under a tree. This time there were about 100 people there. It turns out they were distributing uniforms to the police and prison guards so all these people were waiting to receive theirs. With so many people around, it was very chaotic. I wasn’t going to be able to have the quiet Bible study I had hoped for. Margaret and I took Rebecca to the side and sat with her under a tree. We chatted for a bit and asked how she was feeling. She said she was feeling ok. Her hair was all over the place so Margaret offered to braid it for her. While we talked, one of the female prison wardens approached us and told us they charge five pounds for visiting. She must have thought we were new to Tonj and she could con us out of money. Not today lady! We told her Fidel Majok (the head of the prison) gave us permission to come whenever we wanted to. Once she heard his name, she left us alone!

As Margaret braided Rebecca’s hair, I pulled out my journal with my Bible study notes. I looked at it and decided what I had planned was not going to work. I planned on discussing suffering and trusting in God’s sovereignty. I had lots of verses and analogies I wanted to share. With so many people around and various distractions, it was clear I needed to save it for another time. Instead I said a quick prayer and asked God what he wanted me to share. For some reason I felt led to share the story of Joseph. We told one of the prison wardens that we were going to talk about the Bible and asked if anyone else wanted to join us. She did along with a few other prisoners. I began to tell the story of Joseph with the help of Peter, our translator. Gradually, more people came over to listen, including some children. The story is quite long and I wondered if I could hold their attention. They listened really well. When I got to the end and shared the point of my story “what man intended for bad, God intended for good,” they seemed to understand what I was getting at. Sometimes we have to go through a really hard trial to reach a good outcome. If Joseph wasn’t sold into slavery, all of Egypt (and his own family!) may have been wiped out during the famine. I encouraged them to trust in God. I assured them He sees their pain and loves them so much. I told them to seek strength from Him through prayer and through Scripture. After an hour, the ladies had to get back to work. One lady, Mary, thanked us for coming. She said that has heard about God and the Bible, but no one encouraged her to study the Bible and get to know God. She was excited about learning more. Then she asked us to pray for them.

It was a really neat time. I learned the power of a story. We can do research and plan a long study, but for them, a simple story alone can say so much. I recalled how Jesus taught through parables and wondered if this is what it was like back then: people gathered under a tree, listening to a story. It was one of the most memorable and meaningful moments I have experienced here. It was so simple, yet they were captivated… and they got the point.

Before we left, we met with some of the prisoners who were sick. We took their complaints and will drop off some medication today. I can’t wait until next week!