Category Archives: Mission Trips

Rancho Del Rey Church

Champaigne Wishes and Caviar Dreams!!

Yan Cio Makur (my name is Todd), and I really want to express thanks from all the team members for the prayers that you have all been lifting up…please keep at it, we can use all the prayers you can afford to give on our behalf.
Today was pretty typical of the rest of our days, I start the morning with a long relaxing shower, followed by an all-you-can-eat breakfast, and then it’s off to the river for a little water skiing while the water is still glassy…this re-occuring dream is shattered by the sound of a braying donkey, which awakens me and reminds me that I’m not in Kansas anymore…or America for that matter. I could go on and on about how different things are in Tonj, but I’ll summarize by saying that God is indeed stretching all of us in unique and various ways.
Today was Sunday and we went to church at a leper colony. The people were very gracious and gentle, I think Stacie said it was the highlight of her week. We met for church under a large shade tree, the pews were worn logs about 4 inches in diameter stretched across two other sticks that were buried in the ground. The sticks that were buried in the ground had a fork at the top that held the pew (log) in place. Church started when we got there, and they all started singing in their typical African Tribal fashion (one man starts, and then everyone responds, repeat, add tribal drums on hand made instruments). Matt spoke to them about Mark 5 (the woman with the issue of blood that was healed when she touched the robe of Jesus in the crowd). Sabet interpreted, and it was FANTASTIC! Imagine the same Matt that walks around and really gets into his sermons, teaching through an interpreter that is mimicking his movements…we loved it and so did they.
After church we immediately went to a remote village to perform KidsGames for the Bongo tribe. Everywhere we go, Danielle is taking tons of pictures (big surprise, I know) and the people LOVE seeing their pictures on the back of the camera after it has been taken…as such, she is a huge hit wherever we go. KidsGames is great, but I would rather share with you about the pastors we have met since we have been here.
The people of Tonj are such an incredible inspiration, that I already know that I am going to miss them when we leave. I’ve had 2 opportunities to teach the group of 80 pastors already, and it has been amazing. I also found out that this training session was by invite only. Sabet said that if he had opened up the training to every pastor in the region, that we would have had many, many more. These pastors have small flocks that meet in mud huts with grass roofs. The pastors love God and they desperately thirst for Biblical teaching. They sit for 4 hours on wooden benches in a concrete building with a short 15 break in the middle. Most of them watch and listen intently while taking notes in a small notebook that was given to them at the beginning of the week. As I was teaching through Ephesians 6, and talking about Godly parenting, one pastor stood up to ask a question. Instead of asking a question he stated that life is hard in Sudan and very few have the education that is needed to raise their children in a Godly way, so he suggested that I stay in Sudan so that I could teach them how to raise their children. To which I responded by saying that my daughter ALSO needs to be raised in a Godly way and so I would have to go home. They all laughed, but the truth of the matter is that they really do long for this type of teaching. And you don’t have to be a Seminary graduate to teach these men, you just have to know your way around the scriptures, and have a willing heart. The pastors are awesome men that truly inspire us, pray for them as they leave and go back to their flocks.
Everyone on the team is doing an amazing job in this remote place, I’m thrilled to be working alongside these people. And the same can be said of the permanent staff here in Tonj, Jean-Paul the doctor is truly a man with a heart for God and a gentle and loving spirit. Kathryn, the nurse assistant is energetic and loves God with all her heart. And of course Sabet & Suzy are an inspiration to us all.
There’s a head-cold working its way through our team, so please pray for health and strength. We miss you all, but really feel that God is using us in a mighty way.
Rancho Del Rey Church

Stacie in Sudan!

Hi everyone! Stacie here. Or, Yar as I am known here. I still can’t believe I am writing you from Sudan, Africa. I had one of those “I am in Africa right now” moments earlier in the day. I’ll get to that in a minute. For starters, I’ll let you know what we did. Because our first two days in Tonj were so hectic and because the next few days will be also, we did not do Kids Games today. Today we just worked in the compound. Breakfast was at 8:00. We had these yummy donut thingys. I can’t remember their name. Then, at 8:30, we had devotions with the compound staff. Sheena led devotions today. She gave her testimony and shared Proverbs 3:5,6. She did a great job.
After devotions, most of us went off to the pharmacy. We did an inventory of all the medications and supplies they have. It was a big project and it took a long time. We worked from 9:30 to 2:00 and still weren’t done. Matt and Todd taught the pastors. Today they discussed relationships with wives. Their culture is very different. How do you tell these men to love their wive(s) when they didn’t marry for love? Its strictly a business transaction. So Matt said, you need to love them like Christ loves the church. Someone asked, when I show love to one of my wives, the others get mad, what do I do? Matt couldn’t say, “you should only have one wife, divorce the others.” We can’t encourage them to abandon their wives and kids. So, he focused on teaching them to instruct the next generation to only having one wife. The cultural differences are huge, to say the least.
At 2:00, we had lunch, which was PB & J sandwiches. After lunch we went back to the pharmacy to keep working. A little later, the time came to begin dinner preparations. In this case, dinner was a goat. Sheena volunteered to kill it… and she did. While we don’t think it’s wrong, Amy and I did not want to hear it, see it or meet the goat before it died. We waited in the pharmacy while the deed was done. A little while later, a few of the pastors taught us to sing a Dinka song. It was really fun to learn it and sing it with them. I wrote it down phonetically so I could sing it, but I’m sure it looks nothing like the real words. Our goal is to sing it at RdR…. We’ll see….!
After that, the pastors began dancing. This is when I had one of my “I’m really in Africa” moments. It was exactly what I would expect tribal dancing to be: singing, stomping feet, kicking up dirt, sticks and jumping around. After a bit, some of the guys jumped in and then Sheena! I stuck to dancing with the kids on the sidelines. Everyone laughed when they danced. It seems everything we do is funny to them! The dancing went on for a while. Then once it was over, we stayed and talked with them for a bit. Here is how a lot of my conversations went: Are you married? No. Why? God hasn’t brought me my husband yet. If you were in Sudan, you would be married, God will bring you your husband in Sudan. At this point I laughed nervously. Then one guy said, do you agree to get married in Sudan? I said, no I have to get married at home. It was really funny. Some guys asked how many cows it would take to marry Sheena!
For dinner we had an African meal: goat, kale type stuff, beans and tortilla thingys. All my thingys have a name, but I just can’t recall them. For my friends and family, yes I tried everything! So, that’s a wrap up of today. This trip has been amazing, overwhelming, filled with joy, filled with tears. There is too much to write about here (plus I am out of room!). Words cannot express how much strength God has given me. I have been stretched in so many ways. It is awesome to be here, relying on Him to get me through the day. My favorite thing I have done so far was washing the hands of the kids at Kids Games. They put their handprints on a banner with paint and I got to clean them off. It was a special time to connect and serve the kids, praying for them while I did so. I can’t wait to get home and tell you all about the things we have done, all I have experienced, and how God is working in our lives and the lives of the people in Sudan.

Rancho Del Rey Church

WOW…..from Sheena in Sudan

 Okay so Matt is having us all take turns writing on the blog. We are supposed to share what happened today and anything God has been revealing to us. I don’t really know where to start but I guess the best way to start is by saying….WOW.
So far this trip has made a HUGE impact on me. I have been seeing and experiencing things I never thought were real. I just figured places where people lived like this was only on TV or in Ads when they want you to donate money to someone or something (you know “dramatically enhanced”)! My mornings have been spent in the Medical Clinic. And let me tell ya what….it is such a different experience than working medically in the states. Today A kid came in maybe about 8 years old. He was bashed in the head with a rock. The doctor (Jean Paul) and I had to suture the wound because the wound was so deep. Once we cleaned it all the way we could see the child’s skull. Now in the states this is not a fun experience but it can be over and done with within an hour with the child feeling little pain. Here, however, that is not the case. This child had to go through the cleaning and the suturing with very little pain relief (he basically felt it all). Then the real danger comes in with infection….the injury occurred the night before he came to us so the wound went untreated for many hours exposed to many different things. So now we are giving him daily injections of anti-biotics in hopes of him not getting an infection. This is just one of the stories I have about the differences in medical care. It is amazing to me the resilience these people show. God is doing so much in the clinic here….it is absolutely mind blowing. Each person that comes in, as we give them care we are praying for them.
Moving on to the afternoon. We put on Kids Games for the children in different villages. Today we ministered to about 237 Sudanese people and when we arrived we were welcomed in song which is always so special. They play hand-made instruments as they sing and harmonize praise to God in the most touching way. It was so amazing. I believe around 15 of them received God’s gift of salvation! There are four teams organized by color. Red, White, Green and Yellow. White Team won the nationally done Water Bucket Game with ¼ cup of water and the Green Team won the potato sac relay! It has been so amazing watching the kids and adults eyes light up when hearing the gospel!
We all have been working very hard on our Dinka language and the people here have been having fun teaching (mostly laughing) us. To share with you some of the things God has been showing me on this trip: that even when you can’t communicate with someone you can still show God’s love in such a mighty way and touch others, we take our “easy-access” to God’s word for granted, even when I am feeling most defeated (physically and emotionally) and can’t go on anymore – God always gives me the strength I need to keep going, that you can learn how to love God by watching others give their praise and worship in their way, and so many more things. It is hard to put into words all the things God has shown me and all that He is doing here. But know your continual prayers are working and we are so appreciative of them. Thanks you so much!
Goodnight from Sudan!

Mission Trips, Rancho Del Rey Church

God is in Control – from Amy Yordt

Cheebok from Tonj! “Cheebok” means “hello” or “How are you?” in Dinka.
Yesterday we landed in Tonj and were greeted by a large group of people that had come out to meet our plane. For years I have seen my husband’s pictures of his trips to Tonj, but none of those pictures could have prepared me for what I was about to see for myself, and more importantly, feel for myself. To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement of gigantic proportions! A few weeks ago in our women’s study of the heart we learned that ‘there are certain feelings, both joyous and sorrowful, that cannot be communicated no matter what sympathy and understanding may be present.” That is what I felt yesterday….a feeling that just cannot be communicated properly.
After our “welcoming party” we came to Sabet and Suzy’s compound and were given our rooms and then the best pb&j I have ever had! Suzy gave us all a tour of the compound and then it finally hit me…..What was I doing here? I’m never going to be able to make it through the next 10 days! This is too remote for me, too rural, too “not normal”. I was scared. I was anxious. It was hot. And I’m not cut out for this! Panic was setting in and there was no way out of here until next week. I started crying in my room and I think my husband was getting very worried that I was going to lose it! As it turned out, in the next few hours, all of the girls on the team got together and we all felt many of the same feelings. We all felt inadequate and useless and unsure of being able to serve the Lord and Sabet and Suzy in this capacity. I’m thankful for the truth we all shared last night and being able to lift each other up and throw truth at the situation. And the truth is….none of us are cut out for this! But God doesn’t call those He equips, He equips those He calls! And each one of us on this team have been called so therefore, God WILL equip us.
And today, He did! Today we awoke to so many animal noises that we just couldn’t decipher them all, but what a glorious morning it was. The air was cool, praise the Lord, and I just had to laugh at the fact that I was still in Sudan! Sheena, Danielle, Stacie and I all worked in the medical clinic today either counting drugs, doing wound care or helping with the prenatal care. Pastor Matt and Todd taught in the Pastor Discipleship Training center and Mike, Steve and Thadd worked really hard moving the pharmacy and building new shelves for all of the medicines. After lunch we went to a town named Tim Tuk to do our Kids games program. We were expecting about 50 kids and we ended up with about 120! We performed skits and told them about the love of Jesus for each one of them. Sabet did a great job translating all of the things we shared with the kids and then it was on to the World Water Bucket Competition! It is always a little tricky getting a large group of kids formed into 4 teams, but add in the fact that none of us speaks Dinka and we are all quite a mystery to these kids….needless to say, we should win the competition based solely on the fact that we got them in line! Team Red was the big winner (go Sheena!) The kids had a great time and amazingly…..so did I. God has answered my prayer to change my heart for this mission trip I am on. God has shown me that anxiety is rooted in control and it turns into fear when we KNOW we aren’t in control. I know I am not in control right now, not in this remote little town named Tonj in a country so far away from my home. He is showing me I’m not in control any other day in any other town either. And yet, I am at peace and happy to be where God has me today.

Pastor Training, Teams

Update from Greg & Bev Wootton

Bev:   My eyes burned with tears from the moment we stepped off the plane, and were received with singing and warm smiles by the Sudanese pastors and church leaders that had patiently awaited our arrival and had gathered to greet us on the dusty runway.

 

This past week has confirmed our calling to “Go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”  The ninety students, both men and women, have such a hunger and thirst to know the Word of God.   Together, four of us have taught a hundred hours of classes in Bible Study Methods, O.T. Survey, N.T. Survey, and Bible Doctrines in 1000 F, without fans or airconditioning.  We now have a clearer vision for the opening of a permanent Bible Training Center in Tonj for “In Deed and Truth Ministries.”

 

We have had the experience of our lives and cherish the relationships we have built these past two weeks. The hospitality shown us by Sabet & Suzy has been tremendous.  Now that its time to leave and go back to Kenya, tears are again welling up in my eyes.