Wow, one more amazing day almost done! It’s 9:20 pm here in Tonj. Just trying to recap this day is so hard, there is so much to think about its almost overwhelming.

Thaddeus and I worked in children’s church… all the kids are so beautiful! Before we started, the kids sang a Dinka song for us, clapping and singing with all their hearts. We taught on the story of the paralyzed man who was healed by Jesus.  The kids loved watching us act it out at try to pretend like we were paralyzed. Their smiles were beautiful! After the teaching we played Duck Duck Goose and Simon Says. Pastor Matt taught in the church from the book of Isaiah.

In the afternoon, we drove to the “Picnic Tree,” which is about 5-10 minutes away from the compound. It’s so peaceful there, you can see cows grazing in the distance, and tall grass all around. Dennis and Sebet bought us sodas from the town, a nice treat over here in Sudan. It was a blessing to relax and fellowship as a team. We were able to shoot some great photos… I can’t wait to show them to everyone when we get back!

When we got back we visited Sebet’s mother and some of her grandchildren, who had come to the children’s church. They were all laughing and playing together. It was so adorable. I really have never seen such beautiful children before.

When we came back to the compound, we sat down for dinner. Unfortunately, two of our team members aren’t feeling their best so they weren’t able to come with us to the pic-nic or to Sebet’s mom’s house. Hopefully with your prayer and God’s hand, they will be feeling better soon.

Thank you for your love and prayers for our team! It’s a huge blessing to have all of you supporting us.

Joy!

Annabelle

It is Saturday night in Tonj, Sudan. What a day! What a week, for that matter! Being here has been amazing! It is so neat to see God’s hand in everything that is going on here! Yesterday in the clinic, all of the girls were able to observe the birth of a healthy baby Dinka boy. I was even able to help the mid-wife, Stephanie, with the charts. I acted as her personal scribe, writing down everything she told me.  The mother had been in labor for quite a long time, three days if my memory serves me correct.  Stephanie finally had to break the membrane to get things going.  From the time the membrane was broken to the time the baby was born was about thirty minutes – relatively short, considering.  It is amazing how the Dinka people show no emotion unless they are in a considerable amount of pain!  The rest of the evening was pretty much uneventful after experiencing the birth.

Today we journeyed to a lepers’ colony and a Bongo village.  At the lepers’ colony, we were greeted by a few songs.  We then had the chance to sing a couple songs for them, but compared to their singing, ours was nothing to boast about!  The people in Sudan have voices that are so melodious and harmonize wonderfully together.  Mr. Tague and Sabet then shared the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  Before we left, we handed out a couple soccer balls and heaps of shoes that were donated and brought over in the action packers. We then headed to the Bongo village.

It was at least a forty-five minute drive down a very bumpy dirt road, if you can call it a road at all.  The road we took today is more like a path that we would walk along in a forest, narrow and full of ruts.  Oh my word! The Bongo village was amazing! (Fact: the Bongo drum originated from the Bongo tribe.)  At the village, there is an orphanage with at least 100 children.   I immediately felt a connection with one girl, probably seven years of age.  For the rest of my time there, we spent nearly the whole time by each others’ sides.  She even let me hold her baby sister, at least I am assuming they were sisters.  Oh, to hold a little African child!  I wish I could have brought them home with me! If I could, I would adopt them in a heartbeat!

One thing that continues to amaze me is how happy these people are.  They have nothing, yet are perfectly content; in America, we have it all, but continue to search for happiness in all the wrong places.

I feel like I have been here so much longer than just a few days! I feel perfectly at-ease, like I belong here.  It is such a humbling experience.  I am learning what it is to live such a simple life, and I am loving it! I am constantly reminded of Paul’s words, “I know what it is to live in plenty and I know what it is to be in need.”  I miss my family and the comforts of home, but at the same time, I do not want to leave! I am excited to see what God has in store for our remaining time here! Every day just seems to get better and better.

Please continue to pray for our health and safety while we are here.  So far, we have been blessed with both – praise the Lord!

Be His,

Skylar Gross

Our team from Rancho del Rey Chuch just finished their second day of work here in the village of Tonj with the Dinka people.  We are all doing very well.  I will give you the highlights: Getting here, our 28 hours of flying went relatively well, as well as can be expected from 28 hours of sitting on a plane.  Nobody got sick, so Praise the Lord for that! Dennis, Cody and Thadd are working their butts off making bricks for the new medical clinic.  Sweat is literally pouring off of them all morning long!  But they work with happy hearts and joyful spirits.  Cody led worship for us last night around a camp fire after dinner.  He did a great job. The girls, Christie, Skylar, Marli and Annabelle, helped with an outreach medical clinic to the village of Maloy today.  Among other things, the chief of a neighboring village asked Mike Yordt, who was with them, if he would let him have all three available girls (Christie is already married) for 1,000 cows.  Mike said no, but perhaps a little reluctantly, as 1,000 cows is an outrageous price in Sudan. I have been teaching the pastors, Sabet is translating for me and as ever, he is doing an incredible job.  It is a smaller group this time, but this allows us more time for questions.  They are definitely growing in their understanding of the Word.  On the first day, when they came into class, I asked them, instead of sitting at desks while I teach, to show me how respected men in their culture discuss important things.  They told me that they sit around in a circle on the floor. So, I had them remove the desks from the classroom and we sat on the floor together for a few minutes.  I told them that they are pastors just like me.  I have come to teach them, but they are servants of God too and that we will learn from each other.  As they were getting up to put the desks back, one of the pastors, named Moses, said in Dinka, “You know, Abuna Marial (Pastor Matt), he’s almost a Dinka.”  I think that is probably the best compliment I have ever received!! As ever, the work in the medical clinic goes on.  A woman brought in her baby girl two nights ago.  She also had a baby boy that they took to the witch doctor, but he only got worse and died that night.  Because of this, they finally decided to come to the clinic.  This kind of thing is a regular occurence in a culture that is steeped in animism, or the worship of spirits.  This is part of the reason that the work here is so important.  It is a battle of worldviews, where the gospel of Jesus must be shown to be the true path to spiritual life. This afternoon we went into the city of Tonj to do a basketball outreach.  We had the little kids do drills on the only basketball court for probably 200 miles.  It is a sorry looking court, but we made the best of it.  We even played against a team of young men from the village.  We lost because we are out of shape.  We told everyone to come back tomorrow and bring their friends because we want to do another camp with them, teaching them more and also tell them about the church in the compound and introduce them to Jesus. So, if you have some time today, please pray for our outreach tomorrow.  It will begin at 4:00 pm Sudan time, which will be about 5:00 am your time, Friday morning.  Thanks so much for your prayer. As always, it is a totally different world here.  Everybody on the team is doing extremely well and we have been able to be a blessing to the people from RdR who are now working here full time.  We feel your love and your prayers.  God is good and he is doing amazing things.  Thank you for your support and love.  We will be home soon, so keep praying for us. May God bless you richly today!  You will be hearing from other team members on this blog in the following days. -Pastor Matt