Category Archives: Newsletters

October 2023 Newsletter

Medevac Patients!

Thank you for praying for our medevac patients. Our CHE manager was involved in a horrific motorbike accident leaving three people requiring urgent surgery. With no adequate facilities in Juba to handle the type of injuries they had, we decided to send them to Tenwek Mission Hospital in Kenya.

Immediately following the accident

I am so grateful for the body of Christ that works in unity to glorify God and be the hands and feet of Jesus in a crisis. It was wonderful to have so much support from other Christian ministries like Mission Aviation Fellowship for the flights, African Mission Healthcare for logistical support in Kenya, and Tenwek Mission Hospital for their missionaries, surgeons, and staff who took such good care of our patients. Last but not least, YOU, our partners reading this newsletter, stepped up and allowed God to use you by generously giving to this urgent need. All three patients are doing well and should make a full recovery with no long-lasting effects.

A group of men sitting on chairs with crutches
Marko, Yai, and Malim after surgery

Beard Family!

We are excited to have the Beard Family from Australia return to Tonj for the third time! They will be in Tonj for 2 months to help with the upcoming cataract team from Samaritan’s Purse and to organize three youth conferences with CC Tonj Church.

A group of people standing in front of a plane
Beard Family arrives in Tonj

We now serve in four regions including Tonj and we are planning youth conferences in three of these regions, with an estimated attendance of 500 to 1,000 youth per conference. If you feel led to help support this event, please email us. We are hoping to raise $5,000. This is an investment in the next generation of adults in South Sudan. Please pray for a good turnout, for a touch from the Holy Spirit for each youth attending, and for long-lasting impact and transformed lives. This year’s conference theme is “Your Identity in Christ”.

The Beard Family is planning to move their family to South Sudan in April 2024 and serve full-time with IDAT. Ben is a nurse and will serve alongside the IDAT Hospital management team to improve services and design systems to make our hospital more efficient and cost-effective. This is an important role for the continued growth of our Maternal and Pediatric Unit. He will also work with the pastors, teaching and leading as needed. Sarah is gifted administratively, serving in her church back in Australia. She will take on many of my field tasks, like hosting teams, procurement, and field finances, as well as coming alongside our national team and working with the women and youth of CC Tonj. Together they will continue to homeschool their three children, Jonah (10) Seth (8), and Ryelle (5).

Prayer and Praise!

We have a team of four coming to help us with the three youth conferences. They will also go on three medical outreaches, visit a village church, and CHE villages, and attend a multi-church baptism. They will be in Tonj for 10 days. Please pray for them as they prepare to serve, and pray for their health and safety while in South Sudan.

We have been blessed with funds to improve our compound living quarters for missionaries who want to serve. This has enabled us to build and increase our current facilities and host large teams such as the 21-person team from Samaritan’s Purse to perform cataract surgeries. One of the things we need for these large teams is adequate power. The solar team from Offgrid Tech is coming to install new solar, service our hospital solar, repair our hospital generator, teach off-road driving to some inexperienced drivers, install solar water heaters and a water pump, and various other projects that need attention. We hope they can visit the new school and design a solar system for the bible school and church.

Praise God the roof is on the Tonj Bible Institute

Pray the school will be completed before December and pray for the Samaritan’s Purse cataract team.

“May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.” Psalm 20:4

September 2023 Newsletter

Food Shortage!

I am so grateful that for the past four years, In Deed and Truth Ministries has been able to step in and bless the Tonj community with food whenever there is a shortage. Food insecurity in South Sudan affects more than half the 12 million population. Can you imagine in America or Europe, 1 in 10 people being severely malnourished and being a child under 10? This is a reality in South Sudan and something our ministry sees every day.

A few of men sitting on the ground with bags of rice
People coming to IDAT Hospital for Food

Jesus wept over Jerusalem. I have spent many nights weeping over Tonj, and over South Sudan. Oh LORD, the poverty, hunger, sickness, oppression, insecurity, and suffering? In Deed and Truth as a Christian ministry has a responsibility to bring Light and Hope to such darkness and desperation. A little compassion and love go a long way toward transforming hearts to follow Jesus.

A stack of rice sacks
IDAT Distributes Food

Watching people suffer spiritual poverty is the hardest of all. LORD, fill our cups to overflowing with compassion, give us the boldness to share the ONLY solution to this World crisis, which is faith in Jesus Christ.

Tonj Bible Institute!

The Bible school is progressing nicely and I wanted to share a few photo’s of the six week period from mid-July when we started building to the end of August. Our prayer is the school will be completed by the end of October. We will have our fourth 11-day Pastoral Ministry Diploma intensive class at the end of November, so we are hoping to have it all set up and ready before then.

Construction progress from foundation to half of the walls
Top: July 16th – Bottom: July 28th
Construction progress to full walls
Top: August 7th – Bottom: August 21st
Construction progress to full walls
Top: August 28th – Bottom: September 4th

Testimony from CC Tonj!

Calvary Chapel Tonj Senior Pastor, Mabior Bona Bol, received a phone call from one of his congregation, Agoth Anyuon. He told Mabior that a noise of stones was being thrown on his metal roof at night, every night for 2 weeks. They would go outside but no one was outside, but the noise continued. All the neighbors could see this problem and how much it was disturbing everyone, no one could explain it and they were afraid so they decided to call the church to come and pray.

A group of people being lead in prayer.
Mabior praying over the house & neighbors

Ps. Mabior came with several church members every day for one week and prayed over the house and with the neighbors. He himself witnessed the stone-throwing while he was there. But on the fourth day, as Mabior was sharing the gospel, there was a spiritual breakthrough and 44 people repented and gave their lives to Jesus. They continued to visit every day but after that breakthrough, the noise completely stopped! This is a great reminder that this world is not our home. Don’t get too comfortable! We have an enemy roaming like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

August 2023 Newsletter

Team Building!

What does it take to lead a ministry? As In Deed and Truth Ministries (IDAT) has grown ten-fold in the last few years, it has become evident we need spiritually grounded indigenous Christian leaders to carry this ministry into the future. It is our responsibility as missionaries, to prepare others for ministry, to lead through service, and to mold and shape our experiences to develop responsible and dedicated disciples. Developing leaders is so rewarding and training them to do what we do, better than we do it, is our goal for the survival and health of the ongoing mission. Working hard now to make ourselves dispensable in the future is our highest priority. Developing faith in promising young adults who can, in time, lead this mission.

2 Timothy 2:2 says, “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”

Leaders in Training

Our core leadership team, pastors and senior medical team took a few days to reflect on the mission and vision of IDAT and to build each other up in the Lord.

IDAT Core Leadership Team

The Vision!

The mission of In Deed and Truth Ministries came from John’s exhortation in 1 John 3:16-18 to lay down our lives and love others – following Christ’s example by helping the poorest of the poor in South Sudan and bringing the hope of the Gospel through good Deeds and God’s Truth.

The vision of In Deed and Truth Ministries is to empower nationals to relieve poverty and bring hope, one household at a time.

In practice, our medical team are now leading two medical outreaches a week to CHE villages that can not easily access our hospital. They see over 150 patients at every outreach. If missionaries are available they will also attend but these outreaches happen regardless and pastors will set up a counseling and prayer station at every outreach.

Medical Outreach to the CHE Village of Liitic

Our prayer and vision is to one day have a small PHCU (Primary Health Care Unit) in every CHE village (we are currently in 59 villages) medically staffed to treat the 10 most common ailments, referring more complicated cases to our hospital. We estimate the cost to build one of these units about $10,000 and the cost to equip it with staff and medicine another $10,000 per year. Imagine a Church plant and PHCU in every village lead by our national pastors and medical teams! That is the vision of In Deed and Truth. Our Christ-centered, community development program called CHE, is already paving the way to make this a reality. If you feel the Lord is stirring you to be a part of this vision, maybe to leave a legacy in one of these villages and build a PHCU in your family’s name or in memory of a loved one, then contact me about partnering with IDAT.

Investment in Training!

IDAT has prioritized investing in educating our future leaders and equipping them for the ministry. We currently have 1 medical doctor, 2 clinical officers, 2 midwives, 1 nurse, 1 HR manager, 1 ultrasound technician, 1 x-ray technician and 1 lab technician in school. In addition to this we have 20 of our 45 IDAT pastors taking a diploma class in Pastoral Ministry! This month they completed their third of five sessions towards that diploma.

Pastors in Training

In addition to our 20 pastors being trained by Intensive Care Ministries, our own Senior Pastor Mabior Bona Bol invests his time for 3 days every month training all 45 pastors.

Pastor Mabior Training 45 IDAT Pastors

If you are looking for a way to get involved and to partner with IDAT and make a difference, then prayerfully consider sponsoring one of these pastors.

https://pastors.indeedandtruth.org/

Suzy with the IDAT Pastors

July 2023 Newsletter

Church Planting Ministry!

In Deed and Truth Ministries is a church planting ministry that planted our first ‘mother’ church over 20 years ago. The most effective way to reach people with the Gospel is through church planting. Today, Calvary Chapel Tonj is a vibrant church of 1,200 people with 34 ‘baby’ churches planted in our CHE villages around Tonj South and Tonj East. These churches have brought reconciliation and peace and transformed entire communities. As our CHE program has expanded rapidly (it’s now in 59 villages), and CHE’s are sharing health and spiritual lessons door to door, we found there were new believers putting their trust in Jesus but with no church in their villages, they were wandering like sheep without a shepherd. Through CHE we formed bible listening groups for these new believers and then sent our pastors to help them establish a church. This method worked until we started to have so many church plants we didn’t have enough trained pastors to cover them. We have been praying the Lord would bring more laborers for His harvest and He has answered that prayer and raised up men from within these communities. These men are called by God, they love Jesus and want to represent Him with the message of hope and salvation. Today we have 35 church plants and 45 pastors!

A large group of local followers gathered for church service.
Church plant in the CHE village of Kuor-Ager

As we appointed these men of faith to oversee our new churches, we knew their greatest need was for pastoral ministry training. We are blessed to have our Senior Pastor Mabior Bona Bol, a gifted and powerful preacher at CC Tonj, gather these men every month for accountability, fellowship and pastoral training.

Rows of men sit listening to the Instructor.
Pastor Mabior training the pastors

The real need is for deeper bible study and understanding. This need is what compelled us to pray and ask God to give us a bible school. Since May 2022 we have partnered with Intensive Care Ministries in training 20 of these pastors at a deeper level, working towards a diploma in Pastoral Ministry. This is a program we want for all our pastors to go through. They also have a certificate class for any person feeling called to serve in ministry. As you can see from the photo, space to teach and train has been a challenge. Our desire is to be equipped to run these classes in the future for years to come. At the end of last year, we launched the plan to build Tonj Bible Institute and through your generous donations we have started to construct our school.

Plan for Bible School and Dorms

This building project will take approximately three months. Every brick has to be made, so we started making bricks by faith in April!

Workers pulling the tarpaulin off of the bricks for the new building.
Bricks for the Bible School

We already had land to build on where our church is, so in June we broke ground and started digging the foundations.

Men sitting on the side of the trenches dug for the bible school foundation.
The beginning of Tonj Bible Institute

God has given us this amazing opportunity to work with Him and partner with Him in this ministry. He has given us the foundation of Jesus Christ to build this ministry on and He is the master builder, creating beauty out of dust.

“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:9-11

We’ll keep you updated on the progress over the next few months. The official opening ceremony will be in early December. If anyone would like to attend, please contact us for details.

  • Prayer point – As God’s fellow workers would you prayerfully consider helping us support these 45 pastors? We have set up a website and each pastor is available for sponsorship. For as little as $25 a month you can partner with these men of God and their calling.  https://pastors.indeedandtruth.org/

June 2023 Newsletter

Container Blessings!

Every other year we have filled a container with supplies for our mission hospital, CHE program, churches, compound and missionaries in South Sudan. I say ‘we’ because it really has been a team effort from passionate ministry partners, wanting to invest eternally in something worthwhile. Some of us get to be ‘hands on’ in the field but for many of you that is not possible and helping us fill and send this container to Africa was a way for you to participate in the work the Lord is doing in Tonj.

IDAT Container Being Shipped to Tonj

We asked for help and you guys gave joyfully and generously to this Kingdom need. From bibles to baby blankets, funds to buy medical equipment, new solar for the compound, chairs and benches for the growing church, it is an amazing gift of love, poured out from obedient hearts towards our loving Savior. We are blessed beyond measure and I am confident He will reward each one of you in abundance for the help you have given us.

Unpacking the 40’ High Cube Container

Every chair will be diligently prayed over for the people who might sit on it each Sunday in church. Every baby blanket will be prayed over that it reaches the right family in need. Every bible will be prayed over that it will fall into the hands of someone that will open it and read the life changing words. It’s exciting to receive these gifts but more so to see how the Lord will use them to launch new projects, and new hearts, and new ministry opportunities for growth and change.

And thank you for covering this container in prayer. It left USA a little later than we planned in early March, risking being caught up in the rainy season if there were any delay. It arrived on time in Mombasa port in Kenya. It cleared the customs and moved through Uganda to the South Sudan border. We had exemption papers filed which saved us $$$’s on import duty. In fact, the container sailed seamlessly to South Sudan and I mentioned to a friend how unusual that was!! There’s ALWAYS warfare when shipping a container for the Lord. After all, it’s full of blessings that will be used to further HIS Kingdom. This container was no exception, the very next day the battle began. The driver stopped moving and the transporter wanted more money, refusing to take the container another step!! We convinced him to go to Juba but after that, regardless of the negotiations, they flatly refused to drive to Tonj. It’s important in these moments of ‘crisis’ to remember the battle belongs to the Lord and we need to ask Him for help when the situation is overwhelming. Truthfully, we didn’t know what to do as we had paid the USA Broker in full. So we cried out to the Lord and He heard our cry.

“O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to You for help.”
2 Chronicles 20:12

After being stuck one week in Juba, the broker agreed to cover the cost of moving the container to another truck and paying for it to go to Tonj. Our field director, Albino Dut stayed with the container for the entire ordeal and arranged for a crane to lift it and for a second transporter and security to take it to Tonj. Praising Him for His faithfulness to answer our cry for help and safely delivering our container from USA to South Sudan!

Sudan Conflict!

The conflict between two generals in Sudan has escalated to critical levels, creating a lot of fear in the East African region and  causing more than 150,000 South Sudanese to flee the capital of Khartoum in the North. North and South Sudan were one and the same country until 2011, but many South Sudanese continue to live in the North due to South Sudan’s instability, which has seen two civil wars breakout in the past 12 years.  Evacuations out of Khartoum have been chaotic, with no food or water for days.

South Sudanese Residents Flee Khartoum

The concern now is how will South Sudan cope with this influx of people crossing the border when 75% of the country is also dependent on humanitarian aid. The rainy season will only make this situation more difficult for those evacuating to keep moving and for organizations to reach them with adequate aid.  South Sudan’s own peace agreement is fragile and with an election planned for 2024, we are praying this conflict in the North will be resolved quickly. If it continues it will have a serious impact on civilian lives from both North and South Sudan and a devastating economic impact on the South.

Please pray for peace in the North to be restored and all neighboring countries to Sudan to assist the best way they can. Pray that God will give IDAT wisdom and resources to support those returning from the conflict areas to Tonj. Pray for South Sudan as we head into another season of food shortage and flooding.