The Macleods Return!

Steve and Larne Wilson arrived along with the Macleod family and Jono’s youngest brother Anthony. All are from New Zealand and we are excited for the vision the Lord has given us for this next year of serving together in South Sudan.

Churches Adopt CHE!

CHE (Community Health Evangelism) is a big topic on our agenda and the Macleods really want to be involved in helping that program to keep going in the villages. We have 10 CHE centers around the Tonj area and we are praying for 10 supporting churches to each ‘adopt’ a center and commit to pray for our CHE program in that village. As we link our partnering churches with these villages our hope is that they can visit, get involved, train CHE’s and make key relationships on the ground building on those relationships year after year. Our team will spend the next few months collecting data from the clinic patients about the challenges and needs the community are facing in their homes as well as recording which villages do not have churches etc. This will help us determine the direction our CHE program should go and the areas we should reach out to first. From there we plan to start with three villages that we believe the Lord will clearly show us. We are planning a Training of Trainers (TOT1) 5 day workshop for our entire South Sudan team and if you’d be interested in learning more about CHE, attending a TOT1 training and receiving your TOT1 certificate we welcome you to join us. You can contact us for info.

God is Working Here!

Meet Yar Achol and her son Chol. Our pastors met her in the clinic when she came out of total desperation.

She had visited over 10 witch-doctors to get healing for her son, of which none worked and she run out of things to sell, so the Lord brought her to our clinic. Our doctors suspect the child has hydrocephalus. Surgery is not available in South Sudan and without it he may die. We shared with Achol about Jesus and she believes He brought her to us. After much counsel she decided to ask Jesus to be her Savior. Since praying the child has not had any seizures which were a regular occurrence. She said she now has peace and is not afraid of what will happen to Chol.

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” – Psalm 46:10

The Container Arrived!

PRAISE GOD! The much awaited container has finally arrived safely in Tonj. It was a troubled journey, starting with port strikes in Los Angeles, corrupt customs control in Kenya, more delays at the Uganda border waiting for calculations and payments of import duty to South Sudan and then it was in storage for the past nine months in Juba due to the rainy season, poor road conditions and erupting insecurity. It finally left as part of a UN convoy to ensure added safety on the road for the shipping company.

It arrived here in Tonj the last week of February things damaged and missing but most of the important items made it to us. We are so grateful to everyone who donated items for our house, the medical clinic and for the compound. As we unpack we are praising God for each item and thanking Him for the person that gave it.

“It is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.’” – Luke 4:8

It is interesting to me that our family has not been able to return to South Sudan and the entire time we have been ‘stuck’ in USA, our house in South Sudan was ‘stuck’ between building phases, mostly due to insecurity. With the containers arrival we can now complete the final phase of building and when our family returns we will have a ‘new’ home to move into.

Clinic Testimony!

Eight months ago, in the middle of the night, Angelina Arop walked an hour, breathing though every contraction, just as she had been shown during her pre-natal check-ups. This time it wasn’t a rehearsal, she was in full labor and hoping to make it to In Deed and Truth Ministries’ medical clinic. Our professional medical team were ready for her and after much encouragement and prayer, Angelina safely delivered her baby girl, Adut. Clinic chaplain, Pastor Judah prayed with her and shared with her about trusting her child in the Lord’s care. He reminded her to get vaccinated and to bring the child to us and not a witchdoctor should she have any health concerns.

Recently, Angelina noticed a deformity in her child and on seeing one of our community health workers (CHW) in the market, she asked him about it. CHW Emmanuel Akol encouraged her to bring the baby to the medical clinic. Dr. Tom, clinical officer Simon and Snr. Nurse Annie, who assisted in her delivery, checked Adut and all agreed she needed an immediate surgery. The government hospital has recently started performing surgeries in Tonj and were able to help her. The surgery was successful and she returned to our clinic a week later to thank God for his protection. She explained she would have gone to the witchdoctor a year ago but now she trusted Jesus, and asked him to be her Savior!!

Suzy Going to Africa!

When I said goodbye to Sabet in August I had no idea it would be months before our family would be together again. After another lengthy phone call to immigration with the same “your case is under review”, I chose to officially become a Floridian! We can no longer put our lives on hold, our ministry needs are demanding our input and attention. So until Agum has her citizenship, we will commute as necessary to South Sudan. This April, I will be going to Tonj to see my husband, welcome a new family joining us for 6 months and possibly longer, spend time with the Macleod family and plan for their next term, work on reconciling the Africa book keeping, Lord willing spend time with Sabet’s mum and the children, find two full-time carers for the children, write profiles for each child and look for committed long term sponsors, sort through the container and give some input on finishing our house. It’s a lot of ‘stuff’ to do in only 4 weeks, so I am taking some helpers, my daughter Hannah (she’s so excited and I’m so proud that she has worked hard to raise her own support) and Rosa Ewing, who has recently joined our ministry stateside, and has a desire to understand all areas of our work so she can better serve the ministry. Please be in prayer for our trip, for security in country, for our health, for Jed and Agum as they remain in Florida and for all we need to accomplish in a short time.

Dr. Tom’s Back!

The people of Tonj are rejoicing that Dr. Tom is back! Oh, how they have missed the ‘kawaja’ cycling along the dirt road. Patients missed his silly jokes, villagers missed chasing him on his bike and coworkers feel like their family member returned home.

It is a testimony to our Lord Jesus that even though we treat our patients with modern medicine and have trained doctors on hand we also completely rely on Him and his healing power. Our clinic is limited in lab testing and equipment and asking for wisdom when making a diagnosis is critical.  Offering prayer and counsel is an important part of our treatment and we have our trained chaplains on hand to share with every patient. The alternative is for them to go to the local witchdoctor so we take seriously the opportunity to present the gospel message to them. Many of our patients come from villages several hours walk away and their visit might be the only chance to assess them physically and spiritually. From each visit we get a picture of what is happening out in the villages; food or water shortages, outbreaks, and if they have a church. This information can help us determine the best place to do our next CHE (Community Health Evangelism).

The Jesus Film!

Pastor Santino is one of our trained chaplains and He uses the Jesus film to make God’s Word come alive, especially in the villages where people are more isolated and there is a high rate of illiteracy. During the Christmas break Pastor Santino took the responsibility to reach out to an area we had never been to before. It was directly after counseling a patient in our clinic that had come from that region. He showed the Jesus film in nine places; three of them were markets, three homes and three churches. An astounding total of 4,161 people watched the Jesus film and 426 of them responded to the invitation to receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

With security in our area getting worse, there are a lot of hostilities between clans in the villages around our town. God is faithfully using our pastors to meet the lost souls in the villages where a lot of these clashes begin.

One man was completely transformed after watching the Jesus film and sharing his heart with Pastor Santino, who counseled him and prayed with him. He confessed he wanted a peaceful life but all he has known is fighting and retaliation, never had he heard a message of love, grace and forgiveness.  To be accepted by Jesus brought this man to his knees and he laid down his weapons long with his heart.

Security Update!

“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” – James 1:27

The BIG question we keep hearing, “Is peace possible in South Sudan?”

Last August there was a peace signing between the rebel leader and a reluctant President after pressure from the international community.  Recently in January, South Sudan’s president dissolved the nation’s 10 states and created 28 new states! This left the country very tense as people tried to work within these new systems. Now the President has announced that his former vice-president, who he fired in 2013 and was leading the rebels, has been reappointed as his First Vice President. They seem committed to the peace treaty but it is still early days. The government army continues to be accused of attacking opposition bases in violation of the permanent ceasefire agreement.

This constant insecurity does make our mission work harder but it also opens the door to share with people who have a need for true peace, which we know can only to be found in Jesus Himself. Opportunity surrounds us and that is exciting. This is our prayer: Pray, the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matt. 9:38).

An Amazing Year!

On behalf of In Deed and Truth Ministries’ staff, missionaries and board members, we would like to sincerely thank you for helping us serve the people of Tonj, South Sudan in 2015. We are so grateful for your prayers and financial gifts and can’t thank you enough for your ongoing support.

As we closed 2015 our team celebrated a fantastic year together with a Christmas party for the staff.

Let’s give the rightful praise to our Lord Jesus for all we accomplished in 2015, here’s a quick reminder of how the Lord used us in partnership with you: 25 remote villages watched the Jesus film, reaching thousands of people; 15 village churches trained in oral bible storying; 1 church was planted; medical and spiritual care of over 10,000 children under the age of five and their families; maternal health and spiritual care of over 5,000 pregnant women; assisting in the healthy birth of 145 babies; five students in medical school training to be Clinical Officers; 1 medical student in nursing school; amazing testimonies of God’s miraculous healing; hundreds of decisions for Christ; protection and safety of our team and staff in a country where security’s unpredictable; provision for our family and ministry needs.

A New Year!

We are so excited to get started in 2016 with all the Lord has in store for us. Our first priority is to complete the new medical clinic building which needs about $25,000 to finish the interior. We would love to get that opened and operating this year, please be praying for that.

Community Health Evangelism (CHE) has changed the way we minister in the villages. It promotes Christ-centered development by involving and training the people to identify assets, choose wisely, implement plans and use their local resources, which in turn avoids unhealthy dependency. In 2016 we are praying about implementing CHE in 2 new villages and strengthening and renewing training in the existing villages. Pray for us to have wisdom as we put together a plan that involves our missionaries, pastors, CHE’s and partnering churches/visitors.

Jono and Destinee have used the past 18 months to medically train our Community Health Workers (CHW’s) in preparation for further study. In 2016 we will continue to support the 5 medical students in Kenya and add two more students to training. Pictured are Akol, who will be sent to nursing school for further training and Emmanuel, who is starting a 3 year pharmacy course.

A New Hope!

It is always good to reflect on what the Lord has accomplished, where He is leading us and who we are in light of who HE is!

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the LORD and not for men, knowing that from the LORD you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the LORD Jesus Christ.” – Colossians 3:23-24

We continue to be humbled and amazed by what the LORD can do through the obedient hearts of HIS children. As we partner together in 2016 we ask for continued prayers for our family, our team, our staff, our pastors, pray for protection in the field, unity, Agum’s immigration process. Pray for God to go before us every day and that He would give us opportunities to share His love with those we encounter and give us His heart for the people we serve. May He strengthen and use us for His honor and glory. May He provide for our needs above and beyond what we have asked Him for and may we be faithful stewards of all He entrusts to us.

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” – Numbers 6:24–26

Christmas greetings from all our team both in USA and South Sudan! We want to say a huge thank you for not only touching our lives with your continued love and support of our family but also the love you have poured out on those we serve in South Sudan. Thank you for praying for us and for encouraging us with your notes, calls and emails. We are blessed to have you part of our support team.

This year has been a challenging one for our family as we have been working stateside while securing Agum’s US citizenship and Sabet has spent more than 6 months apart from us, mostly due to caring for his mother’s health needs. Many of you have provided words of encouragement and hope and helped us to keep our focus on the Lord and His plans during this time. It’s because of these prayers our family and ministry are both doing so well. The Lord has raised up remarkable Godly men from within to serve in areas we are not able to and we are now witnessing and enjoying the fruit of years of prayers and labor. Several of you have labored with us, over the years, for these souls that are now serving the Lord in South Sudan. Your touch on our lives has been extended to touch and change these lives for eternity. It has been our greatest privilege to be used in this way.

2015 seemed to go by so quickly and yet here we are making preparations to celebrate the wonder and splendor of our Savior’s birth. It’s my favorite time of year so I don’t mind entering this season again when the last celebration feels like yesterday!! As soon as Christmas passes we are heading to California to attend the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference in Murrieta starting on January 4th. We are so excited to have this opportunity as a family to see our friends and church family in California! The Lord knows if Sabet will be able to join us and that is our prayer and our hope.

Every day in South Sudan is hard; it’s hot, there are scorpions and snakes, deadly diseases, poor quality of all basic, essential needs, like; medical, water, food, education, jobs, transport, housing, electricity, communication and security. These are things we take for granted every single day and yet considered a privileged lifestyle by South Sudanese living in extreme poverty. This year you chose to join hands with us and with our brothers and sisters of South Sudan. Your contribution both prayerfully and financially directly impacted their lives and allowed us to continue in the calling the Lord has placed on us. We are humbled and blessed by your generosity and love.

2016 for South Sudan looks bleak with continued conflict devastating the country’s progress and threatening the world’s worst food crisis to date. It is going to be a tough year ahead but our family and our team are ready for the battle. We are committed to the calling and to the ministry’s success and impact on the ground. We are looking forward to returning as a family to Tonj. We are excited to begin Community Health Evangelism across the villages and to move into our new clinic building. We can’t wait to have our first ‘home-grown’ South Sudanese missionary (not including Sabet) graduate from medical school and serve in the clinic. Our pastors have done a fabulous job ministering to patients and pastoring our church plants. We have much to reflect on and much to look forward to. We hope you will join hands with us for another year of service to the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.

We wish you and your family joy and peace this Christmas!