Dear family & friends,

Let me begin by saying we are all safe and sound and praising God for the grace He has poured out in our lives the last few days!  We’re in AFRICA!  It still feels surreal, but part of that may be due to jet lag:) During our first flight from San Diego to Seattle, Leo & his 12-year-old daughter Emily shared the gospel with a young woman named Pavla.  After explaining what it means to have a genuine relationship with Jesus, Pavla realized she didn’t really know God and prayed to receive Christ! She left the plane full of joy!  The rest of our 26 hour journey went smoothly, and we arrived in Nairobi late Saturday evening.  Our team member, David Brown, had arrived the day before and was at the airport to greet us with smiles and warm hugs.  We spent the night at Mayfield Missionary Guest House and enjoyed a good night’s rest under mosquito nets:)  Sunday was the most amazing day…seriously!  It worked out so beautifully to be able to visit my (Kristina) good friend, Francis Ngugi, who is a local pastor in a community just outside Nairobi called Limiru.  My dad’s church (Calvary Chapel Johnson City) has been supporting his ministry for the past five years, and it was such a blessing to come and see the great work that God is doing in and through Pastor Francis.  We drove through lush green hillsides and farmland, watching people walk to church in their Sunday best, on our way to Limiru. He greeted me like a long-awaited sister.  The congregation at Sword of the Spirit Bible Church welcomed us as honored guests and showed us so much love, it was overwhelming.  First, Josephine Schmidt led us in a powerful time of worship, and the church worship team also led us in a time of praise “African style”–so full of joy and passion and dancing!  Then, Leo had the blessing of sharing the message from 1 Corinthians 15, with Francis serving as his translator.  The Word was well received, and we were all challenged and encouraged to testify of Christ’s death & resurrection.  David also shared a powerful testimony of how Jesus transformed his life and has made him a new creature!  It was really cool to hear the message being spoken in two different languages!  The service was 4 hours, and every minute was beautiful!  We need to learn how to worship like the church in Kenya! Francis and his family invited us to their apartment for a delicious Kenyan feast and we spent the whole afternoon having sweet fellowship.  It is a precious gift to worship alongside and experience the love of Christ with brothers and sisters on the other side of the world.  Our hearts our truly knit with theirs through the blood of Jesus!  Our time in Kenya was so annointed, and we feel privileged to have begun our time in Africa with such an outpouring of God’s love.  

      The next step of our adventure began this morning with a five hour flight to Tonj, Sudan, where we will be spending the next 16 days serving with In Deed & Truth Ministries.   Our MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship) cargo plane touched down on the dirt airstrip of Tonj, stirring up a cloud of dust and attracting a large crowd of curious onlookers.  The Dinka children were the first to approach us cautiously with shy smiles and extended hands.  Their ebony skin is beautiful, making their smiles contrast brilliantly. Suzy and Sabet were their to greet us along with all the native pastors at the training school, singing & chanting as they drove up!  Africa is different from any place I have ever been.  In short time I have been here, I have seen the signs of struggle and suffering that many people face on a daily basis.  Life is hard here, making the hope of the gospel a very present reality.  Please continue to pray for us as we begin a full schedule of working in the clinic, teaching in the pastor’s school, going on outreaches, and serving the Kuj family at the compound.  God is SO good, and His love endures forever!   “For I will pour on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.” Isaiah 44:3    WE LOVE YOU!!   

Love,

Kristina, Leo, Josephine, Natasha, Emily, Kristi, and David

As we wrap up our week in Tonj, we have mixed feelings—the expectation of reunion with family back home while looking back on a week filled with tremendous blessing (and some trials).  It was Carlos’s first time to Tonj to see the work that God is doing through In Deed and Truth.  It was my third time to Tonj, second with Sabet and Suzy.  There are too many things to highlight:

• laboring with the staff on the new clinic construction and seeing real progress (that is good in Sudan),
• seeing the pastors’ eyes and hearts come alive as some point of scripture or Biblical principle is explained,
• hearing the explosion of joyous laughter from the leper community as we attempted to perform a bull dance, getting a blessing from the elder of that community
• feeling the breeze through Sabet’s mother’s bedroom and seeing the smile on her face after installing a small vent in her ceiling,
• the “slow” moments of sitting and talking with the staff from Kenya and Ugandan, the US volunteers, and the Kujs, hearing their dreams, their struggles, their resolve in Christ, and joining with them in a night of prayer and worship (with roasted marshmallows)
• sensing the prayers and support from those back “home”, 
• mourning for the passing of a young girl who was too far gone with malaria
• praying for and with a young man who was shot in a dispute but assisted by the caring nurse and doctor
• seeing the staff savor some of the food items that we were able to resupply,
• searching and exploring the Word with Carlos and young Mark (from Calif) until the generator ran out of fuel and the lights went out…
• worshipping the Lord with the Sudanese, Americans, Kenyans, and Ugandas on the Lord’s Day service in the compound.

We came to serve but were served.  We came to teach and were taught in ways unimaginable.  We hoped to bless but were blessed far beyond what we could ask or think.  Thank you, Lord for your love for us, the mission here, and the people of Tonj.  Thank you Lord for the privilege of coming here.  Thank you, Sabet, Suzy, staff (here and stateside) for facilitating our short mission!

Hi, this is Majok (pronounced Ma-Joke) writing today (Tim to those of you back home). This trip has been amazing to say the least! It’s been a real joy and honor for me and I know the rest of the team to be serving alongside Sabet and Suzy for the short time we’re here.

Yesterday we had to deal with our first snake in the compound. One of the cooks, Mary, noticed it crawling around and then the hunt was on because it had made its way through the area where the generator is kept and between the brush and fence. Elizabeth, one of the other cooks, grabbed a bamboo pole that was on the ground and beat the snot out of it! Sabet then picked it up with another pole and threw it over the fence where Mike was waiting with a machete and chopped at its head a few times to make sure it was really dead. We then spent the next couple minutes taking pictures and trying to figure out what kind of snake it was. Some of the guys from Uganda working in the compound said they didn’t know what kind of snake it was but that it was indeed poisonous. Praise the Lord no one was bitten!

We then made a two and a half hour journey to a town called Ciubet (pronounced Tribet),which was down a very bumpy dirt road to sing with the kids, share the wordless book, hand out gifts and show the Jesus film. Sabet had never taken a team there before so it was an honor to go. Along the way, we came upon a herd of cattle completely blocking the road, being escorted by three men with AK-47s. Alicia was in the front seat and asked Sabet if it was OK to take a picture. Sabet gave the OK, but when Alicia took the picture, one of the guys got very angry and began shouting in Dinka and pointing at her. Sabet quickly jumped out and went around to talk to them about it. The men were asking, “Why is she taking a picture of my gun?” and Sabet calmly assured them over and over, “She’s just taking a picture of the cows. They are beautiful cows.” Finally the men backed down and let us pass. Alicia’s camera was hidden for the rest of the journey!

We had just arrived when storm clouds started to pour in and it looked as though we weren’t going to be able to do all we had planned. It started to pour rain and thunder, so we sought shelter in the church building they are still constructing. There we handed out the gifts and sung songs. When we finished the weather had cleared up enough to show the Jesus film, which was in the Dinka language (Yeah Jesus!). While the men constructed the screen for the projector, the little kids began singing African praise songs and were doing dances and a few of the Khwaja (the word for whities like me) women joined in. Although it was pitch black out, it was really neat to see all the Sudanese people pour in to watch the movie. We left about 30 minutes into the movie to head back as others stayed behind to help clean up after the movie was over.

Imagine our entire team sitting in the SUV as Sabet drives us back down this bumpy dark road in the middle of the African bush. We thought it would be a good idea to keep everyone talking by asking questions and Stacie starts the questions with, “Has anyone ever been kidnapped?”. Ummmm……not really the question to ask while we’re on this lonely road at night. So Sabet tells us about the time he and a couple other men were carjacked and kidnapped in Kenya. As we’re driving along and he’s wrapping up his story we have another van come up quickly on us from behind. Sabet sped up to keep us from being hit. It was a very scary moment. The driver finally went around but it scared the snot out of all of us! Sabet kept his eye on the driver in front of us and said he wanted to keep them in eye sight in case they decided to stop and let off some passengers who would then jump out of the bush and rob us. Nice! The other thing that happened, as we were still pretty far from the compound, was the car stalled for some reason as we went over a large bump. Sabet repeatedly tried to start the car again and it sounded like it wouldn’t start. Finally it started and we were off again. Mike asked shortly after this, “So….who just peed their pants when the car wouldn’t start up?”. So that’s when we prayed and kept the questions going! We ran across several other animals on the road, including a dead large puff adder. What an adventure! It turns out we made it home safely (thank you God!) and learned a lot of interesting things about each other. What was said in the van stays in the van! J

Alicia and I had the pleasure of leading the church in worship and I had the pleasure of giving the message today. It wasn’t a long message but the point I was trying to get across was the importance of being in the Word daily. We’re called to be ready to speak about God at all times, whether we’re a pastor or just an average Christian. This has been impressed upon my heart more and more as I’m here and especially during my times teaching the pastors. They only have a basic understanding of the scripture, yet they are asking very deep questions about the Word. Questions I’ll have to take back and research to get an answer. You can see that they really want to understand it more so they can go lead their churches more effectively back home. It humbled me and challenges me to be in the Word more when I’m at home. 

I think that’s it for now. We start our journey home next Tuesday, so please continue to keep us in your prayers. Also continue to pray for Sheena and Stacie who will be here longer.

In Christ,

Majok

Alicia and Sheena with Newborn They Helped Deliver

Hi everyone!

Today was a very busy day. It was our first day in the clinic. We started off our day with devotions with the staff. Alicia spoke about God being concerned about our inner beauty and challenged us to find out ways to develop that in our lives. It was really good and and it was just the message I needed to hear. Then we all went our different ways.

The guys went to teach in the pastors school in the morning and then worked on tearing off the grass roof on one of the store rooms. Eventually they will be putting a tin roof on it. Tiffany and Sheena went straight to work on wound care, Alicia went to work with the moms and babies, Amy went to work in the pharmacy and I had to do triage. I was so nervous. I don’t know one thing about triage. At first I couldn’t find anyone to show me the routine and I felt helpless. People were waiting to be assessed so they could receive treatment.

Finally, a translator came to help me. We went over to the patients who had already been given a number. Mondays are busy so we had a lot of people. There must have been over 75 people to treat. We first went through the line looking for emergencies (people laying on the ground, open wounds) and then sent those people to the front of the line. The we went around again and I took the temperature of all the kids. Anything above 38 degrees Celsius is considered a fever. I had around 7 kids who had a fever. One child had a temperature of 41, which is frighteningly high. He was also struggling to breathe. It turns out he had malaria and pneumonia.

After two hours, the triage was done. I was apprehensive at first. I wasn’t sure if people were going to be mad at me for pulling others to the front of the line. However, no one was. I think they are just grateful for the help. It was fun to get to interact with the people and make them laugh. Of course they all laughed at me when I tried to speak Dinka. Some of the kids were scared of me. I don’t know if that was because I am white or because I had a thermometer in my hand. Both probably. Most kids I could make smile.

Once I was done with triage, I helped Amy and Peter in the pharmacy. Around 1:00 we broke for lunch. During lunch, Sheena and Alicia helped deliver a baby. It was so exciting. Hopefully I’ll get to do that at some point during the year. After lunch, we continued to work until all the patients had been seen. Once we were finished, Tiffany, Sheena and I worked on organizing a store room full of medical supplies. We didn’t get a lot done, but we got a good start.

It was a very tiring, but productive day. It was neat to work in the clinic and see how  Sabet’s and Suzy ministry blesses the people here. Many lives are saved due to the work they do. John-Paul, the clinic doctor is amazing. He is so patient and kind to everyone. No matter how many patients he has to see, he loves each one and gives them all the time they need. He is my example of Jesus here in Sudan.