Pastor Training

A Blessing from the Lord

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all [men], especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” – Galatians 6:7-10

We first met Jeff and Christine Stanfield at a visit to Tenwek Mission Hospital in 2011. They are seasoned missionaries with years of experience in the mission field serving with World Gospel Mission. They left their home in Kenya shortly after our visit and they now serve as Assistant Country Directors for WGM in Uganda. We were so excited to hear they would be joining the Simply The Story and team CHE Training of Trainers in Tonj.

The Kuj family with Jeff and Christine Stanfield

It’s true – you reap what you sow. Jeff and Christine sowed to please the Holy Spirit and made an eternal impact in Tonj. They really encouraged us as a team not to give up, even though we have been serving in the same way for years, even if no one notices, even if people take advantage and criticize, even when you feel it’s not making a difference. Just be faithful and keep planting, the harvest will come. They know firsthand what it takes to go the long haul. Jeff was impressed how simple life was for us in Tonj, uncomplicated, not submerged in modern technology but still effective, focused on the gospel and not on the gadgets!!!

Christine Bible Storying
Christine Bible Storying

They are both gifted teachers and everyone enjoyed their interaction. Christine served in the Nurse Training School at Tenwek and easily jumped into our Saturday training of our own nurse assistants. We are praying they can be back in August to help with a new CHE class and further nurse training. They were a blessing from the Lord washing over us with encouragement and lifting our spirits.

Jeff and Local Pastors learning Simply The Story
Jeff and Local Pastors learning STS
Pastor Training

Effective for Christ

Written by Pastor Kibe

Pastor Kibe sharing a story

Paul told the church of Corinth 1 Cor 9:26, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air.” Considering this scripture in light of ministers of the gospel, I think that a lot needs to be done to improve our effectiveness in soul winning and discipleship.  As I look and pray concerning South Sudan I tend to see that one of the greatest need for the church is to have the pastors and the teachers of the word equipped properly to have them carry on the work of Christ effectively. In Deed and Truth Ministries has been training pastors from Tonj and Rumbek. Last week we had Pastor Billy from Uganda come and teach STS (Simply The Story), the art of story telling as a way of passing the Word of God. Since the majority of the congregation cannot read or write, story telling is one of the beautiful concept that the pastors can use to teach the word.

Pastor Billy Teaches STS

As the seminar went on, it was just beautiful to fellowship with the pastors and church leaders and see how eager they were in learning. I was really encouraged to see one of the participants called Peter, who is 16 years old, eager to learn the story telling concept. Our prayer is that as they go back to their homes they will continue to use this method to teach the word.  The Lord Jesus said in Luke 12:48, ”For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more”. We would urge you too who are partners with us in Christ calling to pray for them.

Newsletters

March 2013 Newsletter

2 Comments

Church in the Bush

Pastor Santino’s Church in Maloney

We always feel close to the Lord when we are outdoors enjoying his amazing creation and worshipping Him. In South Sudan, it is very easy to be worshipping the Lord ‘in church’ but actually be outside! Many churches are a group of people in a village gathering and praying under a tree. Four of our five church plants are in small villages with just humble clearings and the shade of a tree to give relief from the relentless heat and protection from the scorching sun.

It started with a burden for ‘Maloney’ where we have been conducting medical outreaches for the past three years. He recently moved to Maloney, which is not his home, and began sharing the gospel with the local community. As there was no church, he picked a tree and started praying and preaching on Sunday. Soon people started to gather to hear what he was saying and they stayed! As Santino taught the Word of God people listened and came back for more, week after week, totaling now over 70 people. What is so awesome is he used what he learned through our Community Health Evangelism to mobilize the church community to take ownership of their place of worship. Together they gathered sticks and made a fence around the tree and also benches to sit. Without the motivation of money or goods, this is not easy to accomplish.

Santino prayed and used what he learned and today he is so proud of his church in Maloney. And we are so proud of him, his trust in Jesus as Savior and the Holy Spirit to be his guide.

Pastor Santino’s Church in Maloney

Once a week our medical team goes to Maloney to serve the community. Kingdom Assignment Sudan (KAS), a ministry from Australia partnered with us and funded the building of a small medical clinic. Until recently we always held our medical outreaches under a tree but this year we have been able to start seeing patients in the new clinic. Despite the heat of the midday sun, over one hundred people still come out to see Dr. Tom and receive healing. Peter, our community health worker in Maloney and Pastor Santino, keep the community informed of the medical outreaches and notify us if there are any serious cases needing immediate attention. Santino always shares a gospel message with waiting patients and invites them to his church. He has shown the Jesus film three times in the cattle camps and
local school.

This month we are hosting a team of missionaries from Uganda to lead us in Simply the Story (STS) training. This is a wonderful method to use here in Africa, where story-telling is a part of everyday life. Our pastors are trained in using this method and Santino has three elders in his church that are going to be trained. The other church plants also have raised up people to be trained and our
graduated pastors are all sending people from their villages. We are excited to host 30-40 people for this event.

We also are hosting the fourth and final Training of Trainers (TOT) for Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Each trainer has a committee in their village that selects Community Health Evangelists and then oversees their service to the community. We are excited to see this program get into full swing in the villages. Pastor Santino and Peter Malok are TOT’s serving the community of Maloney.
As CHE expands, we are looking for one year interns to help with the follow-up of the CHE’s and TOT’s in the villages and assist Pastor Kibe with the church plants.

“Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!”
– 1 Chronicles 4:10

Prayer Requests!

  • Pray for Agums’ visa, we still have no news from the embassy.
  • Pray for the STS and CHE teams to be effective in communicating and teaching.
  • Pray for Pastor Santino and his church to grow in knowledge and be a light in the community.
  • Pray for Peter Malok (est. age 26) as he begins his final exams to complete high school.
  • Pray for our team as we juggle the needs of our medical clinic with the medical needs in Maloney.
  • Pray for medical cover for Dr. Tom for 2 months in the summer, so he can take his annual leave.

We are blessed to be part of the Kingdom Work. Please prayerfully consider partnering with us financially to further the territory for Jesus Christ.

Kuj Family, Ministry, Pastor Training

A Visit from the Coppedges

It was a joy to host the Coppedge family, missionaries from Arua, Uganda, for a new story telling training.  Billy has visited us many times but only came with his wife and 2 oldest children once, over 2 years ago.  Since then they have added twin girls to their family and it was our pleasure to have them all come for a short visit.  For them as a family to engage in ministry together was also special.

Our kids asked us for days leading up to the visit WHEN would they arrive!  We don’t get a lot of  ‘young’ visitors, so this was an all round special time for both families.  We really thank God for this family, for enduring despite the hard work to pack up four young children for a trip into the bush and for being willing to go wherever the Lord sends them.

Billy was a facilitator for the Simply The Story training through Mango Ministries and World Gospel Mission.

Ministry

CHE Community Visits

Written by Whitney Smith

Lurchuk Team with Whitney

The last two weeks have been very busy but very exciting. I was able to visit all of our CHE trainers in their communities, and I can’t tell you how encouraged I was to see their progress in their communities and in their homes. Now, the basic structure of a CHE program is this:

Facilitators will lead a series of Training of Trainers (TOTs). There are 4 of these TOTs, each a week long, and spaced out every few months, with specific homework assignments for the trainers after each TOT. These trainers help to create awareness in their communities about CHE and how it can be used to bring about wholistic transformation. They do small-scale projects to encourage the community, and help them realize what they can achieve when they work together, even without any outside help. After the 3rd TOT, the trainers help the community to select a committee. The trainers will train this committee in how to run a CHE program. The committee will select what topics to teach to the community, and also decide what community-wide projects should be done to bring change and transformation. Then, the committee will select CHEs (Community Health Evangelists), who will lead home groups, where they teach physical and spiritual lessons that can be easily implemented and shared, thus multiplying the impact throughout the community. The Trainers are also the ones to train the CHEs. One of the greatest benefits of this structure is that a community really feels ownership of this program, thus, they are empowered knowing their development lies in their own hands with God’s help. They feel confident that they do in fact have the resources, both in materials and people, to see their communities grow and become healthy in every way – physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, socially.

Our current trainers, who are eleven in number and span 5 different communities, have now completed 3 TOTs, and are gearing up for the fourth March 11-15. In one community, Lurchuk, we visited the home of trainer Athunta, where she lives with her 4 boys. She was keeping her home very clean and even using a tippy-tap! She and fellow trainer David have started training their committee and have already covered 14 lessons since January 7th! The committee is really motivated it seems. This community is about 3 hours from Tonj by car, and there is no phone network there. Despite the fact that these two trainers have been so disconnected from the rest of us, they have still maintained so much momentum for seeking God’s change in their community and helped to spur on others as well! I’m so proud of them!

Would you pray for our trainers and our team of facilitators as we prepare for the last TOT? We know that the real power to transform comes only from God. Join us in seeking his transformative power in the lives of our CHE trainers and their communities!

Athuntas Tippy Tap

News From The Field