Teaching Sunday is seen as a hard task especially here in Sudan because you must have a translator. Here we have a very committed and God fearing young man called Donato Ng’oang. He translates for us every single Sunday, by doing this he is able to learn more about the Bible Stories .You must have a heart for the kids and also a burden. We usually have more boys than girls in the class.
Here women are denied their rights, a girls education is not as valued as the boys. Here in Southern Sudan they pay certain amount of cows for dowry. Something interesting I learned 2 days ago is that the more educated a girl is, her chances of getting a husband is lessened as well has how many cows will be paid for her dowry to her parents. That is a good reason for them not to educate a girl. They believe the more educated they are the more they will argue with their husbands and also they make decisions instead of their husbands.
I have found it a blessing teaching these children with love and joy. It really blesses my heart to see how they need to know more about God. Every week we usually have 60-80 children. They are good listeners and learning more about God each week. Those who are able to answer questions we give them presents and this encourages them to have courage to raise their hands and answer questions about the Bible Story.
Children are so important in our Community and we should appreciate them always and not value one more than the other. Jesus shows a good example to us when people brought the little children to him, His disciples tried to hinder them but Jesus said to them;
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” – Mark 10:14
God bless you.
(by Esther who is teaching the Sunday School children and helping in the compound)
It was on a Monday evening when Kiir Mayen (7 years) was brought to our clinic by his parents. The boy had two Hernias in both sides. The boy had to spent the night in the clinic so as to prepare him for surgery the following day. This is because he had to fast for at least six hours for the surgery to be performed. Albino our compound manager together with our medical staffs went and prayed together with the boy and his parents.
The Surgeon said he got supported and said it was a joy to work with the team. The boy was brought back to our clinic and after an hour he was awake. Today in the Morning I went to see him and and he is doing much better. The mother(Abak Akuar) said that she is glad that her son is getting better. I ask her if she knows Jesus of which she replied she doesn’t know anything about God. I encouraged her, shared shortly about God. She accepted Jesus as her personal savior and told me she is Going to share with her husband finally I prayed for them. Lets continue to pray for healing for this boy, and for Abak who gave her life to Jesus and also for her husband to accept Christ.
We (Sabet and Suzy) chose to spend Christmas in Kenya this year to give our family some 1181much needed ‘down time’. This was our first Christmas away from Tonj in three years, which was hard for us to do as we love spending Christmas in Sudan also. But family needs had to come first and with so much time apart this last 6 months we knew we needed to reconnect and spend time away from our compound and work. As it was a last minute decision, we were blessed by Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) who diverted a charter airplane to collect our family from Tonj. Africa Inland Mission (AIM) were also kind to offer us a four bedroom furnished home used for their own missionaries in transition. This has been an amazing blessing for our children especially. We’ve had a wonderful time of fellowship with friends, our church family here and have been able to join in all the Christmas church activities. Attending the candlelight carol concert with a picnic was very fun! But being able to go to church Christmas Eve and Day was awesome. We baked cookies for MAF and AIM and thanked them for their sacrificial service to missionaries like us living in the bush. Without these support services we could not survive each day in Sudan. Christmas Day was a joy to entertain 12 people by hosting a dinner for missionary friends also working in Sudan. December 30th we celebrated Hannah’s 10th Birthday (pictured) by spending a day swimming in a pool. She then had a double party with her old friends (one whom also turned 10). New Year was relaxed with Kenyan friends sipping chai, eating baked potatoes and worshipping the Lord around the bonfire. We are so thankful for this time of refreshment and fellowship. We are so thankful for each one of you for being a blessing and joy in our life.
It was great to come back home to my family after many weeks away in the USA. The trip was a success; I connected with supporting churches, home fellowships and many individual ministry partners. In addition to the San Diego and Tonj prayer walks, it was a great blessing to be joined this year by Eastgate Christian Fellowship in Florida (pictured) who hosted their own prayer walk. This has been our prayer that the burden of raising support for this ministry would be shared by those around us. Thank you everyone who walked, prayed and supported this annual event. There is a light shining in South Sudan for Jesus Christ as a result of In Deed and Truth Ministries being there, thank you for continuing this journey with us and walking this path.
We have been encouraged to get feedback from the Tonj community how praying for patients in our medical clinic has blessed them as much as receiving the free medicine. Even the government officials have acknowledged and praised the extra mile we go for each of our patients. This has really encouraged our staff, who serve diligently around the clock to bring the hope and love of Jesus Christ into their medical surrounding. One story that stood out is about Mary Wenglay. Her mother and uncle openly practiced witchcraft and always turned to it whenever Mary or her siblings were sick. Earlier this year Mary’s younger brother died after the family refused him medical help and practiced witchcraft on him. Mary was hit hard emotionally by the death of her younger brother. After some time the other brother got sick and again her mother and uncle insisted in witchcraft rituals. Mary decided to do whatever it takes to get her brother to our medical clinic. There she heard the gospel and met with one of our pastors. She prayed with him and asked Jesus to be her personal Savior. What she heard totally transformed her life from that moment on. Her brother made a complete recovery after receiving treatment and medicine. One of our pastors visiting Mary’s village called Kwanyria heard her testimony and started praying with her for her mother and uncle’s salvation. Many of the villagers were curious at Mary’s transformation and Pastor Joseph felt the Lord telling him to ‘have church’ under a tree. Many villagers now come to church on Sunday and Mary’s mother has turned from witchcraft and asked Jesus to be her Savior and both her and Mary have been baptized. The Lord used this young lady’s faith to reach an entire village with the Gospel. This new church is very grateful for what the Lord has done through Mary (pictured far right in blue with the church) and through the IDAT Medical Clinic to bring them this church in their village. It is our greatest challenge to direct new believers to churches when they come from remote villages that have not heard the gospel but we can clearly see God at work despite these difficulties. As our community health evangelists (CHE) continue in training we are excited for villages such as Kwanyria to be impacted by this program that will provide follow up care and support both spiritually and physically to new believers.