Southern Sudan celebrated it’s official seperation and freedom from the North on July 9th. What an amazing event to witness and celebrate alongside those we serve daily.
After decades of war and more than two million lives lost, southern Sudan has arrived at the moment it has been yearning for, independence.
Here are photo’s from Saturday’s festivities!!
On the eve of the celebrations for independence we are celebrating outreach we are doing in partnership with the Mashariki Afrika Sports Leadership School. Their ministry uses soccor to reach youth all over Africa with the gospel and it also helps them grow into Godly leaders, confident in their Christian faith. We are blessed to have them serve alongside us in Tonj and bring such an awesome outreach to the youth during the celebration. Please pray for Walter, Frankline and Sabet as they lead this workshop. Please pray for the outreaches to be effective with eternal fruit. Pray for the youth, especially the potential 20 leaders in training that are coming daily, that they will listen, learn and surrender their lives and will to the Lord.
Today we had another horrendous storm. It was right over our heads when suddenly with a loud bang we realized it had hit something close to the compound. Sure enough a little grass hut on the other side of our fence was struck, killing instantly the lady inside and burning the house to the ground. Sabet and Albino went to the house to offer assistance, people were afraid to approach as they have many suerstitions. This provided Sabet an opportunity to share with the neighbors and family and pray for them all. As Albino drove the body to the family’s village the daughter of the victim shared her desire to go to the witchdoctor to understand what had really happened. Albino shared with her the gospel and explained about God being the creator of all, even lightning and can give and take life when He chooses. We are not to fear but to be ready to meet Him. He prayed for her to be ready. Pray she comes to church on Sunday.
For those of you serving a church in ministry you know how difficult it can be to get the ‘rest’ you need on Sunday, so an alternative Sabbath must be observed. The Lord said in Exodus chapter 20,
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
I love this because the Lord Himself is commanding us to take rest. Many times the ministry needs are overwhelming and we often feel like who can afford to take rest when there is so much to do? This is exactly what satan wants us to feel, guilty! But God calls it Holy. How can something be wrong when the Lord calls it Holy?
Our family has started to make observing the Sabbath a priority by celebrating it every week. We start on Saturday making as much advance preparation as possible for Sunday so we can rest as soon as church has ended. On Saturday night we celebrate the start of the Sabbath with a special dinner that prepares our hearts for Sunday and morning worship. The kids love this and really enjoyed preparing the table and making everything so special. Our most precious guest is Jesus, we sing, pray, read scripture and enjoy each other in the Lord.
Last Sunday after church we drove to Rumbek to collect our visitors but decided to take a few days there to ‘rest’ as a family. This allowed us some quality time together at a lodge where the kids could swim in the pool and just relax and have fun.
We really thank our heavenly Father for loving us so deeply and caring for us in such special ways and providing for us the rest we need.
Some friendships are fleeting and some are lasting. True friendships are glued together with bonds of loyalty and commitment, they remain intact depite changing external circumstances. Jesus, He is the perfect constant friend that promises to never leave us or forsake us. It is important to remember that when you are in such a remote place like Tonj and deep and meaningful friendships are hard to find or far away. Having such a friend visit is a true joy to our hearts and a lifts our spirits.
“A friend is always loyal and a brother is born to help in time of need.” Proverbs 17:17
Today we got to receive one of our dearest friends, Dena Ennis to Sudan. She has been to Sudan many times but it is her first visit to Tonj, though she has been a faithful partner to our ministry and friend to our family, serving both selflessly for years. Dena blessed us with her wisdom and encouragemet at our ladies retreat back in December in Kenya. We are excited to see how the Lord will use her during this trip to help us in celebrating the South’s independance from the North. Please pray for her time here, for her to stay healthy, safe and effective for His work.
