Only one week and two days until my teaching time with the pastors is up! It is crazy how soon this part of my work has gone by. I have already learned a whole lot about teaching and about God’s word. The pastors have been a blessing and they are always encouraging. When I got here, I started in Romans. Then, when I finished Romans, Sabet had to leave to the States and asked me to finish up 1 Corinthians. So then we finished 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, and Galatians. We are currently learning from Ephesians and the usual pace of two or three chapters a day has hit some mud. Today we spent about two and a half hours on Chapter four verses nine through thirty-two. There is just so much to learn from those verses that we couldn’t run through them. This is a New Testament survey, but there is great truth that has practical application and we found the need to talk about it more. We got cultural and lifestyle applications for all the teachings in these verses. It has been great and the pastors commented that it has probably been the best day yet. I agree, I guess God just has a lot to teach us.
Beauty from Ashes by Stephanie Williams
A few months back we had a spell of drama in our community. One of the Episcopal Pastors got a young girl from his congregation pregnant out of wedlock. She was only 15. Her brothers found out when her belly couldn’t be hidden anymore and retaliated by beating the pastor’s brother with a club.
He died in our clinic later that night.
Revenge killing is common in this culture. They don’t kill the offending person but someone close to him. They want to cause the offender as much pain as possible. If you only kill them…they won’t suffer nearly as much.
When there is a revenge killing in this culture, everyone goes into hiding–especially the relatives. Anyone can be victim. Mothers. Cousins. Friends. They try to find a close relative to kill but if they can’t they will take anyone they can find. But there seems to be a rule to all this killing. It must be done within three days.
Pastor Peter, when he learned of his brother’s death, decided to retaliate as well. He (and a friend) couldn’t find any of Rebecca’s brothers within the time limit, so he found an old man from her village and killed him instead. He then ran off with Rebecca without paying the bride price. The whole town was a stir. The church was in shock.
Scandal. Rumors. Gossip.
A few weeks later, Rebecca and Peter were caught and BOTH put in prison.
I asked the locals why they would put HER in prison, as well, since her only sin was getting pregnant. The answer I got surprised me. They explained that it was all her fault since she could have refused him. (! Insert bitter sarcasm here and a few choice words! @%$^#*! This may be one thing I’ll NEVER understand in this culture.)
Fast forward a few months to last night.
Just as I was wrapping up for the day, Rebecca waddled in with her mother. She spent the first few minutes of our conversation on the floor in a strong contraction.
I didn’t recognize her right away.
Slowly, as we talked of contractions and ruptured membranes, did it occur to me this was THAT Rebecca. I couldn’t help but smile inside. Finally, something beautiful was coming out of this chaos and pain.
I checked her into the clinic even though she was only 3 cm along. I wasn’t sure how fast she’d go since this was her first baby. I guessed she’d deliver in the wee hours of the morning. But I was wrong.
She dilated to fully in only 3 hours while laboring almost exclusively on her knees. She pushed like a pro and breathed her baby’s head out! It was amazing!
When she was done, the smile on her face was contagious! She was radiant! What’s more is…she was delighted! It was a joy to see! Beautiful!
So yes, this bouncy baby boy may have started his life in rumors and heartbreak but I don’t think it will end that way. He is the proof of the transgression. But he is also proof of love. The love of his Heavenly Father that knit him together and filled his lungs with air!
My prayer is that he will one day praise Him with those lungs and show the world what forgiveness and grace REALLY looks like!
Pray for Rebecca and her mother Mary…. and of course No-Name-Baby-Boy!
Pray they’ll be accepted in the town they are moving to and have enough to eat.
Pray God will provide all of their needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Emergency by Stacie Larsen
Sunday night, we had just sat down for dinner when Rachel comes running to the dining room asking for one of the doctors. She had been assisting Margaret with a birth and evidently there was an emergency. Dennis ran over to the clinic and I followed him to see if I could help or at least pray for them. When I got there, Dennis was trying to get the newborn to breathe. Apparently, since he came out, he had not taken a proper breath. As he pumped air into the baby’s lungs, I just started praying. “Father, please save this baby.” I felt so bad for the mom who was lying on the bed watching all of this unfold. I went over to her and tried to comfort her with my limited Dinka. Dennis and Rachel took the baby into another room while Margaret and I stayed with the mom, waiting for the placenta. The only thing I could do was keep praying and hand Margaret gauze. George came and took the blood sugar levels of the mom and baby. Both were extremely high. While Margaret was working on the mom, we heard the sweetest sound… a baby crying! We all cheered and thanked God for saving this baby’s life. I am happy to report both mom and baby are doing well.
Amy’s Blog
This time of year in Sudan is beautiful. There has been a lot of rain, so there are green grasses growing, the trees are full and there are lots of little flowers growing everywhere. The other day, I got this picture of a little pink flower growing out of the side of a building. I am amazed at how beauty pushes it’s way through the dingy and the rock hardness of life and displays itself for all to enjoy! Thank you, Lord that your creation doesn’t stop when it hits a road block ( or a building block)!
Amy Yordt
Amy’s Blog – Babies
Hello once again from Tonj!
One of my most favorite things here in Tonj is the babies! I believe Tonj has the absolute cutest babies in the whole world! They usually have chubby cheeks, bright eyes and puffy hair. And most of the babies don’t cry when a crazy, white lady (that is me!) comes up to them and talks to them in English baby voice! The toddlers usually get very afraid. Their eyes get big and they run to their moms and cry! The other day Stacie and I were out on our walk and we came to a family that wanted to say Hi to us. The toddler reached his little hand out to me and I took it and said “Cheebok” (hi, in dinka) and he just started screaming! The funny thing was, he wouldn’t let go of my hand….he just held on and kept screaming until his mom came to get him. I felt so bad, but he was so cute! We see him nearly every day, so he will get used to me sometime.
Please pray for the babies of Tonj. They are so susceptible to malaria and other diseases. We see so many children in the clinic every day. One of my jobs here is to report to the government how many malaria cases of children under 5 we see each week. This week my total was 38. Last week the total was 42. It is heartbreaking to see a small child suffering with a high fever and laboring to breathe in 90 degree weather….and the hot season is still around the corner.
May God richly bless you as you lift these precious lives before Him.
Amy Yordt