Love Never Fails!

Today was my turn to lead devotion and as always God’s timing is perfect.  I shared my testimony of being delivered from demon possession.  I had been brought up in the church and baptized as a child but spoke how this had no power and was a false hope.   The Pastors here at the school were being taught this very weak about true baptism.

There were many babies today in the clinic with malaria.  Every day the people come, waiting for many hours often walking many hours.  Wounds are bandaged, medicine given, with opportunities to smile opening the door to why we are here, to bring the Good News of our Savior, to tell them about Jesus who many have never heard about.  To know a God who loves them with a dying love, so strong it was willing to suffer for them, die for them to bring Salvation for them.

Many people suffer here, especially the woman.  I was asked to come to the clinic and speak and pray with a woman who had been beaten with a stick by her blind husband.   She was so badly wounded she was unable to eat for 4 days, keeping nothing down and now she had been brought here in great pain.  I had no words to say to her but I came knowing Jesus did.  I waited while they tried to find an interpreter and held her hand, looking into her eyes.  Eyes that had no hope, a depth of pain I knew that came from being hurt and abused by people who shouldn’t but should be protecting you.

I heard Jesus tell me He would interpret and began telling her that there was a God who loved her and the hope that was available to her about God’s Kingdom and heaven.  I prayed and trusted Jesus was having her understand.  Peter came to interpret and I told her about Jesus, who had also been beaten for us and died but had beaten death and risen again.  He wanted to offer her life that continued after the body died.  But she needed to forgive to receive forgiveness.  God wanted her to have His pure love.  He wanted her to know the hope she had and she didn’t reject anything I said.

But her nephew who had brought her wanted to take her to the next village 70 miles away.  They were going to wedge her between two men on a motor cycle.  It seemed hard to believe she would survive the trip.

The courage of this woman was amazing.  My heart was filled with desiring to honor her and give her dignity.  I knew God was going to honor her in His Kingdom.  We have been saved by virtue and glory (2 Peter 1) for worth and glory.  I felt later Jesus told me this woman had died and was with Him now.  1 Corinthians 13 – Love never fails, it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, love is the greatest.

Leo’s Blog!

Children Running

Hello from another magnificent day the Lord has blessed us with in Tonj. Today we had a full day, which started even before the day began.

Josephine and I had such a powerful time of prayer with an overwhelming  burden for the people of this town and for Suzy and Sabet in the wee small hours of the morning. The war is won or lost in prayer, and it was amazing how the day developed.

It started with combined morning devotion with the Pastors and the In Deed and Truth staff. It was such a blessing to have Josephine lead a time of worship, followed by a devotion based on Matthew 26:31-46.

Then Dave was off working on a roof structure, Kristina, Natasha and Kristi were off to work in the clinic, Josephine and Emily to the Pharmacy, and I was off to teach the Pastors. It was such a blessing for all of us to be able to serve in this wonderful place alongside people who have truly died to self, forsaken all and wholeheartedly walked after Jesus.

In the afternoon, Suzy held her first women’s bible study after a long break, hosting 4 women from the town, of who had walked a considerable distance. All the women in the team participated, with another powerful time of worship, and culminating in a time of laboring in prayer. I was off to repair some of the Solar Fridges, and Dave Drown took the last lesson, studying through the book of Nehemiah in a session full of passion which truly ignited the pastors.

And then, we went off on our first outreach of our time here at a nearby tribal village with the Bongo tribe. This was amazing, with some children coming out of the bushes, seemingly from nowhere, having heard we were going to have a special night, and were running after our Landcruiser. We set up in a little clearing (which the tribe had prepared) with a screen tied between two poles, set up our PA, and preceded to minster to nearly 100 people in the middle of seemingly deserted grasslands. Josephine led a number of songs of worship; I got to share a message about the prodigal son, the team sung a few children’s songs, and then showed the Jesus Film in the Dinka language.

It has been such an unbelievable time here. We have all developed such a love for the people here. The Sudanese are truly a special people that God loves deeply, and we need to reach them all for the kingdoms sake. To see the work that Suzy and Sabet have established and continue to develop is a marvelous testimony to the power of Jesus Christ. To God be the Glory, the Great things He has done.

Josephine Leading Worship at Jesus Film Outreach

We have arrived!!

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

 

Our Time in Tonj (Carlos and Ted)

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!

 

 

Final Blog!

Construction of New Medical Clinic Building

Hello everyone,

 

It’s our last night in Tonj! Can’t believe our African adventure is drawing to a close.

Today after the girls worked in the medical clinic and the boys worked with the pastors, something really fun happened: we heard our chartered MAF plane fly overhead!! We all cheered when the plane went by because first, it was loaded with MUCH needed medical supplies and personal items (and a team of two new short-term American missionaries) and second… well, you don’t hear many planes flying overhead in Tonj, so you cheer when something like that happens!!

After greeting our friends, we began unloading and unpacking the huge number of boxes and action packers that had arrived. It was like Christmas morning as we ripped open the boxes: Amoxicillin! Multivitamins! Paracetomol! The clinic pharmacy’s drug stash has been running on fumes for days, so it was awesome to know that the meds would now be replenished.

Another exciting event happened today: the guys erected the first trusses on the NEW medical clinic building! Wow, what a milestone event for the compound. It’s exciting to walk around the area where the rest of the clinic will be built. God is going to do BIG things here!

Well… since this is our team’s final blog, we wanted to briefly share some of our trip highlights:

–Hearing “Yar!” (Stacie) and “Maquay!” (Mike) as we stepped out of the plane in Tonj. We were also greeted by a crowd of 50-75 smiling faces cheering “Cheebak!! Cheebak!!” And yes, who could forget Mark (one of the long-term American missionaries currently at the compound) standing there in his BVDs with cow dung ashes on his face (like those from the cattle camp) and doing an African victory dance!?

–Tiffany’s Florence Nightengale effect on the male wound care patients… just ask her about her numerous marriage proposals, especially from one eager patient who had to return day after day to get his dressings changed!

–For Alicia and Sheena: the great honor of helping to deliver a baby… on their first day in the clinic! (P.S. No other babies born at the clinic since then! Guess that was our one and only one all week).

–For Tim and Mike: the privilege of teaching the pastors about the Old Testament… and of course answering their thought-provoking questions.

–At our outreach events, laughing with the kids (and their parents) as we taught them the hand movements to our various silly praise songs.

–Hearing (and pretending to understand and sing along!) African praise songs during morning devotions and at church.

–For Sheena and Alicia: Jumping, dancing and singing in the dark with 2 dozen African kids while at an outreach. We didn’t know exactly what they were saying, but it was clear they were praising God!

–At morning devotion time, being challenged by fellow teammates to follow Christ with all our hearts.

–The two snakes. Enough said.

–For Alicia: the privilege of sharing her testimony and giving the Gospel presentation to a local tribe.

–Watching the Jesus film (in Dinka) on a makeshift outdoor screen, in two different remote African villages, surrounded by 100-200 locals wearing glow sticks as bracelets!

–Trying to sleep while donkeys brayed, people shouted outside, people drove by playing LOUD Arabic disco music, local dogs had vicious nightly brawls, the Army marched outside doing practice drills and chants, cows mooed, people played their drums, howling animals of some sort, and of course, one extremely obnoxious rooster repeatedly crowed his obnoxious chant (and NOT just at the sunrise).

–Of course, the crazy Indiana Jones-ish three hour ride (each way) to the Cuibet outreach and all our adventures (and conversation) on our journey.

–Sitting down at breakfast, lunch and dinner to a yummy meal cooked by the one and only Huggins! Let’s just say there may be starvation in Africa, but no one on our team starved while here!!

–The almost daily rainstorms (sometimes with lightening and thunder!) which deliciously cooled off the compound’s sweltering heat at night (usually…)

–Sharing our rooms with uninvited guests (lizards, frogs, bats, rats, spiders, spiders and more spiders). Alicia and Tim alone counted 35 Daddy Longlegs spiders in their room one night, and those were only the ones they could see!).

And of course, the great honor of sharing Christ with our words and our actions each day.

We look forward to telling you more stories when we see you in person!!

In God’s Service, Mike, Amy, Tim, Alicia, Tiffany, Sheena and Stacie

P.S. Don’t forget that we’re leaving two of our team members behind here

–Stacie and Sheena! They still covet your prayers… and will have even MORE Sudan stories to tell when they return! Thanks for remembering to pray for them!

News From The Field