Now that I've been back for a few days and have started to adjust a bit, I wanted to send out an update telling about some of the amazing things that happened while we were in South Sudan. While we were there I had Very limited internet access, and when I was able to get on I had to pay for it so that made it hard to tell some of the amazing ways that God moved. I did mention some of them, but here are more details! So here ya go!
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| My Family/Glory Team! |
1. Crazy favor on outreach:
-It was insane the amount of favor we were shown. When we first arrived at the airport, we were somehow able to check more bags than we should have been allowed for free. We were also able to check overweight bags with no additional cost. This not only worked on American Airlines to get us to London, but it also worked on Kenya Airways going from London to Juba. It was crazy. There was no way we should have been allowed that, yet we were shown crazy favor.
-When we got to South Sudan, we were picked up by a range rover-like vehicle and rode for 4 1/2 hours from Juba to Yei. Along the way, we only had one bag fall off of the top, which was a tent. We noticed it in time and were able to retrieve it. Where the favor comes in, is that it got dark with about an hour and a half left in our drive. From everything we were told; you don't drive at night in S. Sudan. Besides that, we were going almost 50 mph on a road that you probably should drive no more than 20-25mph on. Bumps galore, yet somehow no other bags fell off of the top. Nothing. When we got to Yei and "untied" our bags from the top, there was no way that they should have stayed on. Super sketchy.
-The Lord totally hooked us up with free rides on a helicopter with the UN. We really learned that you never know what will happen if you simply ask a question. Crazy favor in getting hooked up with the ride because that meant that we didn't have to do that long drive again, and we didn't have to pay for it either. Such a blessing.
2. God really taught us what He will do if we are simply obedient:
-There were several times where big things happened simply because of a simply act of obedience. There was one day where Luke and I were walking down the street and we felt like we should pray for a guy with a limp. We prayed that he would be healed and it totally changed his attitude knowing that someone cared about him and wanted to see him well instead of just looking the other way. That led to someone else coming up and asking us to pray for him and his leg. We did so and again, it seemed like it made a difference in his day. We then had another man run up to us (we hadn't taken 5 steps yet) and ask us to pray for his stomach ulcers. After we prayed for him he said it was better! We thought it was cool, but were a little skeptical. We ran into him a week later and he was freaking out because he still had no pain in his stomach! It was something that he had been living with for quite some time. He was seriously healed of it. His life was seriously completely changed because of a simple prompting from the Lord and He completely healed him! It wasn't anything of our power, it wasn't anything to give us credit, it was simply Him doing something huge in someone's life. That's the kind of God he is. He cares about what we're going through, and wants to see us through it. Whatever way that means, He cares.
-There were several times throughout outreach that one of us would feel that little nudge to go talk to someone. This is incredibly scary almost every time you do it. As soon as that nudge is felt there are a million and one reasons that come to mind on why it probably isn't from God and why you shouldn't have to do it. Usually, those are a million and one reasons why it is from Him. The lives that were changed from this are insane. Alcoholics gave up drinking. There was someone who, after we were done talking with him, told us he was about to go do "something very bad that he would probably regret" completely changed. So crazy. Simple, affectionate based obedience to the Lord has more power than is given credit to it. What does that look like back home? I'm no expert, but I'd say simply listening to that little nudge that tells me to smile at that stranger, or pay for that random person's lunch, or ask that friend how they are truly doing, not just surface level doing. Showing people that they matter and they are worth my time is one of the most powerful tools that I can ever use to love on people.
-There were three of us on the team that had gone through the Justice Water training back in Kona. We really felt it on our hearts to bless the base with a water catchment tank. We were able to teach how to do it, and we even made two tanks! They are about 3000 Liter tanks that will collect rain water so that there is perfectly clean drinking water through the rainy season and part of the dry season! 3. Insane, Crazy, Awesome "important" people met on outreach:
-I believe it was the first weekend we were there (a lot of them run together when I think back to them) we went to church. It was ridiculously long. Probably about 4 hours or so. Crazy. Afterwards we were told that we were going to go do a house visit to someone and meet him. We were excited, very excited. The next thing we know we are walking through a little village of mud huts and we come up on this huge fence and a big house. This house was a house much like the ones we have in America. They open the gate and we meet several people. Turns out that we were sitting in the house of a General from the South Sudanese army. Insane. We got to sit with him for quite a while enjoying drinks and just hearing what he had to say on several things. Crazy. A couple on our team got words for him from the Lord and we were able to love on him. So crazy.
-Speaker of the House of parliament. Crazy. We were doing a "youth camp" (In S. Sudan 'youth' means anyone age 45 and under...) in Panyana. One day, while the 3 guys were playing soccer with the "youth" one of the girls came up and told us we had to go because there was a government official there. We got back to the village, disgusting from playing barefoot on a dirt field, and found out we were meeting with the Speaker of the House. He was from that area, so he was back home for a visit and we got to sit and talk with him and enjoy drinks with him too! It was crazy because it wasn't an 'official' meeting with an official, so it wasn't all business talk. We were in his home and able to talk with him about a ton of stuff and just get to know him, not his title. So good!
-World Vision. There was one day where Luke, Melodie and I felt like we were supposed to go to the world vision compound and pray for people. We rolled up to the security gate and told the security guard that exact thing. Some how, by the grace of God, he let us through. There's no way he should have done that. 3 kids rolled up to the booth and said that the Lord told us to go there so he should let us in, then he did! Crazy! We ended up meeting the coordinator of water and malaria for world vision South Sudan. We were able to teach him the water training that we had done in Kona and he said he was going to use it because it is so simple and so inexpensive! We also were able to meet the Christian Commitment Coordinator for World Vision South Sudan. It was so insane how that simple act of obedience in stepping out to do something crazy produced so much fruit. God is so good!
-Kathy. She started an organization called CCC (Confident Children out of Conflict) which goes into the slums and takes girls that have been physically/sexually/emotionally/any other kind of abused and brings them up in a new environment. Most of these girls were working as prostitutes (even as pre-teens) or in brothels. Kathy would bring them to the compound and teach them how to live life as girls, not as objects. Since they were in this disgusting trade from a very young age, it's all that they know. They think that all they are worth is what men want to do to them. Kathy teaches them their value and how to be people. It is an absolutely amazing organization. What she is doing to restore the lives of these girls is absolutely amazing. I fell in love with the kids there. They would all call the girls "auntie" and the guys "uncle." I feel like I left a bit of my heart there with them in S. Sudan. Amazing girls that are seriously going to grow up and be the voice of change for the nation.
-Other people we met:
---The Commissioner of Morobo County (head of a county. almost equivalent to a governor here in the states.)
---Minister of Water for the South Sudan Government
---Arch Decon of the Anglican church in the Morobo County
4. Some fun/crazy/awesome stories/memories/quotes:
It wouldn't be a complete recap if I didn't mention some of the craziness that happened there!
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| (Left to Right) Emannuel, Sharon, Samson. |
-There was one day where I was taking a break and editing some pictures back on the YWAM base in Yei. I was sitting with one of the older boys (about 13 years old) and the little kids were messing with me. I was starting to get annoyed a little bit because I was exhausted and just needed a break. Samuel (the 13 year old) yelled something in arabic and the kids all ran out screaming. I asked him what he said and he told me that they tell the little kids that white people will eat them if they mess with them. It's like a new version of the boogey man. It was hilarious! Poor kids thought I was going to eat them!-Melodie (one of the girls on my team) and I seemed to share just about every single awkward experience that could ever happen. Anything that could happen, did happen. Bathroom stories, awkward conversation stories, etc. We experienced it all. Oh man, how close you get as a team when you live together for 3 months.
-There used to be a cat that was on base. I use the term "used" for a reason. One day, it went missing. We were wondering what happened to it so we asked our translator. He denied knowing anything about it. We then asked him "Santos, did you kill the cat?!" He said "No, I did not kill the cat..." We then asked him if someone else killed the cat. He said "I cannot answer these difficult questions." We all laughed, then asked him if we ate the cat. He answered "You Americans with your tricky questions. I cannot answer them!" The best part about it is that he spoke perfect English, so he understood exactly what we were saying. He was just messing with us because Tara (another one of the girls on our team) is obsessed with cats. It was hilarious.
-Driving to church one day, we passed a run down shack that was a shop. On the front it had written "Lord, Bless my enemies before you bless me." Wow. What a concept. That absolutely rocked me when I read it and has stuck with me ever since. What if I applied that mindset to everything I do? What if that was my outlook on life? So crazy. So counter cultural. Especially to see it in a nation that was super war torn. Crazy. Absolutely rocked me.
-The stars above South Sudan are absolutely amazing. There are very little city lights, so you can see everything. As you can see above, it is beautiful...
Obviously, there are so many more stories of things that happened. This would be the longest post ever if I were to share all of them. I'm working on getting more stories out there. I'm still working on processing all of it and sharing the memories. Some of them are extremely hard to share. I saw some stuff there that are hard to cope with, but I know that with time I will be able to talk about all of them. Since I got home, I'm realizing how much I fell in love with South Sudan. One day I will be back there. I absolutely love it and I love the people there.
All of these memories are strait up to show how amazing God is. None of them would have happened if it wasn't for him. He actually cares about me and my team. He actually cares about the people of South Sudan. He actually cares about each and every one of you that are reading this right now. That's the kind of God he is, and it blows my mind to think about that.
Until next time,
Salaam (peace)
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