God is close to the brokenhearted

 

HUMOROUS HAPPENINGS:

When we make the 10 minute walk to and from home and the classroom, the children (and adults) yell “Kawaga,  (which means white person) how are you?!” They say it over and over even if we answer back, they ask again. They also say,

“How are you, I’m fine thank you” (with out ANY pause).

“How are you my phlegm?” 

“Good morning teacher” (in the afternoon)

“How are you my father”

"What is my name"

“I’m fine” (with out us asking or saying hello).

It is obvious that they have NO idea what any of the phrases mean. Yesterday, as I was walking, a boy wandered out of his hut then saw me, his face lit up and he slammed open the door and yelled INSIDE “How are you?! How are you?! How are you?! How are you?!” It was then that I realized that they have come to understand that the phrase, “How are you?” is OUR NAME or who we are. We are the “How are yous?!”

There is a slight rat infestation in our house, and their favorite place at night is my bed. Luckily, after 1 week, I have gotten a bed frame (which I am spoiled to have). I have discovered that these rats are catching cockroaches from the latrine, bringing them into my room, and chomping on them under my bed at night.   

WEEK 3- FATHER HEART OF GOD, FORGIVENESS, & INNER HEALING

God is teaching us all as staff to be very flexible with what God wants to do with us. On the Friday before week 3 began, we learned that our speaker would not make it so we quickly prepared to substitute teach for this topic. This week is always a pivotal point in every DTS so we were really praying that God would minister to the students because we could not prepare adequately in our own strength. God was faithful to minister to the students and share the love of God. Many of these students do not have a good father (or father at all) and families have been left broken because of the war. Through these three topics, God ministered to all the students. I am so proud of how far they have come. They have been hurt so badly and had such traumatic experiences, but many have chosen to forgive people in their life that have hurt them. I can’t help but be inspired my them and their ability to forgive when God touches their hearts with His love. It is true that God is near the brokenhearted and heals them. God is so good!

WEEK 4- HOLY SPIRIT & WORSHIP

This week, our students seem to really be grasping what is being taught. I would say that this week, we are noticing the most growth in the students. They were slow to open up the past few weeks, but there is so much more interaction in class and understanding. Through discussion, I can really tell that they are discovering that worship is not just singing songs, but worship is what comes out of the heart. Also, as we keep repeating and enforcing the truths taught the previous weeks, they are also beginning to really understand and take them to heart.

CLASS-ROOM CHALLENGES

A challenge that we have that we realize more and more is language. Most of the time, we teach in English and it is translated into Arabic. The problem is, there are several different dialects of Arabic. The Arabic that our translator speaks is “Classical Arabic” which is the equivalent of Shakespeare for English speakers. Now, if you think that is bad enough, Arabic is the second language of the students so they are not fully fluent in it and they speak different dialects. On top of that, the translator misses words in English and can not catch all of what we say. So, by the time the message gets to the students, they really can not understand most of what is taught. We have just realized how big a problem this is. We were thinking that the students were just very slow, but in reality, we are speaking in all foreign languages and expect them to understand and answer questions.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Continue to pray for unity between us as staff. The devil is really trying to tear us apart as a school and is bringing discouragement, frustration, and apathy.
• Pray for our students with the challenge of Arabic. Pray we could find another good translator so that language is no longer a barrier in their learning.
• Pray for provision. Money for food as well as materials so that we can build on our property. Also pray that we could find the right people that can give us the materials that we need at an affordable price. Also transport to get materials out to the property (as it is very very difficult).

Hearing the Voice of God

TRAVEL:

It never ceases to amaze me how faithful my God is. Now that I am safely in South Sudan, I look back on my fears to travel here and laugh. God has always been so good to me to take care of my every need. Travel was fine even getting to and from the airport and to a hotel in Kenya. Kenya, although I was nervous about it, turned out to be quite a blessing. As my Kenya to Sudan flight took off and we rose above the clouds and I looked out and saw Mount Kilimanjaro also rising above the clouds. As  the clouds cleared, I could tell exactly where the Kenya/Sudan border was, the paved roads turned to sand, and the steel roofs that I saw turned to grass. There were also many fires that I saw as smoke billowed into the sky. When my plane landed, I saw a mushroom cloud of black smoke maybe 1 mile away. I walked into the airport that looked like the Alamo and got my visa, went through immigration, baggage claim, and immigration all in a room that was about 20 feet by 15 feet. I met up with Emily and Christopher (sister-in-law and brother) and traveled the rest of the journey to Wau the following day. I fulfilled every missionaries pioneer dream of landing on a dirt strip (after possibly the worst flight of my life, the pilot could have flown better drunk).

FIRST WEEK AND TEACHING: 

Now I am in Wau and have been here for 1 week. I taught Bible overview to show God's restoration of His relationship with man. Tuesday and Wednesday, I also taught how to hear the voice of God. I had prepared my notes on how to hear the voice of God and was almost prepared when God spoke so powerfully not to touch my notes. After I even felt nauseous as i was preparing, I realized that it was God speaking. So I put my notes down and prayed. God spoke so much to me personally about hearing his voice and called me to teach the next day with out any preparation or notes. So i continued to pray for hours and even felt God called me to fast water for about 4 hours (which is a huge deal when it is about 110 or more). After hours of intercession, the next morning I went  to teach and waited for God to give me the words. He had me remain silent in front of the class for 30 min solid which was awkward for everybody at first but God really used it. Time and space in this blog will not permit me to go into detail about how the teachings went, but every word that I taught was from God's mouth and spoken by the power of the Holy Spirit, I am sure of that. The students have really grasped these teachings and God used me as a tool to teach from what God had been teaching me through this experience that I had with God. It wasn't just a text book formulas to hear God's voice, but God teaching me by experience and speaking to me personally about how to hear His voice and wait on God. So, in short, it was powerful and as I was faithful and obedient to obey what God had told me to do (no matter how silly I looked) God used it and was faithful to teach. This just reminded me of what  I had learned in Uganda that he does not call the qualified but he qualifies the called and that when we are obedient to him, he is faithful to use us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

*I tried to add pictures to this blog but after 2 hours and it only loading half way, i decided it will not be practical to post pictures.

ANSWERED PRAYERS:

Thank you for all of your prayers. It is so nice that from blog to blog we can see all of them answered.

• We have gotten our house back so we are no longer living in tents. It is a very long story and personally, Chris, Emily, and I would think it would have been better if we were not in the house, but that is not how things ended up working out. So we are in a house but it still lacks running water and electricity. 
• I arrived safely 
• God spoke through me and used me in my teaching. I did not even have jet lag at all. (This is very unusual for me and is most definitely an answered prayer).

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Pray that our staff would be unified. We are people from 3 very different cultures and some times this can cause issues. This is very essential that we are of one mind. 
• It appears that most of our speakers will be unable to come so it is leaving all of the teaching to us (and some staff is not willing to teach). Pray for grace that we can teach effectively and do not get burnt out (teaching can be exhausting when the days are full). Pray that our scheduled speakers WILL be able to come. 
• This next week in class, we are teaching father heart of God, forgiveness, and inner healing. This is usually a week that is a big breakthrough of strongholds and emotional stuff. You could imagine how important this week would be in a culture that fathers are not involved with kids, and betrayal or emotional hardships are common. Pray God would work on the hearts of the students, they would let go, heal, and forgive, and discover God's heart for them. 

And the Journey Begins!

My bags are packed, my passport is waiting to be stamped, and peace and excitement is in my heart. I am about to embark on this adventure with God. I have no idea what these next three months will hold, but I know God has big plans!

Some people tell me not to go to South Sudan because it is too dangerous. This is true, there are dangers, but aren’t there dangers everyday no matter where we live? Our lives are in the hands of a sovereign God, our days are numbered already, and His will is the best place to be. This is where God has called me, who am I to disobey or ignore the call of God. These things are so easy to forget when we live lives with such security and comfort (although false). However, the past month and a half as God has prepped me for this, He has taught me that He is my comfort and he is my security. This is the meaning of His shepherds rod and staff. My world as I know it is about to end as I land on that dirt strip and step into another world (trust me Africa is a different place), I am traveling alone on this trip, and I, more than ever, have had to learn to trust God to protect me and give me grace. Yes, I was scared at first. I was nervous because I know this next season will be very difficult. Not only will pioneering, teaching, serving, living in tents/mud huts 10 miles out of town be hard, but we have already faced SO MANY spiritual attacks in our mind and circumstances. There is also the aspect of going into a “war zone” (technically the war has ended but there is still so much violence and crisis’s happening). There is so much potential for something to go wrong. But God has taught me to surrender my life into His hands, to trust Him for protection, food, shelter and my everything. I don’t need to worry about the worst case scenario or worry about tomorrow because he cares for me. He has spoken promises to me of eternal kingdom rewards if I walk by faith in obedience to his call, and he has reminded me of his power that He has given me. God has given me so much peace and confidence to go to South Sudan. I know it will be very challenging, but what is life without dependence on God?

I am very excited to be going to South Sudan. I know that where there is opportunity with God, there is opposition from the enemy. But Praise God! My God is bigger and the captives will be set free, minds renewed, and lives transformed. I am excited to see all that God is going to do and I am so blessed to be called by God to be apart of it.

*Note: I am not confident I will have reliable/constant internet considering we don't have electricity or running water and are a 10 mile walk from town. I will do my very best to keep updates and communication with the outside world going so that you lovely people know how things are going and know how to pray and praise God.   

PRAYER NEEDS:

• Saturday night, our YWAM community became homeless. We originally were going to rent 3 small houses for staff and students to sleep as well as have classes. The land lord has changed his mind about us staying there and we have been forced to find a new place to stay. We have now moved to a location (sort of a village) 10 miles out of town (walking). We will now be staying in small tents or mud huts. To give you a better idea, we have no electricity and the nearest source of water is a 10 min walk away to the pond. Pray for grace in this location and guidance if we are suppose to stay here the 3 months or try and find another place in town. 

*This is a picture of my tent/home I will be sleeping in for the next 3 months. 6X2 feet floor space!

• Please pray for travel mercies for me as I travel alone. I have attained peace from God and have surrendered my worries. But I still prefer to be safe and have smooth travels. (I have a 13 hour overnight layover in Kenya where I plan to leave the airport and sleep at a hotel. I will meet Emily and Chris in the capitol of S. Sudan to get my 6^th flight to Wau. Travel will take 5-6 days.)
• On March 1^st, I found out that I will be teaching the day after I arrive in Wau, South Sudan for 3 days. Sense I have been busy with packing type things and visiting my sister who just returned from Nepal (haven’t seen her for over 1 year) I have not had adequate time to prepare as much as I would like. Pray God would speak through me even though I do not know what I am going to say. Pray that I will not be jet lagged as I teach and that I will find some time to prepare and I could be productive when I do prepare.
• Pray for grace and unity in our staff. We are 9 people from different backgrounds cultures and countries trying to work together as one body. Pray that we can learn how to serve each other, Christ would be our head, and we could make wise decisions.