Once upon a time...
When you hear these words, there's a pretty good chance you know what's
coming next...a story! And who doesn't love a good story? cultures the world
over love to listen to stories, whether it's a love story, adventure, fantasy,
or nearly anything else. People love stories wether they're true or make
believe. They speak to our hearts. They captivate us.
When I first arrived in Africa, I spent one week in Arua, Uganda (it's a
cool place, you should google it), and participated in a training called Simply
the Story. This is a method used to teach scripture through storytelling. This
is tremendous for me because the culture in South Sudan is, for the most part,
an oral-preferenced society. That means they prefer to learn through oral means
such as discussion and stories rather than lectures or reading.
With the wonderful leadership of Billy Coppedge and Scott Rambo, I was able
to learn a story from the Old Testament very quickly! I was surprised how easy
it was to pick up, and I am hearing of how God is working very much through
this tool in so many places. It is so exciting!
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| Here is the Mango Ministries Team - from left - Joy Phillips, Tim Connaway, Adhanom Hidug holding Sophie C., Whitney (that's me!), Elsie Jane held by Joanna Coppedge, Billy Coppedge holding Lucy, and Arua Volunteer CT holding Chloe C.. |
I'm enjoying being back in Africa, and it was such a blessing staying with
the Coppedges (do you remember them from one of my earlier newsletters?) It is
such a sweet gift God gives us when he crosses our path with other members of
the Body of Christ.
On Monday, Sept 3, Joy (Mango Ministries Coordinator) and Adhanom and Tim
(fellow teammates) and I traveled to Rumbek, South Sudan, and then on to Tonj,
where my home for the next year.
I have just completed my first two weeks in Tonj, and I have to say, I
really love it here already. God is revealing to me how the harvest is so ready,
just waiting for laborers.
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| Here, Joy, myself, Tim, and Adhanom are preparing for our flight from Uganda into South Sudan |
I am staying on a compound run by In Deed and
Truth Ministries (Check out their website!), a partner of Mango Ministries, and I'm very happy
to be a part of this community here. We are only a few minutes walk from
"downtown" Tonj, where there is a marketplace, a few restaurants, and
some shops.
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| This is my home! My room is on the right side, and I share this building with nurses Margaret and Ann, who work in the clinic on the compound. |
Right now is the tail end of rainy season
(~April-October), so everything is beautiful and green.
I've also met some of the CHE teams that we have
been training, and I am looking forward to working with them in
transformational development. Will you be praying for the communities we are
seeking to implement CHE? They are Guaria, Kullo, and Panchum. Soon, we will
have a team profile for each community, and I want to ask you to consider
committing to praying for one of these teams when we have the profiles completed.
On Saturday, I was able to travel to the village
of Guaria and meet with some members of the community! Albino, the compound
manager, took me by motorbike to this village. Because it is the rainy season,
the grass is very tall, taller than me. So, as we are riding along, there were
times when all we could see was the path as we were surrounded by grass. As I
arrived, I was greeted with songs and dancing. The Dinka* people love songs. We
had a wonderful time together, and it’s evident they are very excited about
getting CHE started there, which was of course very encouraging to me. They are
already off to a good start with a variety of crops they grow, including
sorghum, pumpkins, tomatoes, sesame seeds, greens, cucumbers, peanuts, okra,
and even some potatoes.
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| Here we are in the village of Guaria. Sitting next to me are a few of the people we are training in the CHE program to be trainers in their communities. |
Pray for me as I continue to get adjusted and
learn my way around Tonj and the surrounding areas and study the Dinka language.
I am so excited to see how God is already at work in this place! Pray with me
as we seek the Kingdom of God to come in this place with all of God's
transformational power! How can God use you in this ministry?
*Dinka is the largest tribe in South Sudan, and
makes up the majority of the population around Tonj
