What's in the Works

It has been an exciting holiday season for me! I arrived in Nairobi, Kenya the week before Christmas. Had a great Christmas Eve Luncheon with fellow WGM missionaries.

Christmas Eve luncheon at the home of Robyn Moore (far right). Pictured (from left to right): Joy Phillips, myself, Tiana Duncan (Zambia), Faith Shingledeker, Terry Duncan, Karen Duncan, Robyn Moore.

Then, I spent Christmas day with Mango Ministries coordinator Joy Phillips, and with the Duncans, who have recently transitioned out of their role as Regional Coordinators for WGM africa. We had some delicious food and played a game of croquet! It was a lot of fun.

A view of downtown Nairobi, a city of over 4 million people.

I definitely missed my family and friends, but I didn't mind celebrating in the 70 degree weather, that's for sure. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm such a wimp when it comes to cold weather.

After Christmas I traveled to Kericho in the highlands of Kenya for a friend's wedding! This was the first African wedding I have ever attended and it was so much fun! The ceremony was just beautiful, and since flowers abound in Kenya, everything was decked out floral style. We got a bit rained on during the reception, but that didn't put a damper on the fun. The rain stopped just in time for the bride and groom to arrive and everyone danced! Congratulations to Pheanson and Claire!

Pheanson and Claire at their reception!

Now 2013 has come and some exciting endeavors along with it. I will fly back into South Sudan on January 8th with a new friend and colleague, Margit. We are traveling together to a place called Werkok. There are some amazing people at work in the area who have heard about CHE and are really excited about starting in their communities! Margit and I will be able to plan with those on the ground in Werkok for the upcoming CHE TOT1 in the beginning of February. Who remembers what TOT stands for?

Training of Trainers!

During this next week in Werkok, Margit and I will meet with Deng J., Mary, and Deng A. about who to select to be a part of this training to become trainers for the program in their communities. Remember, this is a long term program aimed at seeing people's lives transformed and spreading that transformation to others, so this selection process is very important. Please, would you join us in prayer that the Holy Spirit would lead us to select the right people for this role? We are hoping to have 30 people attend this TOT. Jesus taught us to pray, "your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." That is the aim of the CHE program. There are many details to work out, but we know that God is bigger than it all!

Werkok is located just north of Bor on this map. It's a bit far from Tonj, where I've been staying, but the Dinka tribe is also the prominent tribe in this region as well. They seem to form a band across the center of South Sudan from west of Tonj to southeast of Bor.

God is teaching me a lot through the short amount of time I've spent in East Africa, but one thing's for sure, it takes real dependency upon him for me to be of any use. Know that I'm praying for you, and I'm so grateful for the prayers you said for me, as we lean more fully on his ever-capable arms and learn how to let God work in us as we seek for him to work through us. I pray the Spirit of God is also at work among the people of South Sudan and that each of us may be ever growing in our dependency upon our Sovereign God.