Girl Power

Culture. It is a strong force. It influences our behavior, shapes our daily life, and even is a foundational part of our identity. Culture can shape us in a lot of ways. Often times, it is shaping us in ways we are not even aware of because it just seems so normal, so common, that’s just how everyone lives. Other times we may be very aware of the pressure to conform to our culture’s standards of beliefs and behaviors.

The pressure on teenage girls to find their worth in their ability to be attractive to boys is a prime example. I’m seeing more and more that this place is no exception to that pressure. It is not uncommon for girls here to have a child at a young age and even to be married at a young age, and thus forcing them to drop out of school. There are many reasons for these things; a family may want to ensure their daughter’s dowry and so choose a husband for her. A girl may fear that her parents will force her to marry someone she does not like, and so she will get pregnant by a boy she likes.

These are some of my friends from church. Some days they stop by the compound for
morning devotions during their break at school.
They are no exception to the pressures and challenges girls face here.

And for the boys, well, sex before marriage is practically expected, not from the culture as a whole but from their peers, which is not at all different from the Western world.

Christianity is growing in South Sudan, and I am seeing the Church being strengthened in this area but Bible teaching is still limited. There are many who cannot read and who do not own Bibles. It is easy to fall back on one’s culture or to give in to the pressure.

With this need so prevalent in the community, we desire to seek God’s help. This Saturday, July 27^th, In Deed and Truth is hosting a Purity Seminar for teenage girls in the area. With the help of some friends of mine, Stephanie, Stephanie, and new Mango Ministries teammate Tiana, we hope to create a time for these girls to discuss the challenges they face and find hope in the value God has given them. Would you pray for us and every girl (we’re hoping for about 30) who will attend as we seek God’s truth to overcome the pressures of culture and the temptation of sin in living transformed lives for God’s glory! 

Dependency

There are many lessons available for learning quite frequently in my life it seems. Now, whether I have the patience, the will, the keen eye to notice and learn them is a different story. But, I hope these blunders can be looked back upon as a comedy rather than a tragedy, for I love to learn.

Some lessons, well, they come in stages and are to be built upon. For me, one of those recurring lessons is dependence. I have always been one to seek God’s plans for my life. I’m not afraid to dream big, for I know he has big plans. But my default in discovering those plans is to say to God, “Wow, that’s a great plan. That’s amazing. Ok, I’ll get back to you with how it’s going in a little while. Thanks for this ‘next step.’” You see, I love to get God’s input about what to do, but as soon as I feel like he is revealing those things to me, I immediately try to make them happen with my own strength and abilities, instead of allowing Him to make them happen through me. It’s quite a struggle for me.

When I was in college, I had some fish. Now, one of those fish, an angel fish named Romeo, decided one day to jump right out of the tank. No one was around, and sadly we all know what happens to a fish out of water. It can’t survive. At first I thought this fish’s need for water was like my dependency on God. That I was fully surrounded by him and if I didn't depend on him I was jumping out of the water. That if I would not depend on him, I could not survive. On a deep, eternal level, that is true. I realized though, on a day to day level of following after God and being obedient to his will, that dependency looks a little different.

Take this flower, for example. What does it need to survive? The sun. And in which direction do flowers grow? Toward the sun. They intentionally seek out the direction of their source of life. They move toward it. When they don’t get enough sunlight, they become weak and unhealthy. The same is true for my dependency on God, I must strive to seek him out. I am not simply submerged in his sustenance and must not jump out of it completely – like that little fish out of the water. I must be intentional in consciously being aware that He alone is my source of strength and even life. I must seek, little by little in all the daily activities, the source of my strength. When that becomes a focus, then my actions will be based on that truth, rather than my stubbornness to try and do things myself. I can choose to depend on him to make the small things happen and have eternal value, or I can depend on myself, and often be faced with those failures. Let me get more practical. I can choose to depend on God to make CHE better and effective in these new communities, or I can rely on my own strength, feeling as though the success of the program depends on my ability to encourage and follow up with the new trainers. I can seek God to be my strength to work through me, trusting him to help me to know how to do that the best that I can, or racking my brain trying plan the best way for me to do these things. Not that it’s a bad thing to plan or seek advice from experience and trained people, but it’s important to know who really makes it happen; to know who really brings transformation.

One thing I also noticed about flowers, when they are getting the proper amount of sunlight, they have the strength to survive the night without light. When I know and acknowledge that God is my source and it is only through him that I can do anything he asks of me, then I will have the strength to keep going, even when he doesn't seem near. The effects of His work in me are still taking place, as he leads me on to be used by him.

My prayer is that we all may learn a little more what it means to be dependent upon our mighty creator and loving father; that we may experience walking in surrender to him, feeling the goodness of life with him. And as we surrender, may our eyes be opened to how much more is possible through Him than through ourselves.

Here some new trainers take tea with CHE Trainer Pasquale from Kullo (far right)

Would you pray for me that in my last month here in Tonj I can be completely dependent upon God for the work of this ministry and these CHE communities. Pray also that our CHE teams and communities will also experience that dependence upon God. Pray for our first group of communities as they finish up committee training and prepare for selection of CHEs to lead home visits:

1.       Guaria

2.       Kullo

3.       Malony

4.       Lurchuk

5.       Tonj

And for our new, second group of communities in this area (those trained in May) as they work to complete their first seed project, form a prayer team, and build a dish rack for their home:

1.       Warrak

2.       Bobi

3.       Robyibi

4.       Timthok

5.       Werkok

Grace and Peace to you in becoming dependent upon our great God.

A New Beginning Now?

After some time away in April, things are getting back into full swing for me here in Tonj! Some of our CHE trainers (Joseph, Jude, Pasquale, David, & Santino) have been on a very special assignment while I was away. They’ve been selecting individuals from other villages where we are starting CHE this month!

Spending some time with trainers Jude (left) and Pasquale (right) on a recent visit to Kullo

On March 27^th we will begin CHE TOT 1 for an entirely new group of trainers from five different communities! It is really exciting to see this program growing and so quickly, too. With this training, we also have an opportunity to minister to the Luo community in the area; 3 villages are Dinka villages and 2 are Luo. I think the trainers will also enjoy being able to work with those from another tribe – during our last STS training here at IDAT they loved demonstrating their different tribal dances to one another, and it was certainly a lot of fun for us, the facilitators.

Here some Luo participants share a tribal dance at a recent STS training

Now, some of the new trainers have been selected, but the process is still ongoing. Would you commit to praying for the selection of the trainers for this upcoming new beginning? These people are the ones who will really present CHE to their villages, motivate people to get involved, generate community ownership, and help the program really come alive. Without the right kind of people to be trainers, there really is no CHE. So this part of the process is extremely important.

We need to cover each new village with prayer. Will you pray for one of these villages?

                Warrak

                Timthok

                Bobie**Luo Village

                Robobie**Luo Village

                Werkok* this village is actually in Jongelei state, and a partner ministry there is sending a team to   be trained.

Our current trainers are still moving forward with CHE in their communities. Many are finishing up their committee trainings and preparing to start the selection of CHEs to begin home visits. This is when it gets really exciting, and I look forward to sharing about all that is happening when that time comes!

Augustino helps to train the Guaria committee where they meet at his home

Another new beginning is that the rains have started! Now it’s time to plant! Santino Bak, our pastor in Malony, is preparing his garden Farming God’s Way style! Now, this is no easy transition for most South Sudanese for many reasons, but the most important is that for many, farming is their livelihood. If they didn’t farm their children would go hungry. So trying a new technique is a bit risky. What if it doesn’t work? How can I be sure I’m doing this the right way? What if something goes wrong? That would mean a disaster for that family. Santino, being a single guy, is willing to take that risk and hopefully serve as an example for his community. Perhaps in the future he can then teach others about the benefits they can see from his garden, both for the farmer and the land.

Here's the harvest of peanuts from our demonstration garden. Traditional methods is on the right and Farming God's Way is on the left.

 This last new beginning sort of caught me by surprise, but I’m not complaining a bit! I’m engaged! During my time away in April, my boyfriend and I were able to meet up with some friends of ours in Slovakia, and there he proposed! Marriage is certainly a new beginning and I pray that God uses the remainder of my time here to continue preparing us for just that. It certainly can be difficult being apart right now, he’s in the U.S. and I’m here 8 hours ahead of him in South Sudan, but God is so faithful to help us not only survive but to grow closer during this time (and for that I’m definitely thankful)!

Enemy Attacks

It’s an exciting thing to be seeing some of the first fruits of the work that is being done with CHE. People are starting to implement these teachings into their homes, returned to churches, and some others have been brought to Christ through these things! But you can imagine that these efforts have certainly met with some resistance.

We know that our struggle here in earth “is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms,” (Eph 6:12). The reality of this was being manifested in many ways.

In March we completed our fourth and final TOT (Training of Trainers) for our current group of CHE trainers from the Tonj and Rumbek East County areas. On the first day of this training, we had some time to catch up and hear reports from each community about how things were going. During this time, it became evident how the enemy was at work.

One of our Pastor David's house had recently burned down and he and his family lost everything they had except the clothes they were wearing and a few small items. One woman, Deborah, had been diagnosed with typhoid that was not clearing up after her round of treatment, and another woman named Deborah had been struggling with a worsening of chronic stomach problems. At Athunta’s house, most of the food that she had grown and harvested had been stolen while neighbors were helping her to dig a pit latrine. Mary was having a lot of problems with her left leg – numbness and pain. Augustino had numerous goats “go missing,” and has only 4 remaining. The other Pastor David had been having a lot of trouble with his memory and clarity of thought. That same day, the wife of Pastor Jude had to be sent to a big hospital 2 hours away. She was pregnant and having a lot of bleeding, and she miscarried that very day.

Our hearts were quite heavy hearing all the struggles that so many of our trainers were encountering. But what glory to God that each person that shared was able to boldly profess how they were putting their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ because they knew he was bigger than all these things! It doesn’t make those problems any less real, but it does put them in perspective. These trainers have demonstrated such perseverance in the Lord’s strength, and I praise God for that. But the real work is only just beginning as the programs move forward and more and more people are impacted for Christ. We know the enemy is not going to back down or give up as we strive to move forward.

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Cor 15:55-58)

What a victory! What a promise! May this be our prayer for one another always.

~Guest Blogger Testimony~

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

I love how the Lord uses every act of faith and obedience to ripple blessings to the entire Body of Christ. I’ve been affected by one of those “ripples” recently and I’ve been kindly asked to share about it.

It started in South Sudan where my friend Whitney Smith is serving her King. Her faithfulness to share on her blog about the Simply The Story (STS) trainings she has been participating in and helping to facilitate impacted me unexpectedly and personally.

The month of December 2012 I had been intentionally praying that the Lord would equip me to serve Him in my hometown in Florida, and eventually, overseas in Uganda. It was the day after Christmas and I felt prompted by the Lord to catch up on what was happening in the mission work of several of my friends overseas. When I came to Whitney’s blog, an archived post titled “What’s in your pocket?” from November 24^th caught my eye.

“What’s in your pocket?” gave a glimpse into the STS training Whitney helped lead in Tenwek, Kenya. I had never heard of STS but was immediately gripped by the concept.

Sharing the gospel and teaching God’s word in an oral, story teller fashion isn’t a man-made idea. It struck me afresh that Jesus Himself was a story teller in His earthly ministry. He used this technique as a vehicle to share His truth with people of all different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. He had literally created the people group He was ministering to, and had planted in their hearts a love for storytelling! Using oral teaching and stories as a culturally relevant way to reach them, He taught the learned scribe and the illiterate together in one group.

Jesus also knew that the Holy Spirit could use stories to bring down defensive walls in hearts. I believe we’re created to naturally identify with characters in stories. In stories, we start to imagine ourselves in another person’s place without even thinking about it and we don’t feel defensive because it’s not about us. Or is it? Watch how Jesus uses a story to reveal truth and sin to a proud Pharisee in Luke 7: 

"When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Luke 7:36-48

In the Old Testament, Nathan the prophet was sent by God to rebuke King David after he committed adultery and murder. David’s proud heart was hardened by his choices to cover one sin with multiple other sins and there wasn’t the confession and repentance of Psalm 51 yet. In 2 Samuel 11:1-7, Nathan, led by the Spirit of God, was used to penetrate David’s heart with a story.

I signed up for STS that very December night and was in South Carolina one month later for the leadership course. In the past two months, what I learned in STS has greatly impacted the way I present and discuss the Word of God in women’s ministry, in children’s ministry, and even in one-on-one conversations with unbelievers. The STS training taught me to engage with people in a way that Jesus modeled and our hearts have been created to respond to.

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

The power and authority is in the Word of God itself, a living and sharp sword that pierces and convicts all on its own; the vehicle of STS is another beautiful way to plant that life-giving, soul-saving sword into the hearts of men, women, and children.

Thank you, Lord Jesus for faithful servants who humbly obey You without knowing the impact of their godly choices. Thank You, Lord, for Your Word and Your way of penetrating and freeing our hard, proud hearts.

In Christ,

Joy Wood  

What a powerful testimony of how God uses our 

partnership in ministry to impact one another for His Kingdom!

Maybe storytelling could be a powerful way for you to share the Word of God with others? You can find a schedule of training workshops and their locations at www.simplythestory.org under the Training Info tab.

Or perhaps you want to be a part of making sure our STS training team is able to travel in and out of South Sudan where they help to equip South Sudanese to study and share the Bible in a way that really sinks into our human hearts. You can donate to this part of our ministry at http://www.wgm.org/page.aspx?pid=6285

Would you pray for all of those who are receiving STS training this week in Tonj, South Sudan? The training will wrap up tomorrow and participants will travel back to their home places, but like most skills, it must be practiced to be developed and improved. Pray that motivation and opportunity will arise for each person here to continue seeking to share God's word through this powerful tool of storytelling!

Where are my overalls?

Ok, so I suppose I don’t really need my overalls, but I have been doing a lot of farming lately, and overalls and farming just seem to go together for this Alabama girl.

Back in January, my teammate Adhanom and I got to work planting a garden. He had heard about a technique called Farming God’s Way (FGW), and had been sharing the concepts with me, so we decided to give it a try. It is an approach to farming similar to no-till farming, but it is based on Biblical principles of stewardship. We are to make the most of what we've been given and waste as little as possible.

Here we are post-planting in our peanut plot - not a very large area,
but enough for a demonstration garden.

You only dig where the seeds will be sown, so you don’t have to turn an entire field. This helps reduce soil erosion. Also, you mulch very heavily, which can help reduce soil exposure to sun, maintain moisture in the soil, and reduce the amount of weeds. So, there is less work, the plants give a higher yield and it requires less water.

But even with all these benefits, we didn’t exactly pick the easiest time of year to plant a garden in South Sudan. January was right in the middle of the DRY SEASON! The ground was so hard we just had to start by digging small holes and filling them with water to soften up the ground to be leveled. It was definitely hard and hot work in the midday sun.

But this garden has a special purpose, so we had to get it planted within the few available days we had. We hope during our TOT 4 with our CHE trainers, which is taking place March 11 – 15, to use this garden for teaching the Farming God’s Way techniques. That way, after the training, the trainers will have time to prepare their gardens before the rains come in April. This garden will be a demonstration garden, showing the difference between FGW and the conventional methods of farming in the area.

Leveling the ground (ok, so you're probably thinking, this doesn't look like no-till farming,
but after the first year when you establish the slope of the ground,
you don't turn up all of the soil as I'm doing here.)

After the ground was leveled, and we measured out the plots, we dug the holes/furrows, and put some manure, which we got for free from a local cattle camp down the road!

Adhanom digging the furrows for peanuts

Here we laid out manure in our sorghum plot

Before we started any digging, we gathered lots of mulch
 to cover our Farming God's Way plots. It's amazing the difference it makes!

We planted the seeds and laid the mulch. We have in our garden now sorghum (the staple grain around here), corn, peanuts, green peas, tomatoes, collards, onions, and chili peppers! Oh and watermelons! Mmm, I can’t wait for those watermelons.

Now, just over a month later, our plants are doing well…mostly. Many of our corn seeds did not sprout. Perhaps they had been too exposed to the sun prior to planting. Our FGW plots started out a little slow compared to the conventional ones because of the mulching, but now I’m slowly starting to see a difference between the two, which is exciting.

Here, three weeks after planting, I'm standing in our
Farming God's Way peanut plot (don't mind the weeds),
while Andrea, my colleague and one of our CHE trainers,
is standing in our conventional peanut plot.
He helped us know the way people plant locally.

March is looking very busy. Would you be praying for all the ministry endeavors happening?

Upcoming Schedule:

• March 6-8 Simply The Story Training in Tonj with pastors and church leaders from the surrounding areas. Pray that this method will be clearly communicated and can become a powerful way to share the word of God.
• March 11-15 CHE TOT 4 this is the fourth and final training for our Training Teams from Tonj and Akot areas. Their communities now have committees and are moving forward in their committee training. Pray that this training will meet the needs of the trainers as they move forward with their CHE programs, giving them more technical information and resources.
• Mondays and Thursdays I lead CHE lessons with the Community Health Workers in the IDAT clinic. The clinic has made some recent shifts and the focus now is primarily pregnant and nursing mothers and children 5 years of age and under. The Community Health Workers go on home visitation in the community with Kenyan Midwives/Nurses Annie and Sham (check out recent IDATblog to learn more about the clinic staff), and share what they are learning with people in the community. Pray for the staff as they make their visits in the afternoon, which is the hottest part of the day. Pray also for the families they visit to be transformed through the holistic teaching they are receiving.
• We hope to begin CHE TOT1with a new group of CHE trainers in May in the Tonj area. Pray for God’s guidance as we seek to make awareness/preparations and trainer selections
• April 5th Fly back to Kenya for Field meetings and retreat!

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.

Story of a Fellow Missionary

Meet Santino Bak.

He comes from Tonj North County. He's a member of the Dinka tribe. He is a pastor.

On October 6^th, 2012, Santino, along with 11 of his classmates graduated from the Pastor's Training School run by In Deed and Truth Ministries, a three year program.

Santino after graduation with teachers, Joe and Nancy

He's also one of our CHE trainers. During the last week of October, he completed his third CHE training of trainers.

CHE TOT 3!

During his time here in Tonj town (located in Tonj South County) for school, Santino planted a church in a village called Malony (the y is almost silent – sounds like Malone to English speakers).

After he graduated, Santino could have gone home to be with his relatives, and work with some of his fellow CHE trainers in that area, but his heart and his calling were leading him to Malony. So he decided to stay with this young church and help it grow and stick around to see how the whole community could be impacted for the Kingdom of God. And the church grew. He shares with them stories from the Bible through STS in a way that they can remember the word of God and let it sink into their hearts. He shares with them CHE lessons of ways to give every part of their lives over to God, not just the spiritual aspects, to see God's Kingdom come. They want to start a community project to build a fence around their church compound.

Now, in this same village, the IDAT clinic does an outreach clinic one or two days a week, with one staff member from nearby who does follow up visits. On days when the outreach clinic happens, there are often over 100 patients who come from all around. They arrive and wait in line to register, then wait in line to see the doctor, then wait in line to pick up their medications. So, Santino decided this was a great opportunity to share the Word of God. He began sharing Bible stories with patients while they were waiting at this clinic.

A child posing for a picture at the clinic at Malony.
In the background you can see patients waiting in line to see the doctor.
(Yes, the clinic is under a tree)

Then, things changed. Several people came to him very aggressively, accusing him, saying, “Who are you to come and tell us what to do, how to live?”

Why should we listen to you? You are not from here! You're not of this place!”

You're just trying to change our ways! You're teaching our women and children things we do not believe!”

This is a state map of South Sudan. Can you find Warrap State?
(Hint: it's the green one) States in South Sudan are divided
into counties, just like our states in the U.S.

These were people who had been at the clinic, who had heard the messages that Santino shared. They were hearing but not understanding; seeing but not believing.

When Santino was asked how he was doing with all of this hostility toward him personally, he smiled and simply said, “Jesus Christ suffered for me. I am happy because this means I must be doing something right.”

Then the people of the church (who were, in fact, more than just women and children) came to Santino and said, “Wherever you go in this village we will go with you. That way when someone comes to you saying, 'You're not from here. We wont listen to you,' we will tell them this is what we believe and we are from here!”

I had the privilege to be in Malony on Nov 28th, when Santino and Sabet baptized many of the new believers in this church. There were nearly twenty who were baptized as they proclaimed to their community and before God that they had been saved by his grace through the work of Jesus Christ. I can't explain the grace God pours out into all his children when one of his is baptized. To be united in such a way is truly a work of the Holy Spirit.

Santino (left) and Sabet (right) baptizing a woman from the Malony church

So you see, where God's word is sent out, it will not return back void. His word and his work are of eternal value, and His Spirit works through our efforts to accomplish more than we can see.

Santino is making the effort and proclaiming God's word. I praise God for that and pray that I can have the commitment and courage to do the same.

What's In Your Pocket?

Last week I was able to be a part of another Simply the Story training. This time the training was help in Tenwek, in the western part of Kenya. It is in the highlands of the country. A beautiful place of mountains and rolling hills, decorated with more plants than one could imagine, and filled with the sound of a powerful waterfall.

The trainees were about 35 in number, some American missionaries (and one from New Zealand!), some Kenyan women who help lead a Bible study ministry known as Tabitha Ministries, and the team from the Eye Clinic here at Tenwek Hospital. What a mixture of people all passionate about sharing the word of God!

I was extremely blessed to meet some of the women from the Eye Team. Do you remember the Cataract Clinic they just finished up in Tonj? They were able to complete 218 surgeries! Praise God. And these ladies on the team actually stayed in my room there in Tonj while I took some leave in Kenya. Isn't it great the way God works out the details.

A beautiful view of the Rift Valley in Kenya

So we began our training, and Billy and Scott were eager to help each member of the training team grow in our abilities as story tellers and trainers. I was given a little more responsibilities than our last training in Dhiakuei, but it was certainly a good time of growth, and I was definitely surrounded by encouraging people.

Scott Rambo (Uganda) and Tim Conaway (MM Logistician) on the bridge above the waterfall. 

During the training, stories are told as demonstrations and we walk through the five steps:

1. Tell the Story (accurately but in conversational language)
2. Ask for a Volunteer to retell what they remember
3. Lead Through the Story (retell but with questions)
4. Look for Observations/Treasures
5. Make Application

Teammates Tim Conaway and CT demonstrating the use of
facial expressions to really make a story come alive.

When you work through these five steps, and really learn a story from the Bible well, you are putting the truth of Scripture in your heart, or in your heart pocket as Billy says. The more stories you learn, the more you have in your heart pocket. So when you are walking through the grocery story, and stop to say hello to a friend, you hear about what's happening in their life and realize, “That really resonates with this story I know from the Bible. I think there's truth in it for my friend.” and you can pull that story out of your heart pocket and share it with that person, asking questions as you do, so that they may discover the truth of scripture rather than feel “preached at.”

Or maybe you're at the doctors office, or a hospital waiting room, or carpooling to a football game, or eating lunch together with friends, and you realize that everywhere you go there are people whose lives can be impacted, challenged, comforted, encouraged, empowered, and saved by the power of the word of God.

Doesn't scripture say that the Word of God is alive and active? If it is alive then it is not irrelevant to today.

And what did Jesus say, that man cannot live on bread alone, but on what?

The word of God.

So my question to you is, what is in your heart pocket?

October Events

Greetings from Tonj!

Wow, a lot has been happeing this month and it's not over yet!

The month started out with the graduation of 12 South Sudanese pastors who completed their 3 year pastor's training course here at In Deed and Truth Ministries. It was quite the celebration! For those who think graduations are long in the U.S, this one - for 12 students - last over 4 hours! It was a truly celebratory occasion.  We had such a great time.

I even sang in the praise band (those at Asbury UMC, don't tell Andy, ha).

Following the graduation, I traveled with my teammates from Uganda to the village of Dhiakuei, in Lake State. My teammate Adhanom had helped to arrange a Simply the Story (STS) training for the pastors of that area, so Billy Coppedge, Scott Rambo, and CT (look for them in my previous post), and I traveled there to meet up with Adhanom and facilitate the training.

We were expecting 30 pastors originally and 70 showed up! Had to do a little recalculating, but what a blessing to see so many who were eager to impact their congregations and communities with the word of God! This training helped the pastors learn to tell the stories of the bible without having to read them directly. They also learned a series of steps to help the participants really learn the story well, and lead them to discover the truths of the Bible for themselves through asking questions.

Here I was teaching a session on asking questions to apply the biblical truths to our lives today, with Bishop Isaac translating for me.

When we broke off into small groups I was a little discouraged at first, feeling like I was not able to communicate well, and that people just weren't getting the concepts. But, the Spirit prompted me to say a prayer, and within a matter of minutes it was as if everything suddenly clicked and the whole group was really understanding the process. It was so tremendous to see that happen right before my eyes, and more than once! Will you say a prayer for these pastors as they practice using this method of teaching the scripture?

Here, one small group sent "missionaries" to another group to practice telling the story they learned and working through the questions. They did an excellent job!

My time in Dhiakuei was not without adventures, let me assure you. I stayed the week in a hut, while the guys graciously took the tents. We bathed from a basin behind a wall of a broken down building. And then, there was the pit latrine. Now, using a latrine was nothing new for me. Squattie potties aren't really an issue. But it was definitely a new experience when 2 bats flew out of the latrine the first night I was there. I think I would have had a heart attack had I not been in shock, haha. But that wasn't the last I saw of those bats. Every night, when I would go to bed and tuck in my mosquito net, bats would come into the hut where I was sleeping and fly around all night! I think I have a much greater understanding of Batman now.

On Oct 27^th, the 3rd CHE Training of Trainers began! This is the next step in the CHE process for our trainers and they will begin to form committees in their CHE communities after this training is completed. This is when things really kick into gear and the program really starts to get moving for the local communities, so this is exciting stuff.

As these trainers prepare for the next steps, will you commit to praying for these teams of trainers? There is a general profile for the teams, as well as specific profiles for each individual team. I would love to be able to cover them each in prayer. If you, or your church or Bible study group would like to commit to praying for one of these CHE teams, please write to me at whitney.smith@wgm.org I'll be happy to send you the profile and more info about the CHE program!

This training will last until Nov 1, which also happens to be the first day of the Cataract Clinic for 2012! Do you remember the previous clinics from my newsletter? Let's cover this clinic with prayer - for the team traveling from Kenya, for those receiving the surgery, and for the staff here at In Deed and Truth who will be assisting. It's a powerful way to impact lives spiritually and physically. You can donate to the Cataract Clinic at wgm.org/sight4sudan to provide sight-restoring surgery to someone in need!

Check back soon for more stories of village visits, the cost of cabbage, and some of the craziest dancing I've ever seen!

Story Time in South Sudan

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!

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.

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.

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.  

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

So, here's the challenge:

Throw the Ultimate Independence Day Celebration for South Sudan! 

Last year on July 9th, South Sudan celebrated their birth as a nation, and next week they are celebrating that 1st year. Let's join with our African brothers and sisters and extend their celebrations to the States! And while we are at it, let's make it a fundraiser challenge, so that our celebrations will be giving back to this new nation as they build for the future.

The Rules:

• Teams of 5 or Less (these are who will HOST the party)
• Must take place within approximately 1 week of July 9th (sure, it can be combined with U.S. Independence day celebrations) 
• There are no restrictions on the type of Fundraiser, just make sure it is honoring to God. All the money raised can be sent to 

 WGM

P.O. Box 948

Marion, IN 46952

and can be memo'd for 

Whitney Smith Ministry Account

(or click here for an online donation)

The Results:

• The Team that raises the most money will get their party featured on my blog and all team members will receive a WGM International Cookbook (so they can totally rock future celebrations) 

  
So, let's party!


I've listed some websites with lots of information about South Sudan so you can share with all your party-goers what's happening across the ocean. 

• BBC Special Report on South Sudan 
• Joy's Blog 
• South Sudan's Official Government Website
• Coppedge's Blog 
• CIA World Factbook
• WGM Ministry in South Sudan 

Maybe even include a time of prayer for South Sudan, and for the work God is doing there. His Spirit is at work, so may we rise up to meet him in that and spread his Kingdom!

And don't be intimidated. This can be as elaborate or as low key as you want. Having a few friends over and watching God Grew Tired of Us would work just fine. Or, you can bring the whole neighborhood, hire a DJ, and let the festivities begin!

Have a dance contest!

Hibiscus Tea is a common drink in South Sudan if you want to get a little authentic. I have some to share, or it can be found easily online or at tea stores or international grocery stores. And peanuts are a favorite snack, just to get you started.

Ready...

Set...

Celebrate!