Freckled sunlight danced at our feet in the clearing under the konyuk tree. Crude wooden benches stretched out from the clearing, all facing the tree. Arrayed on the benches the occupants of the Lachook leper colony sat and sang at the top of their lungs and clapped in time to a worship song to welcome us, their visitors.

Sabet presented Tom and Dave and I to them.  They liked Dave and Tom’s names, informing us that “Tom” in Dinka means to give someone an injection, so his name was very appropriate.  My name however was foreign and difficult to pronounce and it would have to be rectified.  Sabet asked the colony to give me a name in Dinka.  An old and gentle man, missing most of his toes and fingers, as well as part of his nose, called out “Deng Mallou”.

Sabet nodded and smiled, looked at me and said as if to present me afresh, “Deng Mallou!” to an eruption of clapping and cheering.

“Please tell me it doesn’t mean cow manure or something.”

“Its a very good name, it means a strong rain, it’s a good thing.” Sabet said, smiling between me and the people who bestowed this new moniker on me.

“Deng Mallou!” I said, giving my thumbs up in approval, which was met with a unified shout “Deng Mallou!” from the group.

Then in one of those unexpected moves that make me wish I were a good pastor and always had something brilliant ready to say, Sabet leaned in and asked me to share something with them.

There I stood, looking out at expectant, dirty faces; at human beings dressed in rags and missing digits and dignity.  What could I say to them? I took a deep breath and  asked God to fill my words.

“Thank you for such a warm welcome for my friends and me.  I came a long way to meet you, and I’m so very glad I did. I’ve taken pictures of you with my camera, but I’ve also hidden you in my heart.  You’ll be in my heart when I go back to my home, and to my church, and we’ll be praying for God’s grace for you.
It’s good for us to meet like this, to catch a glimpse of each other while we’re here. If we all belong to Christ, then we’re all family, and we’ll be spending forever with each other.  This is a hard world and we’re very fragile, but one day Jesus will bring us all home and our struggles will be through.  I’ll look for you then, and you look for me, now that we’ve met we won’t be strangers.
Again, thank you for having us, and God’s love be with you.”

After that we distributed bags of sugar and tea to each door of the colony, and having plenty, we went back and gave each room two bags.

Watching through the back window of the Rover as we drove away, i watched a child who wore only a shirt run after us, waving.  I waved back. “I will carry you in my heart, I will take you home with me there.”

Hi Everybody!
Thanksgiving is pretty much just like any other day in Sudan, but it was a most extraordinary day for me.  It started out with the slaughter of the Thanksgiving goat, which was a little out of the routine for the compound–and the honor was given to Rachel,  who is apparently only the 3rd American woman to have done it here.  Thanks to the expert skills of Suzy and the staff, dinner was pretty much a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner with the goat substituting for turkey–it was DELICIOUS!
The dinner was a somewhat anticlimactic end to an extraordinary day.  Tom and I and part of the clinic team were driven out to the village of Malone for the weekly medical outreach clinic run by In Deed and Truth.  It is very hard to really describe this experience–It was very much like time travel.  The trip started out with a not quite 1 hour drive down a fairly well graded dirt road at about 60-70 mph (honest), which changed abruptly when the driver slowed down almost to a stop in the middle of nowhere, took a hard left across the road, and ran down the embankment and off into the bush.  The attached photo is from a little later when the “road” was at least kind of recognizable.
Malone consists of a couple of huts, and the container used by the clinic to store the larger items of the operation including tables and chairs.  Most of the families live in huts scattered around the area–all are cattle farmers.  The actual clinic consists of 3 tables and the box of supplies brought by us from Tonj–all set up in the shade of a giant tree.  The morning is usually slow, as it takes a couple of hours for word to filter out that the clinic is there, and the concept that the clinic is there every Thursday (during the dry season,) is apparently not an easily grasped concept in this culture.  Once word was out, though,  the people started arriving in large numbers–all on foot, many of the men carrying spears, and rarely wearing anything resembling Western clothing.  They are dignified, friendly people who live with next to nothing.  I saw many patients who could have felt  much better had they simply access to running water and the cool shower I was looking forward to at the end of the day.  We did not see many seriously ill patients–most of them (often children with malaria,)  had already made or started the journey to the Tonj clinic. (The Malone outreach often sees 60-70 patients.)  It was one of the most memorable experiences I have had in all my travels.
Today (Friday) was a fairly “normal” day at the Tonj clinic.  Rob in the meantime continues to “Wow” the pastors with his unique teaching, but I will leave that part of the story to him. Tomorrow we are off to the Leper colony.
God Bless You all, and thank you so much for your prayers.

I saw baboons. You heard me, baboons.
We were on the “road” from the “airport” in Rumbek, and a whole gang of baboons were in the road, scampering off when we got close. It was seriously sinking in with me that I’m in Africa when I saw those critters.

After a few false starts, Dave, Tom and I finally made it here to the In Deed and Truth compound. We arrived in the late afternoon, so Sunday was our first full day here. We fellowshipped with the church that meets here on the grounds and it was nothing short of awesome. Rythmic clapping and voices singing in Dinka dialect wafted through the morning air, making the small thatched pavilion where we met feel like holy ground. Sabet taught from Exodus a really encouraging and challenging word. The upcoming referendum fairly permeates everything here, as is understandable, since it looms like a storm on the horizon. Sabet reminded the people that God knows the suffering of the Sudanese people, and he desires to help, and the greatest help of all is the salvation of Christ.

The next day I got sick. Not just “ew, I don’t feel so good”, but a rip roaring projectile evacuating kind of sick. I don’t remember much of the day, other than having to stop teaching the pastors mid point in order to run to the bathroom. Not the dignified start I’d hoped for.

The pastor’s class is wonderful, and today, feeling much better, I really felt much more closely connected to them. I’ve never had to speak through a translator before, but Sabet does a great job…and everyone is so kind to me as I feel my way through this. Either way, we’ve had some great discussions.

Santino gets led into the classroom by holding onto a stick that another pastor leads him with. He’s blind. He sits attentively through every hour, asking questions and joining the discussion. Serving people as a pastor with a disability is a daunting prospect in itself. Doing so in these harsh conditions is remarkable. God’s grace creates amazing heroes.

“You must pray for us” Joseph, another pastor said to me as we left the classroom. “Pray for us, we will pray for you, and maybe you will come and teach us again.”. I pack his words like precious, fragile heirlooms into my heart.

We will pray for you Joseph.

God is changing my life so much. I’ve experience strength, weakness, and growth throughout this trip.

I’ve got my strength from construction and the outreaches. In construction Dennis, Thadd, and myself have been building brick from scratch, and its been really rough for me. Because when i am  doing this, I know that a days work can be done in a hour with two cement trucks. That’s Sudan for you though. For the outreaches, are team went to a leper colony and also the bongo tribe where they actually where they got the name bongo from. It put me to tears seeing what God is doing in the these tribes lives. They were all tears of joy, of how strong and how much they have strong in the Lord they are.

In my weakness I became very sick. I had a stomach sickness (possibly Travelers Diarrhea) of some sort.  I was weak in the fact that i could work or help at all. It made me think a lot about the way America is. I was just disgusted with the American dream, because of the way that it is only about yourself. Life has so much meaning than just caring about yourself.

The Growth has been praying and doing God’s work. I am growing stronger every day  with the knowledge of other peoples testimony’s and just reading the Bible.

In a way all the areas I talked about were all growth.

Prayer request:

That the team is physically healthy

That the Sudanese people are open to listen to the word of God

For the trip back to America is safe.

ps I miss you mom and pops and mal

love ,

CODY (MIJO)

Wow, one more amazing day almost done! It’s 9:20 pm here in Tonj. Just trying to recap this day is so hard, there is so much to think about its almost overwhelming.

Thaddeus and I worked in children’s church… all the kids are so beautiful! Before we started, the kids sang a Dinka song for us, clapping and singing with all their hearts. We taught on the story of the paralyzed man who was healed by Jesus.  The kids loved watching us act it out at try to pretend like we were paralyzed. Their smiles were beautiful! After the teaching we played Duck Duck Goose and Simon Says. Pastor Matt taught in the church from the book of Isaiah.

In the afternoon, we drove to the “Picnic Tree,” which is about 5-10 minutes away from the compound. It’s so peaceful there, you can see cows grazing in the distance, and tall grass all around. Dennis and Sebet bought us sodas from the town, a nice treat over here in Sudan. It was a blessing to relax and fellowship as a team. We were able to shoot some great photos… I can’t wait to show them to everyone when we get back!

When we got back we visited Sebet’s mother and some of her grandchildren, who had come to the children’s church. They were all laughing and playing together. It was so adorable. I really have never seen such beautiful children before.

When we came back to the compound, we sat down for dinner. Unfortunately, two of our team members aren’t feeling their best so they weren’t able to come with us to the pic-nic or to Sebet’s mom’s house. Hopefully with your prayer and God’s hand, they will be feeling better soon.

Thank you for your love and prayers for our team! It’s a huge blessing to have all of you supporting us.

Joy!

Annabelle

It is Saturday night in Tonj, Sudan. What a day! What a week, for that matter! Being here has been amazing! It is so neat to see God’s hand in everything that is going on here! Yesterday in the clinic, all of the girls were able to observe the birth of a healthy baby Dinka boy. I was even able to help the mid-wife, Stephanie, with the charts. I acted as her personal scribe, writing down everything she told me.  The mother had been in labor for quite a long time, three days if my memory serves me correct.  Stephanie finally had to break the membrane to get things going.  From the time the membrane was broken to the time the baby was born was about thirty minutes – relatively short, considering.  It is amazing how the Dinka people show no emotion unless they are in a considerable amount of pain!  The rest of the evening was pretty much uneventful after experiencing the birth.

Today we journeyed to a lepers’ colony and a Bongo village.  At the lepers’ colony, we were greeted by a few songs.  We then had the chance to sing a couple songs for them, but compared to their singing, ours was nothing to boast about!  The people in Sudan have voices that are so melodious and harmonize wonderfully together.  Mr. Tague and Sabet then shared the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  Before we left, we handed out a couple soccer balls and heaps of shoes that were donated and brought over in the action packers. We then headed to the Bongo village.

It was at least a forty-five minute drive down a very bumpy dirt road, if you can call it a road at all.  The road we took today is more like a path that we would walk along in a forest, narrow and full of ruts.  Oh my word! The Bongo village was amazing! (Fact: the Bongo drum originated from the Bongo tribe.)  At the village, there is an orphanage with at least 100 children.   I immediately felt a connection with one girl, probably seven years of age.  For the rest of my time there, we spent nearly the whole time by each others’ sides.  She even let me hold her baby sister, at least I am assuming they were sisters.  Oh, to hold a little African child!  I wish I could have brought them home with me! If I could, I would adopt them in a heartbeat!

One thing that continues to amaze me is how happy these people are.  They have nothing, yet are perfectly content; in America, we have it all, but continue to search for happiness in all the wrong places.

I feel like I have been here so much longer than just a few days! I feel perfectly at-ease, like I belong here.  It is such a humbling experience.  I am learning what it is to live such a simple life, and I am loving it! I am constantly reminded of Paul’s words, “I know what it is to live in plenty and I know what it is to be in need.”  I miss my family and the comforts of home, but at the same time, I do not want to leave! I am excited to see what God has in store for our remaining time here! Every day just seems to get better and better.

Please continue to pray for our health and safety while we are here.  So far, we have been blessed with both – praise the Lord!

Be His,

Skylar Gross

Our team from Rancho del Rey Chuch just finished their second day of work here in the village of Tonj with the Dinka people.  We are all doing very well.  I will give you the highlights: Getting here, our 28 hours of flying went relatively well, as well as can be expected from 28 hours of sitting on a plane.  Nobody got sick, so Praise the Lord for that! Dennis, Cody and Thadd are working their butts off making bricks for the new medical clinic.  Sweat is literally pouring off of them all morning long!  But they work with happy hearts and joyful spirits.  Cody led worship for us last night around a camp fire after dinner.  He did a great job. The girls, Christie, Skylar, Marli and Annabelle, helped with an outreach medical clinic to the village of Maloy today.  Among other things, the chief of a neighboring village asked Mike Yordt, who was with them, if he would let him have all three available girls (Christie is already married) for 1,000 cows.  Mike said no, but perhaps a little reluctantly, as 1,000 cows is an outrageous price in Sudan. I have been teaching the pastors, Sabet is translating for me and as ever, he is doing an incredible job.  It is a smaller group this time, but this allows us more time for questions.  They are definitely growing in their understanding of the Word.  On the first day, when they came into class, I asked them, instead of sitting at desks while I teach, to show me how respected men in their culture discuss important things.  They told me that they sit around in a circle on the floor. So, I had them remove the desks from the classroom and we sat on the floor together for a few minutes.  I told them that they are pastors just like me.  I have come to teach them, but they are servants of God too and that we will learn from each other.  As they were getting up to put the desks back, one of the pastors, named Moses, said in Dinka, “You know, Abuna Marial (Pastor Matt), he’s almost a Dinka.”  I think that is probably the best compliment I have ever received!! As ever, the work in the medical clinic goes on.  A woman brought in her baby girl two nights ago.  She also had a baby boy that they took to the witch doctor, but he only got worse and died that night.  Because of this, they finally decided to come to the clinic.  This kind of thing is a regular occurence in a culture that is steeped in animism, or the worship of spirits.  This is part of the reason that the work here is so important.  It is a battle of worldviews, where the gospel of Jesus must be shown to be the true path to spiritual life. This afternoon we went into the city of Tonj to do a basketball outreach.  We had the little kids do drills on the only basketball court for probably 200 miles.  It is a sorry looking court, but we made the best of it.  We even played against a team of young men from the village.  We lost because we are out of shape.  We told everyone to come back tomorrow and bring their friends because we want to do another camp with them, teaching them more and also tell them about the church in the compound and introduce them to Jesus. So, if you have some time today, please pray for our outreach tomorrow.  It will begin at 4:00 pm Sudan time, which will be about 5:00 am your time, Friday morning.  Thanks so much for your prayer. As always, it is a totally different world here.  Everybody on the team is doing extremely well and we have been able to be a blessing to the people from RdR who are now working here full time.  We feel your love and your prayers.  God is good and he is doing amazing things.  Thank you for your support and love.  We will be home soon, so keep praying for us. May God bless you richly today!  You will be hearing from other team members on this blog in the following days. -Pastor Matt