Ingoni! (Hello) Nichwi? (Are you well?)
My family and I are excitedly
preparing for returning to my beloved Borongole on November 29th! God
provided so that our airfare is now booked and my family will be spending seven weeks on the ground, returning to America the 21st of January, while I stay
on until late 2016.
There
is a lot of progress being made on the ground in South Sudan and I am excited
to see the results when I get there. Among the developments is a septic system
being put in the village, which will enable us to replace less sanitary pit
latrines with toilets!
Please pray for the remaining $4,500
needed for supplies, bills, travel expenses, and antivenom/venom extractor kits
to take over with us.
Some of you might have wondered, where the
"Adventures in South Sudan" have gone? Or maybe that life is just so
mellow in our part of Africa that there are no adventures to report!
Well, the fact is there have been numerous
adventures, but the busyness of: bushwhacking in Africa, Getting cerebral
malaria(and taking a three day nap), recovering, taking a missionary medical
intensive course, and then a several week road trip, have not freed up the time for
such chronicling.
I am now making the valiant effort to
resurrect the adventures(at least one) on my blog before I go to South Sudan to make more! I hope
you enjoy.
I have been reflecting on veterans this past week, and thinking of my
family members who have or are serving. I have felt privileged that the
military in this country was founded to protect its civilians. I use to take it
for granted that if you saw someone in uniform, you knew they were living by an
honorable code of conduct which governed (at least outwardly) their actions and
behavior.
Living in a foreign country, you come to
realize that not all militaries have the same standards and often,
circumstantially, are shaped to be less desirable. When a citizen of his native
country gets beaten, by a soldier of that same country, for no reason and a court
martial isn't forthcoming, there is room for concern!
In South Sudan, the villagers and city
dwellers have this in common: They share a dread of both enemy rebel groups and
the military that is supposed to be protecting them. The soldiers there have
been known to hit first and ask questions later. As a citizen, you can be
forced to feed and house any soldier that asks and often women are taken
advantage of.
Now, before you start throwing shoes and
tomatoes in righteous indignation, spare your computer screen! It will help to
step into the boots of these military men first.
Picture the years preceding this nation's independence:
A guerilla soldier hiding in the bush,
fighting an Islamic force that outmans, outguns, outdrives, and outflies him
and his motley crew of comrades. They perform hit and run techniques on a
day or night basis, the ever present fear, that the next barrage of bullets
will land where you are standing. His house and garden were burned to the
ground years ago and the only thing that he owns are the clothes on his back.
Fast forward to the independence of
South Sudan(2011) . This under-resourced army has won their freedom to be their own
nation. Those former dirt poor soldiers now have a regular salary, uniforms
that people respect, a gun to back up their authority, and extra money which
regularly flows through their hands. With no formal eduction or understanding
of the responsibility to protect the people under there watch, how could they
do anything, but take an unfair advantage of those under them?
All these realities are true, but with
the introduction of Jesus Christ, amazing changes take place.
During the recent civil war within the S Sudan
Government, government troops were sent to our area to protect the main road from the threat of the opposing rebel forces cutting off the main transportation route. A whole division set up camp half a mile away and
begin patrolling the area. Great fear and trepidation settled upon our
community. Worries of being falsely accused, beaten, and the safety of the
young women was at the forefront. People were to stay close to home and never
be out beyond dark.
Our leadership team in Borongole felt a
calling to do something which was insanity to everyone around us. God was
calling us to help and show His love to our military.
This was done through: -Giving medicine
to sick soldiers, -lending tools to work crews, -transportation with our
vehicles, giving Bibles and solar radios, and friendly communication with the leaders and officers.
As we did this a strange thing happened......
They became our friends! You know your on good terms when a high commander will
come to your village in his off time to share a coke(yes, they do drink coke in
Africa), or a meal and chat. We prayed that this friendship would be an opportunity
to share the good news of Christ sacrifice for us. It turned out that God had a
hidden blessing and would use this relationship as His divine intervention on
behalf of the village and ministry.
A month later a double trouble situation
arose.
First a false accusation was made against locals in the area including Senior Pastor Michael Levi.
Second, another tribe began grazing their cows
and trespassing on our farmland. The definition of a large herd of
cattle is one that takes more than 15 minutes to completely pass by(not to
mention totally trample any crops that were once growing!). Unfortunately, we
couldn't tell these cattle raisers to get lost, because it is difficult to argue
with someone carrying an AK-47. This particular tribe had a reputation for
being very fierce (and armed) and was in the habit of stealing other's
land.
Some people were advising Pastor Michael to
run away and save himself. We were told to resign ourselves to the fact that
nothing would get the squatters off our land.
Instead of listening to this advice, we
prayed. Pastor Michael and County Director Timothy, along with our compound
manager and myself, went to the barracks in faith that God would work on our
behalf. With the accusing article in hand, we laid out both cases before the
high commanders.
In very short order, Michael's name was
cleared from the false report and the intruding herdsman (with fore mentioned
herd) were forced to leave. This incredible intervention was not lost on our
neighbors, who asked,
"Where do you get your power?"
The answer is from the powerful hand of God,
changing hearts and being glorified in it. Did I mention that in May, the Major
in charge of the barracks called a prayer gathering to dedicate the military
post to the Lord? Several churches were invited (including our congregation in Borongole) along with many governing officials from the area. I listened for two hours in amazement, as officers and officials exhorted the people to turn back to the Word of God for wisdom. Everyone was called on to pray to the Lord God for peace, amongst civillians and soldiers, and reconcilliation amongst the warring factions in South Sudan. A revival in the camp was being witnessed! Pastor Michael said that in all his years of living in South Sudan, he had never seen this happen before. A miracle indeed!!
"You
pushed me violently, that I might fall,
But
the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and
song, And He has become my salvation...
This
was the Lord’s
doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes."
Psalm 118:13-14; 23
Rubanga kola nito (God be with you)!
~Jonathan Lueken with Operation Nehemiah
774-254-4336
Operation Nehemiah Missions website www.operationsnehemiah.org
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