Walls Rising Up from the Ashes of War

Merry Christmas and Anjo Kinya u'di si(Happy New Year) to you!

 

After a long absence in the blogger world, we are back! It has been a busy year for us! In addition to keeping up with our energetic and growing kids, we took a road trip to Pennsylvania to visit friends. 

After that, a more somber, but also hopeful trip for the funeral of my Grandmother (92 years old) in Minnesota after Thanksgiving. It was blessing to reconnect with family and celebrate the life of Betty Mae Lueken, who was reunited with her Savior and Grandpa on November 5, 2021. She was an amazing Grandmother who loved Jesus with all her heart!  

Visiting Grandma in 2017

                   It has once again been our opportunity to focus on the amazing gift of God's Son this Christmas season! It is so easy for me to be distracted by the daily doings of life and the busyness of this season in particular. However, God has used a couple things that have helped me regain my focus on our Lord Jesus.

Patience while decorating the Christmas tree

One is watching The Chosen Christmas Special: The Messengers, which was such a worshipful and also realistic look at the birth of Jesus. As being a husband who has travelled on a long journey with a very pregnant wife back in 2017, I can really relate to the Joseph depicted in the Chosen episode!

Secondly, while listening to a Christmas album from my children’s favorite musical artist, I heard a scripture song that really captured the meaning of Christmas for me. Galatians 4:4-7 is a scripture that Joyce and I memorized for our Sonship course and is such a great summary of the Gospel and what Christmas is all about!

    “For when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God."                                                       

This past year has been a time of God revealing to me my own sinfulness and weakness in a personal way. It has been hard and downright depressing at times. Until I get my focus back on Christ and what He has done for me, which is everything I need to be able to be received by God as His child through the work of Jesus.

You can listen to the song,” When the Fullness of the Time Had Come” by Slugs and Bugs here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAJoPVyKYnQ

              Now for some very exciting news regarding the construction of Joyce’s parent’s home in Loa, South Sudan! Since June, we have been wanting to mobilize a construction crew to begin building the walls of Joyce’s parent’s new home in their small community of Ongorro in Loa village. Once the four bedroom house is inhabitable, this would enable Joyce’s family to leave the refugee camps in Uganda and come back to resettle their homeland in South Sudan! Joyce and I would love to be there during the construction and be reunited with Joyce's parents and the rest of the family, but we must wait for God's timing.

             After sorting out logistics and many delays, we were planning for the construction to begin in November, but couldn’t get a work crew to commit before Christmas. Then out of the blue, an engineer/contractor contacted Joyce, who was an old friend of her family. He was looking for work and said he could begin the construction of the foundation and walls the following week!

 

Digging the Foundation

Reaching Window Level

Finishing the final course of bricks.

The Crew arrived on November 26^th and commenced work at a rapid rate. Our Coordinating team of three men were at the work site every day to help with the work and sent us photos and updates. Joyce’s father, Albert, came to see the work the final week and he joined in carrying bricks and small buckets of cement for the masons, at age 76! 

The water holding tank for construction.

My father-in-law (in the white) hard at work

    The men faced some challenges with getting water and also with a very LARGE animal that has become a nuisance to South Sudanese rebuilding their homes and is quite dangerous!

                After 2016, when most of the people had fled to Uganda, many villages were uninhabited and the homes were burnt by wildfires. In the last five years, large groups of elephants have moved into the area and destroyed 5 large mango trees that were growing in Joyce’s family's homestead. The elephants are known to attack humans and there have been incidents in the last year as people have been resettling other parts of Loa and neighboring towns. A couple weeks ago, an adult elephant and baby fell into a deep well that people were using to renovate the Loa Health Center. One died and could not be extricated by the South Sudan Wildlife department.

A borehole that had it's metal handle bent 90 degrees.... by an elephant!

God protected the men as they worked, ate and slept in Loa, where they were the only people in that area. One of the final evenings that the crew was there, they observed a large heard of elephants within sight that were playing around there. They did not approach the men, the work site, or even drink out of the water tank!

The construction was started on November 26^th and 1^st phase of the work was completed on December 17^th. As I am writing, the walls are finished!

 Joyce and I are so thankful for Bosco and his crew’s hard work, our coordinating team’s continued dedication to the project, and for our cook, who made sure the men had the energy they needed for the work. Also, a big thanks to Joyce’s Uncle William and the ground team of Operation Nehemiah for the use of their backhoe in preparing the site for construction and digging up maram (soil for construction).

 

Walls complete and ready for a roof!

The Construction Crew and most of our coordinating team, including Joyce's father on the far left.

 We are now looking at the 2nd phase of construction, which is roofing the house. God has already provided almost half of the funds that we need to start and you can join us in prayer that God will supply the rest in His timing! We are hoping to begin the 2^nd phase in January 2022.

 

Winter in the Berkshires(Western MA)

                As Joyce and I enter the winter season, we are hoping to really focus on our Sonship course as we have 7 lessons left. I also will be beginning to homeschool Patience this year and she is very excited about it. As a couple we will be continuing to seek the Lord for His direction as we consider moving forward with Serge and desire to return to South Sudan. At this point it looks like the earliest we could return will be winter 2022/2023 or spring 2023, but God knows and is in total control of our return.

 

Please Pray for:

~The Construction of Joyce’s parent’s home in Loa. For God’s provision to begin the 2^nd phase in January.

~Protection from the elephants! That the Lord will protect the walls of the house from being knocked down, as no one is around there right now. Also, protection for the men when they return to work.

~God’s wisdom and guidance as Joyce and I learn more about the Gospel through Sonship and draw closer to God as we seek Him together as a couple over the winter.

~Wisdom in homeschooling Patience so that she can gain a LOVE for learning!

~For Joyce’s family, that God would give them Grace for life in the refugee camps and bring them back home soon.

 

Patience and Benaiah wishing you a Happy New Year!

Hope you had a blessed Christmas and discover Jesus in a new way this coming year!

Rubanga Kolu Nyito (God be with you)

~Jonathan and Joyce Lueken    Phone #: 774-203-8308

PayPal jonlueken@gmail.com  

Mail checks PAYABLE to Jonathan Lueken   PO Box 1611 Stockbridge, MA, 01262

Temporary GoFundMe link for those who don't have Paypal:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/jon-and-joyce-2021-trip-to-south-sudan?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

Returning from South Sudan: A Relational Retreat

 

A Hearty Hello and Ingoni to you!

       I am writing to you from the green and rainy Berkshires (Western Massachusetts)! We have returned, but I wanted to summarize our last couple weeks in South Sudan, before letting you know what is on the horizon for us.

Tea with the cousins!

Breakfast at our house.

Our rental home in Nimule was a quiet refuge for us, but was not without its dangers. We always had to be vigilant at night for scorpions that would try to crawl up into the house and we killed 2-3 every evening.

Benaiah at work,

Making aggregate(Korokoto) with Ego Ego (Uncle Robert)

The location for Joyce’s parent’s home has been chosen in Loa, but because of sickness and difficulty in finding transportation, we were unable to begin the construction. We have an engineer/contractor who will be doing the work and with the materials already on site, we are hoping to begin construction sometime in June and continue through this year.

Loading the dump truck.

Surveying the materials and building location with our friend.

 The final weeks of our trip were FULL of goodbyes, packing up the rental house, and getting quality time with our family and friends. I was blessed to be able to do evening devotions every night with our extended family (9 adults and 12+ children total) while we were there. We were studying the book of Luke, as well as singing hymns in Madi and other worship songs. We were sad to leave the quiet hills of Nimule and all the friends and family in South Sudan. I was able to say farewell to the community there on radio and get some time on-air with one of my good friends and a fellow worker in the Gospel.  

Packing...

and loading up.

     We crossed the border into Uganda early in order to visit family who had not been able to come and see us. However, getting across the border was quite the ordeal and it took us over two hours to be permitted to enter the Ugandan town of Elegu, well after sundown. In the process, Immigration confiscated our passports and wouldn’t release them until we got the Covid tests for our flight, which would be the following week. Without passports, there was no way we could travel to the refugee camps to say goodbye to Joyce’s parents and the rest of the family there (Her parents and siblings had returned to the camps because their house in Loa is not finished and all their old houses in Loa were destroyed during war).

Instead, we stayed in the close-to-border town of Bibia with Joyce’s uncles and had some great fellowship there with many people. We were blessed that Joyce’s Father, Mother, and other family were able to come visit us there, so we could see them one last time.

Visiting while shelling peanuts.

Patience and her best friend/auntie.

Taking a walk and eating mangos.

 I had a lot of quality time with Lozi, my wife’s cousin. Many of you have prayed for him. He is still struggling with his leg, which was recently broken (on top of many infections and resulting surgeries he has had for several years). Though still on crutches and with a lot of metal parts in his leg, Lozi is always cheerful and loves to interact with the children that are around him. He went back to the regional Hospital for a checkup this month.

Lozi and I

 Goodbyes are always difficult and it was not an easy thing to leave on Wednesday, the 14th, for Kampala, knowing the distance that would separate us in a few short days. We thank God for this trip and the relational connections and reconnections that were made.  It was a breath of fresh air to live a simple life in South Sudan for two months.

Goodbyes...

    Our drive down to the airport, near Kampala, commenced with a late start and we had, not one, but TWO rear tires blowout within an hour of each other. These delays hindered us from reaching another one of Joyce’s cousins in Kampala that night and we had to stay in a hotel along the way. We were thankful for making it to our cousin’s house without any further mishaps the following day and were able to freshen up and share a meal before leaving for the airport. The flight was pleasantly uneventful and not fraught with the worrying delays of our February flight. We departed on April 15 at night and arrived in Boston on the afternoon of the 16^th.

First Tire...

Second Tire

Rest stop with family before our flight.

We are thankful to now be home and to have long since completed our quarantine after all receiving negative Covid results. Initially it took some weeks for us to adjust to the time difference and it was easy for us to be ready to sleep by early evening.

 

     Looking ahead, Joyce and I will be beginning the process of applying with Serge (https://serge.org/ ) and also continuing our studies in the Sonship course. Joyce is excited to pursue her study of midwifery and look for hands-on practical here as it presents itself. You can pray for us to find the time to study daily, as we raise two world-changing toddlers. Patience and Benaiah are excited for the warm weather (though not quite as warm as Africa) and the ability to play outside every day, barefoot and carefree!

    We are praying for this time in the States to be orchestrated by the Lord and fruitful in the works He has for us. We are not exactly sure when God will open the door for us to return to Africa, but hope it is soon. I am trusting that God will also assist us in the construction in Loa, so Joyce’s family can return to South Sudan and not have to stay too much longer in the refugee camps.

Benaiah enjoys sitting on a Ugandan Wheel barrow

 

Please continue to pray for:

~God’s Grace to be on Joyce’s family and on us as we are apart and missing each other.

~God’s direction and guidance for the construction of Joyce’s family’s home. Though we desire it to be done efficiently, we are asking the Lord to show us his perfect timing and the wisdom for how the work will go forward, as we are far away.

~Lozi(Joyce's Cousin) and his leg, that he would feel the presence of Jesus at this time. As he has little mobility and cannot go to school or help his mother with chores around the house, I pray that God would meet him in a special way. He went for a check up on his leg this month.  

~Equipping and practical training for Joyce in Midwifery so that the Lord might fulfill her heart’s desire to help the women in South Sudan.

~Our transition into the process of joining Serge ( https://serge.org/ ), a Grace based, international missions organization. That the Lord would disciple us in the Gospel as we learn from others and that we would have needed accountability as we ask God to lead us in our desire to return to service in East Africa.

~For Joyce and I personally, that we would be able to truly know and to show our children the gospel of Grace in Jesus and that all our children would come to love the Lord Jesus with all their heart, as they discover how much He loves them.

 Thank you so much for your prayers and support! I know that this trip would have not been possible if God had not put it on your heart to lift us in prayer.

A branch of the Nile River

Rubanga Kolu Nyito (God be with you)

~Jonathan and Joyce Lueken    Phone #: 774-203-8308

PayPal jonlueken@gmail.com  

Mail checks PAYABLE to Jonathan Lueken   PO Box 1611 Stockbridge, MA, 01262

Temporary GoFundMe link for those who don't have Paypal:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/jon-and-joyce-2021-trip-to-south-sudan?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

Last Update from South Sudan before returning to U.S. though we don't want to leave!

 Greetings from Equatorial South Sudan!

The early rains have started here and along with everything beginning to turn green, we are noticing cooler temperatures and an increase in the mosquito population.

Uncle Josh & Patience talk about riding a crocodile at the airport

A Visit to the Nile with the Cousins
(but no crocodiles!)

 

We've made a lot of relational connects with family and old friends and made new friends. We are very happy of to have Joyce's parents finally join us. They have come to stay with us from the refugee camps, a couple of weeks ago, here at our rental house.  We've had opportunity to have visits from many of Joyce's family. Many of her Uncles came a couple weeks ago & her sister Grace stayed to help for 4 weeks! Another one of Joyce's sisters & an older nephew (who is alot of help) has come to stay with us for a short time. And a number of other nieces and nephews have come to visit and stay awhile. The current number of cousins at our house comes to 12 girls and 3 boys (Including Patience & Benaiah). They are constantly playing from sunrise to sunset so that by 8pm most have dropped off to sleep from sheer exhaustion. 

Coloring!

Patience helps build our "local stove".

"1..2..3..Iri! I'm a teacher, Follow me!"

It's such a blessing to be able to stay with Joyce's parents and many other family members, since I've never had the opportunity to spend extensive time with all of them before.

Visiting with the Uncles

Da'da Africa (Joyce's mom) and Benaiah

 
Benaiah is repeating in his own way every word he hears, both in Madi and English. Patience is starting to pick up words & phrases as well. 

We've had a couple of bouts of sickness since we got here. A few weeks ago, Patience had cold symptoms & cough that was getting better, but then she spiked a high fever that caused us to carry her on foot to hospital at 3am. We stayed there for two days. The first day malaria test came back negative & the next day Covid was ruled out. 

A welcome distraction in pediatric ward

Benaiah plays while Baba gets some needed fluids and rest.

Both Joyce, Benaiah & I had major stomach issues & I was especially laid pretty low. I spent an afternoon at the local clinic, they ruled out malaria and typhoid & other things, so we are pretty sure it was some type of food poisoning. This past week Patience has dealt with frequent diarrheas' and had a high fever. A doctor put her on malaria medication and she has completely improved since she began taking it. There is a lot of new bacteria and germs we are being exposed to as we adjust, but God has been helping us to fight these illnesses and recover.

Not too long ago, we were able to go & survey Joyce's family's compound (cluster of huts) in Loa (about 1/2 hour north of where we are in Nimule). We found that all the houses have to be rebuilt from the ground up and all the mango trees have been destroyed by elephants and fire. We will be working together to build a  larger house that Joyce's parents can stay in along with one of her brothers and his family. My in-laws will have family close by and more coming as the rest of Joyce's siblings gradually return.

   We have started transporting loads of sand, brick, and aggregate (large gravel) to the homesite in Ongorro village, a small community within the village of Loa. We are encouraged to see others begin to come back to Loa and start rebuilding. There are other villages in our area that are full of people and more returning all the time. It is exciting and a true answer to prayer.

Surveying the old houses in Joyce's home compound

Cleaning up the compound in Loa

In front of Joyce's parent tukkel(hut) (L to R: Jonathan, Agala(brother), Albert(Father) Grace(Sister), Patience, Moriku Rozana(Mother) Joyce, and Benaiah 

One disappointing realization we have come to is that are two month stay here is not going to be enough for Joyce to get the midwifery practical we had been hoping for. The personal connections Joyce made with local midwives were unsuccessful as the village midwives she contacted were all retired and some had lost their papers in the civil war, excluding them from being able to enter and work in the hospital if there was an emergency. Joyce has some connections in the maternity ward but the process to begin working there would take one to two months, so we would be gone by the time she was authorized to help in the ward. We are trusting God has a plan and Joyce will continue her independent midwifery studies when we return to the states. Our hope is that our next trip will be longer and give Joyce the time she needs to get hands-on practical here in South Sudan.

Morning Breakfast preparations are always a production

Cousin's Taking Tea

Sadly, our time here is coming to an end and we have one week in South Sudan until we enter Uganda to visit Family. We will be flying for the USA on the 15th of April.

Another big thanks to "Let's Dress the Girls"!

Sisters cooking together.

A big thank you to my friend who blessed many households with quality kitchen knives.

Since we arrived here in the middle of February, my burden for the people of South Sudan to know the true Gospel has grown. On a daily basis, I am faced with utter poverty, broken families, and desperation as people struggle to survive. The physical needs are great, but the underlying spiritual sickness has me crying out to Jesus. My plea to the Lord is that in my own human brokenness, I can point to Christ's wholeness and ability to redeem any life.

Please Pray for:

-Our daily relational connections with Family, friends, and the community here, that Christ might live the Gospel through us.

-That God would direct and guide the process of rebuilding a home in Loa, South Sudan for Joyce's family.

-God's hand on our physical health and that we would be fully recovered and healthy as we prepare to fly to the US.

-As families begin to return from the camps, that their hearts would be changed by the Gospel so that instead of seeking prosperity, the people of South Sudan would desire to build the kingdom of God.

-God's direction as Joyce and I hope to apply to join Serge (https://serge.org/), A cross-denominational Grace based, mission sending organization this  summer. We are asking God to lead us as we hope to come under the direction and accountability of experienced and mature servants of God. Joyce and I both hunger for a deep discipleship in the Gospel and are very thankful for the Sonship discipleship program that we are going through right now.

-Thank you for your continued prayers and willingness to follow us in the great adventure the Lord Jesus has set before us. 

Benaiah saying: "The excitement never ends!"

Rubanga Kolu Nyito (God be with you)

~Jonathan and Joyce Lueken    Phone #: 774-203-8308

PayPal jonlueken@gmail.com  

Mail checks PAYABLE to Jonathan Lueken   PO Box 1611 Stockbridge, MA, 01262

Temporary GoFundMe link for those who don't have Paypal:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/jon-and-joyce-2021-trip-to-south-sudan?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

First 2 weeks in South Sudan

 Greetings from sunny, HOT, South Sudan

We arrived Sun. Feb 14 to Juba, the capitol of South Sudan and had the blessing of staying with some of Joyce's relatives. Patience really enjoyed playing with alot of cousins around her age. And with the help of our friend Isaac & Joyce's uncle, we were able to make the 2 1/2 hour trek (3 1/2 hours b/c of road conditions) from Juba to Nimule (Nim-u-lay) the sprawling border town that borders Uganda.

Benaiah loving playing with his sister!

The only loss of luggage was Jon's binoculars that were confiscated as the airport. In South Sudan binoculars are seen as a weapon of war and they don't understand at all "bird watching".

We arrived at our rental home as it was getting dark & were welcomed by some of Joyce's family who had worked hard to prepare the house for our arrival. Since then, we have had lots of friends and family come to visit us, so Patience and Benaiah have had lots of playmates.

Cousins who are blessed by Let's Dress the Girls dresses

.    

Joyce's sister, Grace, staying to help 

We are settling into daily life here... getting water from the Bor Hole; walking 3 miles to the market almost daily to get food to cook from home (no refrigeration); cooking with charcoal outside; and a little solar for lights and charging phones (anything more blows the system). 

We live on a hillside on the outskirts of Nimule. It's a beautiful, quiet place to pray and live & work with others from Joyce's family. We are excitedly anticipating the soon arrival of Joyce's parents to come from the refuge camp to stay with us. And it's been wonderful reconnecting with old friends that we have not seen in a long time. 

Wonderful reunion with close friends & partners in the Gospel

Now that we are developing a home routine, we are looking to connect with a local hospital so Joyce can set up and internship or get some practical experience in either the hospital or with a local village midwife. 

While enjoying time with Joyce's parents here, our hope is to return with them to their cluster of Tukels (huts) in Loa, South Sudan to work together to rebuild their homes that have been stripped & burned. There is much to do, so we ask God to lead us/them step by step.

I, Jonathan, already had opportunity to share on the RMC Christian radio (a local Nimule station with translation by the pastor/co-host) He has asked me to preach at his church on Sunday Feb. 28th. I will be preaching the Gospel to myself first and sharing with others our great need of His mercy and grace. By the time you wake up Sunday morning our service in South Sudan will be over as we are 7 hours ahead of those in EST.  I will be returning to share on the radio the next Friday March 5th.

Please pray for:

~ Our health as both kids are currently fighting cold symptoms & they have also received several mosquito bites since we've arrived, but no signs of malaria yet. And for the children as they acclimate to a totally different culture, language and climate.

~ Contacts with friends and family and, as the Lord leads, that we give grace and love to all we meet as we need it from Jesus ourselves.

~ God to bless sharing and preaching on radio & Sunday, that His Word would go forward and not my own.

~ My computer that won't start up,  for help to restore my computer so I would be able to do my own blog posts and keep up with emails and share photos more readily.

~ God to open the door so that Joyce can get some needed experience in midwifery & being a doula.

~ that God would guide and provide for Joyce's family in the desire to rebuild their homes in Loa.

~ that God would work in heart after heart giving each one of us a greater hunger for His Word and the Good News of the Gospel for us, sinners.

Pics enroute at the Kenyan Airport