A Bend in the Trail: Adventures in South Sudan, Africa: January 2021

Anjo Kinya Udi Si(Happy New Year)!

I hope you are well in this new year! For us, 2020 was full and challenging, yet went by so quickly. Joyce has a homemade sign on the refrigerator that says: “We are where God wants us to be at this exact moment, every experience is part of His Divine Plan”. Many times, this past year as I looked at what was happening around me in our country, the world, and my own inward struggles, I admit that I doubted. Was this where God really wanted me? And is this something that the Lord was redeeming?

Then I remembered what the Disciples must have felt after the Lord Jesus’ Crucifixion. There king had died, they were still under Roman occupation, and now their own religious leaders persecuted them. It would be three dark days later that the Light of their Hope would appear before them! Despite the darkness that may loom ahead, let us hold onto the hope that God indeed has a good plan and will redeem all things for good. Romans 8:28.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Making ginger bread cookies with Da'da(Grandma).

The Whole Lueken Clan together.

Where to start? Winter has set in here in the Berkshires, for which my children are thrilled and my wife, not so much. Snow storms are always a reason for the kids to suit up and go outside. I(Jonathan) split wood, Patience loves to shovel snow and make snowmen, while Benaiah is incredibly fond of eating the snow. Joyce stays inside.

Enjoying a snack outside.

A'bi and Patience with a new friend!

Good news for Joyce (and the rest of us) is that God is opening the way for our family to be snowbirds this winter! As I write this, the remaining Passports have arrived, needed vaccines are given, and we are waiting for the approval/arrival of Visas, before we purchase airfare. Our travels to South Sudan are taking shape and we are very excited for the opportunity to spend time with family and friends, whom we have not seen for 4 years. Our hope is to stay for a couple months and get some quality time with Joyce’s Parents, who will be meeting their grandchildren for the first time!

We hope to do visiting of different churches in the area and reconnect with old friends. The added blessing is the opportunity to travel with dear friends who are also visiting S. Sudan to visit family at the same time. Though the preparations are coming together, there are several outstanding needs of provision for supplies and funds while on the ground that we are praying for. Thank you for praying with us that God will make a way for this desire of our heart to be back in our beloved South Sudan!

Bird's-eye view of the town of Nimule

The Nile River

One goal that we are asking God to bless is the desire to begin rebuilding Joyce’s family's home in Loa, about 25 minutes north of the border town of Nimule. Her parents and Joyce’s siblings had to flee with their families in 2016 because of the civil war. Since then, thieves and bush fires have left charred walls, where there use to be rustic and beautiful tukkels(Huts). My in-laws worked hard and risked their lives to bring their family back in 2008 from a previous civil war, but now as they are getting older and fighting recent bouts of sickness, they do not have the energy to pioneer as they once did.

As God provides the funds, we hope to spend some weeks in cleaning and rebuilding so that Joyce’s family can come out of the refugee camps and permanently settle in their home of Loa, South Sudan. South Sudan has become a lot more stable politically in the last year. Thank you for praying as we join hands with Joyce’s family to see the Lord re-establish them in their own country.

Loa, South Sudan

Another exciting opportunity is for Joyce to work toward getting her doula certificate and some midwifery practical experience in the town of Nimule. She hopes to connect with a local village midwife and attend several births while we are there. She is looking forward to the experience and to be able to help mothers in her own country.

So much greater than the physical goals for this trip, we ask God to prepare our hearts so we can show the Love and Grace of Jesus to our family and everyone we come in contact with. We want them to know the Father’s love so that they might no longer look to their own righteousness, cultural Christianity, or good works, but take on the perfect record of the Savior and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to live in obedience to His Will!

Please Pray for:

-God to prepare our hearts to show His love to our family and friends in South Sudan and to preach the gospel with our lives.

- God’s timing for the return of our approved visa applications, which we sent in on Wednesday, Jan. 13^th.

-The rest of the provision needed for airfare, supplies for the trip, and daily living costs while we are on the ground for two months or more. Believing and hoping to leave by the beginning of February.

- The provision of extra bibles that we can freely give to those who have the desire for God’s word.

-Protection in our travels and as we stay in South Sudan. We know Jesus will be with us every step of the way, through the potential exposure to disease and other dangers.

-Our desire to rebuild Joyce’s family's home in Loa and the needed provision for building supplies, tools, and skilled labor to restore their homes in South Sudan.

-Open doors for Joyce to get experience in midwifery, through assisting a local village midwife in Nimule, South Sudan.

-That the greed, corruption, and sin in men’s hearts (which is being clearly observed in the USA, East Africa, and all over the globe) would point all of us to Jesus, the Healer and Restorer of this broken and battered world.

We are so blessed by your prayers for us and certainly covet them in the months ahead. We can’t thank you enough for your support and look forward to walking God’s trail in this new year, together with you!