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

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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

Embarking on another African Adventure! Brief Update From the African Luekens

 Ingoni? (How are you?)

       In the past week our family has been frantically rushing about, busier than a monkey eating mangoes, while being attacked by mango ants! Shopping, packing, organizing, & keeping Benaiah from climbing on the kitchen table has been keeping our hands full.

Making Sil-wy-wy(African Cookie) for our travel snacks.

In the midst of this chaos, God has opened the door for purchasing our airfare last Thursday & we have a date of departure! We will be flying out of Boston Logan Airport on the 12 of February, which is today. We have two stops along the way & will be 33 hours in the air with layovers. We are scheduled to arrive in Juba, South Sudan on Sunday afternoon. (8 hours ahead of EST) 

We were given a special missionary 10 bag allowance, but because of the abundant donations & needed supplies for our rental home, we have to pay for two extras.

It took us a few days to make sense of the COVID testing requirements for South Sudan (72 hours before landing!!).  We drove 2 hours to get tests yesterday & hope to have the results at least a few hours before our flight. God is leading us as we even got some specific guidance ahead of time through the experience of friends who just travelled to South Sudan.

A'bi entertaining the children while we pack.

We know that as we set out on this adventure and board the plane, there will be many blessings, but also many challenges as we get on the ground. We are asking you to uphold us in your prayers and we are holding onto the promise that Jesus is with us in all these things.

Please pray for:

-The grace for our children and ourselves on the 33-hour flight to the African Continent.

-The remaining provision needed for customs, travel, and daily living expenses on the ground.

-Provision to begin rebuilding the Kenyi homestead (Joyce’s family) in Loa and bring her parents and family out of the refugee camps, back to their homes in South Sudan.

        -God’s assisting our children (and us) to adjust to a different (very hot) climate and for Patience and Benaiah, a different culture.

        -That God would give us heart full of love and grace for our family, friends, and strangers we meet along the way. Our desire is to be a blessing and to live out the Gospel that God has planted and is growing in our hearts.

 

Benaiah & Patience can't wait see there A'bi & Da'da Africa (Joyce's Father & Mother)

Thank you for your prayers and continued support as we set out on an adventurous expedition with the Lord Jesus blazing the trail!

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

Preparing and Trusting: Quick Update from Jon and Joyce

     We have good news to share and quite a lot to pray about. 

Benaiah the Brave being Benaiah the Cool!

On January 28th our visas arrived in the mail! This opens the door for us to shop for flights and we are now looking to buy our airfare. We have enough funds for three tickets and asking God to provide for the fourth. We hope to leave by the 11th or 12th of February, as the time on our three month visas are already running. Please pray as we desire to book the airfare in the next couple of days.

    There are still several things we need to purchase to bring along with us. We also need provision for travel and living in Africa expenses. It is quite overwhelming to think of all that needs to fall into place. We are asking the Lord to give us the Grace to do the next thing in front of us and Trust He will bring this trip to fruition. If I am learning anything in this time it is that no matter how much I try to do to prepare my family for our travels, God is the only one who can bring it to pass. The Lord Jesus is in total control of the timing for this trip.

Our rental home, where we will be hosting Joyce's parent's
so they can come out of the refugee camp.

Please pray for:

-Provision for a 4th airfare ticket so we can book our flights. Hoping to leave before Valentines Day.

-We still have some important items we need to purchase, to use on our trip and will need to do some local shopping in the next week.

-The provision to travel and the living expenses we will accrue while we are in Nimule for two months.

-We still strongly desire to begin the restoration of Joyce's family's home in Loa, South Sudan. Pray that God will give us all we need to be a blessing to Joyce's family and to work alongside them in reestablishing their home in South Sudan. 

-Above all, that God would be glorified in our lives to others and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be seen in all we do.

After a foot of snow, Joyce is ready for the Equator!

Thank you for your prayers and we look forward to sharing the praise report of what God does in this time!

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