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