Doing Kingdom work in Southern Sudan

HI from South Africa. Mark continues to do well. He had a bit more pain last night and didn’t sleep well, but he took some good naps during the day! They had him up and walking a couple of times. He will come home from the hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, I (Cathy) will go into the hospital for three days of traction to try and sort out a neck problem. It is NOT a pinched nerve; it appears to be a disk that has degenerated somewhat and is bulging, putting pressing on my neck. The traction is one hour on/one hour off for three days, and fortunately for me does not involve needles or IV’s. I will be able to get up and walk around during my hours “off” (although I will be on pretty heavy muscle relaxers so won’t try to do anything except maybe read!)Â I will be ready to come home on Sunday afternoon as well.

I also found out the pain in my other arm is caused by my shoulder, so I have an appointment with the shoulder specialist on Friday. We will just hope that’s not something serious!!!

So, next update will be Sunday evening or Monday morning. No news is good news!

Cathy

Mark’s surgery went well. He is out and (groggily) awake. I will have a chance to visit again this afternoon. Will let you know how he’s doing.

Cathy

Warriors,

1. The training session last week at the Bible school went great. Eighteen local pastors were trained in “purity and holiness” and “giving”. The very next day there was a shooting in Akot and the director of the school reported to us that because of the training they were able to deal with the trouble in a Christian way.

2. On Tuesday morning at about 8 am Jo-burg time (about midnight EST) Mark will be having his knee replacement surgery. He will then be in the hospital for about a week of recovery and rehab before a further month of rehab in Jo-burg. Pray for a steady hand and sharp mind for the surgeon and his staff. The surgery was moved up a week for which we are grateful.

3. Cathy arrived safely on Saturday – though with a long delay in Nairobi due to a Kenyan Airways strike that was going on – and is now here in Jo-burg with Mark – PTL

To the King be the glory,

mk

Warriors,

2. Cathy will be coming to join me here on the 15th. In between now and then she will be traveling to Juba, Kapoeta and Nairobi. That’s lots of plane connections that need to be made (many on little dirt airstrips) so be praying for her. Her schedule is:

- 10 August (Monday)Â WFP Rumbek-Juba
- 11 August (Tuesday)Â WFP Juba-Kapoeta
- 14 August (Friday)Â MAF Kapoeta-Nairobi
- 15 August (Saturday) to Joberg.

3. We have created a new home page “Pray Now” box on our sudansouth.org web site. You can go there anytime to find out what is urgent in the prayer lives of our team.

mk

Warriors,

What a month. In the last update I told you about our prayer retreat and our Sectional meeting – as well as requesting some other intercessions. Lots of good news in this one…..

1. The Lewis house is now on site in Riwoto (outside of Kapoeta)!!! The foundations are going in and we have a great Kenyan contractor there helping them with the myriad of other tasks that go into setting up a compound to live on in the bush. What a huge praise to God for this happening. We still have a couple more containers to get in and out to the site so please be praying for these to get there fast, before the roads get washed out. There was a communications snafu (once again) and the paperwork for the other containers didn’t get where they needed to be – but they are now. PTL

2. Our family had an incredible time together on a sailboat in the Mediterranean. We all met up in Istanbul, with no flight glitches and only one delayed piece of luggage, and spent a few days with some dear friends. Then a week sailing around some of God’s most beautiful creations with a small, but great group of people. This is one of those times that will be indelibly inscribed in each of our minds and hearts. Everyone is now back in our respective homes and back to serving the King in those places. Thanks for praying us though this holiday – it was wonderful being together.

3. We have a very good possibility looming on the horizon. A new couple are looking at one of our key job requests and are moving along in the process to come out as our Youth Work Directors. Please be praying for Michael and Rachael as they travel through this new season of life. Pray that all the communications between the field and Richmond will be clear and that this assignment will be filled by this family (they have a young daughter, Esther). We are over-the-top about this good news.

4. All of our journeymen are now back together in Sudan and everyone is healthy! That in itself is reason for great rejoicing as the past few months were pretty rough on the team. Cathy and I travel in tomorrow morning (Saturday) to join up with them. The HIV/AIDS team have a volunteer team coming in later this month so be praying for them. You can probably read more about this team on our sudansouth.org web site (maybe on the “CAPS” site on the home page). Continue to be praying for the other programs they are involved in with the youth in Rumbek – read all about them on their blogs from the sudansouth website.

5. Remember to keep praying for the Lewis family as they settle into their assignment in Taposa land. They are now busy with language and culture acquisition while at the same time watching their home being built in the bush. Their young boys have adapted quite well so far. The first week we were with them you wouldn’t have known that they hadn’t lived there for a year already – trapping birds, hunting snakes, playing with the local kids, constructing all manner of local “crafts” and pretty much enjoying bush life.

My oh my, God is so good….all the time. We on the Sudan team feel so blessed to have a great team of prayer warriors like you who intercede for us, and who praise the King along side of us.

To God be the glory,

mk

Warriors,

I have been very remiss in updating you lately – and it is showing in our lives. Our whole team has been struggling with various sicknesses, discouragement, and a general weariness in our daily lives. We have two weeks before we all go out for our annual prayer retreat (June 4-5) followed by our Sectional meeting where the whole missionary force in seven countries comes together for a week. Our team, for one, really needs this break. Pray for a refreshing and rejuvenating time for each of us.

1. The HIV/AIDS program of Jennifer and Whitney has really gotten off the ground in the past couple of weeks. They have begun teaching in some schools in the Rumbek area and have gotten a positive response so far. Continue to uplift this team as they are still in the “testing” phase of the program. They have been very encouraged the past weeks but also realize they have quite a task ahead of them.

2. Laura and Jamie have started a new program to assist young ladies in school. They have designed a women’s hygiene product using local materials and are training the girls in the local primary schools around Rumbek how to make them. This will increase the time the girls are in school each month. This is a great program that has the blessing of the Ministry of Education and includes a gospel presentation each time.

3. The Rumbek Youth Center is just about finished – only a few tables to be painted. Andres, myself and a man named George have spent a busy week doing a variety of tasks. All that remains now is to build the Beach Volleyball court on the grounds. By the time we are all back in July we should be ready to fully operate the center. Already we have had ESL courses and Bible studies are in the works this week.

4. We are trying to finish up with the toilet/shower block at the Baptist Training Center in Akot. We sent a truck with all the supplies down yesterday, unfortunately the bridge was out this week after an overloaded truck tried to go over it. Just today we have heard they are finally working on repairs. Pray that we can get the needed supplies to the workers who are waiting for them in Akot.

5. Next week I hope to be teaching at the Bible school. Pray that all the previous students will be in attendance for this class.

6. Our house project in Taposa land is still on hold. The borders are still closed unless you have the latest documents. We are still trying to get ours. Government bureaucracy takes on a whole new meaning here in Sudan. We are definitely on plan ‘B’ now so pray that we will be making some very wise decisions in the weeks ahead. Pray for the Lewises to have an abundance of flexibility in the next few months.

Thanks you all for being intercessors for the Kingdom work here. To God be the glory,

Warriors,

We have a rather urgent situation developing concerning our house building in Kapoeta. Yet again (and I know you have heard this before) new regulations have come forth from the government that have put our project on indefinite hold. We are trying to slip in under the help of another large organization but that is by no means a certainty at this point. The quandary we find ourselves in is that we have our new family, the Lewis’s, already on this continent, and expecting to move to Kapoeta in mid-June. If we are not allowed to transport our house and supplies in very soon, the rains will prevent us from delivering them to the site. They are coming in two or three large containers and the roads to where the building site is are often impassible in the rainy season.

Will you intercede to the throne on our behalf and ask that the paperwork for our shipment to come in the country will be approved. Ask that the officials who are looking at this request will see this as a good and right thing to approve. The Bible teaches us that God moves the hearts of kings – and we know he can do that for government officials as well. Please join us in this plea……

to God be the glory,

mk

Warriors,

I know I’m a bit late in sending this rejoicing information out but, yeah, better late than never….

1. The first week of April was great. Tim Ahlen’s team went down to Akot and taught twelve of the church leaders for a week. The focus of the course was Spiritual Warfare and it was an exciting time. Along with the classwork and the training times we had some practicum in the field. On the first day we all went out and prayed against the myriad of sacrifice poles, Witchdoctors and other places of demon worship that are in the immediate area of the Baptist Training Center. It was a powerful time with many stories of “encounters”. The leaders saw God’s power at work. Later in the week we actually had a witchdoctor come drunkenly walking into the midst of our meeting. After many minutes of conversation and prayer the man said he would like us to come to his house and burn his “medicines” and other artifacts of his practice. So, we promptly did. It was an interesting experience. Please pray for this man, Mabour, that his heart will not be turned again by the forces of evil. What a joy it is to teach these young minds the ways of the Word.

2. Jamie and Laura had a graduation ceremony for the young ladies they took through an ESL class the past few months. They are now preparing to start up a Bible study with people from the surrounding area of the Youth Center. Andres has been busy getting the fencing up (almost finished) and will start on the beach volleyball court this coming week. Hopefully, soon we can begin showing films as night. Jennifer and Whitney are gearing up for the school season, when they will be teaching their HIV/AIDS curriculum to as many classes as possible.

3. Cathy has been in Nairobi for the past week welcoming in, and assisting, our new family, the Lewises. In about a week they will be traveling to Zambia for a month to do some bush training. Be praying for them as they and their three boys make the cultural adjustments to this continent. (Cathy says the boys are loving it out here).

4. Intercede for me as I prepare curriculum and look for teachers in our new Bible school in Akot. This is really challenging and I would love to have someone come out for one or two years just to get this thing off the ground. If you know someone who would like to rise to that challenge please let us know. We started this thing because God said it was the right thing to do but I can see now that there is an awful lot of work into making this school fly.

to God be the glory,

mk