National Day of Prayer for Sudan

Sudan is facing a very critical time and I am asking that you join me and thousands of others praying for Sudan.

Pray for Sudan - Pray for peace, pray that the church will stand strong. December 5th the World Evangelical Alliance has called church's and Christians to pray for peace in Sudan with the upcoming referendum.

"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are

attentive to their prayers..." 1 Peter 3:12

Remembering Yakob Aga Ollie

We will miss and remember Yacob with love and joy

Yacob Aga Ollie (1972-2010) is now in the presence of the Lord. Yacob and his wife, Tibarek arrived as newlyweds and have served the people of Sudan in Thiangrial, Atar and Yabus over the last 4 years. They were some of the first missionaries sent by the Ethiopian Kale Heywot Church to Sudan.

Yacob was part of the development team initiating Basic Education Learning Centers in the first two locations. The Lord blessed as they saw people respond to the gospel, start churches and people grow in their faith. Some were their adult students who completed a grade 8 education under them.

Yacob has been sharing his talents at the Yabus Sudan Interior Church Secondary School for about the last 6 months. He fell ill with cerebral malaria on October 24 and was promoted to heaven on October 25, 2010

Yacob is survived by his loving wife, Tibarek Wondemu who followed her husband into harm's way. She has returned to Ethiopia with Yacob's body for the funeral in his home area.

Jesus' urgent command to us is to make disciples. Yacob was busy making disciples when the Lord took him. As we mourn his passing, we are energized and galvanized to continue making disciples in Sudan as our Savior commanded.

2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day."

We will miss Yacob and Tibarek (who will stay in Ethiopia) but thank God for their lives!

My Name Sake

In Church on October 10Th, this beautiful baby girl was named. Her name is Deborah and she has been named after me. What a blessing to have a child named after you. The name Deborah comes from the Bible, and Deborah was a leader and had a heart for God. My prayer is that this Deborah will have a heart for our Lord and Savior and be a leader in her country.

Deborah was born October 1st. She is beautiful, and such a blessing. Deborah joins her older brother Camll. Her daddy is in Yabus attending secondary school, and has not been able to get back to see her yet, but through God's provisions I was able to send a picture to a team mate in Yabus so that he would be able to see his new daughter.

Pray for Bolus, Rhoda, Camll and Deborah

To God Be The Glory

Sitting outside under the awning of my tent, I watch as the Master Artist paints the sky.

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It has been quite a while since I was last able to post. There has been much happening, and I would like to share with you the ways that God is working here in Doro Sudan.

I arrived back in Sudan on August 2, 2010; and within 3 days of my arrival, it was clear that there would be a new compound built. (The name of this village is Emmanuel, which means "God with us".) The village is now where I live, along with Sani who was born in Sudan, but left with her family during the war when she was 2 years old. She was back for a short visit in 2008. She is God provision to assist me in teaching HIV/AIDS Awareness, Women literacy classes in mother tongue (which is Mabaan), and sharing the Word of God.

During this time of building, God has opened many doors for relationships to be built, and also provided a young man named Daud to join our team. So now there are three.

Some of the doors that have been opened for us to go and share our teaching and the Word of God are: the clinic, we go two days a week and teach HIV/AIDS awareness to those whom are waiting to be seen. Most of these have walked many hours to get to the clinic, and they may sit there all day before they are seen. We also to into the Nutrition Clinic (this village takes care of Mal-nourished children,) and on Wednesday's they have an outpatient day so many, many mothers come back with their children to be checked. It is a privilege to sit with these people both at the Nutrition Village and the Clinic. It is also so humbling when they share with you, and you realize the suffering they have and are going through. I pray that God would use us as His vessels to that they may know Christ.

Two days a week we teach the women to read and write their mother tongue. It has never been deemed necessary to educate girls. In a small way that is changing and we have the privilege of helping some of the women learn to read. What excitement it is when they are able to repeat the sounds of the letters. All of the women speak their mother tongue fluently, now they will be able to read and write it. During this time we are also able to share God's Word with them, and my prayer is, that they will get to know God in a deeper way, or if they truly don't know Him, that they will come to accept Him as their Lord and Savior and ask Him into their hearts. Pray that God's Kingdom would be advanced.

There was major flooding in the area in September, and all of the crops were lost and thousands of people were displaced and have lost their homes and everything they had, whole villages were flooded out.


The above are before and after pictures of the building of the compound
(Emmanuel's Village) The teaching is done outside, under a tree and is done in English, Arabic and Mabaan. The building that you see in back is the clinic it is one of the few buildings that survived the war. The building is full of bullet holes.


The women we teach work very hard and when they get to class they are very tired, but the desire to learn to read and write their mother tongue energizes them to come and learn. We always spend the last 30 minutes sharing God's Word and even though they are tired they listen so closely. God's Word is what gives them the strength .

s

The flooding was bad and all the crops were lost. There were many days that the people would go out and swim in the river (what you see in the photo right above is the river which is about a 40 minute walk from us) and dive down and try to save whatever they could. At the writing of this there is still much flooding.

I know that there are many that read this blog that also pray for me and the people of Sudan and I would like to thank you for your prayers.

How is salvation received?: By believing. God's word says: "that if you confess with you mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Romans 10:9-10

God opens doors May 16, 2010

To go back to Kayaba and Free Baptist Church with Pastor Paul and his wife Anne.

This is the entrance to Free Baptist Church.

God's church doesn't need to be a fancy building, or in a wealthy area of town.

God's church is where ever He wants it.

We had a time of prayer, a time of worship, a time of giving thanks to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I was blessed and humbled to be able to share God's grace in my life. To teach on the women in the Bible, to encourage the women, and to give the message that Sunday.

God is looking for those who are willing to step out of their comfort zones and be used as His vessels.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in

Christ. " Ephesians 1:3

God is Soverign

We never know what things we will face in a day's time:

On January 31st after dropping off the team from EBC at the airport, I was on my way back home. I was riding in a van and as we were driving down the road one of the things that I noticed was how light traffic was, normally traffic in Nairobi is not only bumper to bumper but also side to side, you couldn't move out of the way if you had to.

We were coming upon a big round-about and were watching traffic moving on the other side of the road. We could both (the driver and me) tell that there was something wrong with a bus on the opposite side of the road, it seemed to be out of control and heading right for us. God gave Sammy (the driver) an awareness to recognize a problem, and because of the light traffic Sammy was able to move the front of the van just a little which stopped a head on collision, and saved our lives.

I remember thinking we had cleared the problem with the bus when all of a sudden we were slammed into, it was like I was on the outside watching what was happening and seeing my body being thrown around like a rag doll. I didn't have any time to stiffen up or brace myself, I just went with the impacts.

God protected and spared not only my life, but Sammy's and all the people who were on the bus. There were no serious injuries and no fatalities. We thank God for the protection He showed us.

Kayaba

Stan, Mindy, Blue and I went with Pastor Paul to his church Free Baptist in Kayaba. Kayaba is one of the biggest slums in Nairobi. What a wonderful blessing and gift from God to spend time with them as we all worshiped God together.









Please pray for Free Baptist Church, Pastor Paul and the outreach to all those who live in Kayaba. Please pray for the people who live in Kayaba, without Jesus. You can't live in a place like this and have any hope. As we walked down throught he tin buildings there were eyes filled with pain, grief, hopelessness. Pray that the Gospel will go out and God's Kingdon will be advanced.

UPDATE: Received an email from Pastor Paul and he has shared with me how God is growing His church in Kayaba.

Praise the Lord.

Update continued

January 2010

I was able to go to the Elephant Orphanage in Karen. This is where elephants who have lost the mothers, due to illness or killings are brought. They are feed, loved, and prepared to go back out into the wild after they grow up. Most of them are near death when they are found and brought here.


Have you ever been kissed by a Griaffe????

Update

January 2010

Stan, Mindy, and Carly Blue came from the states. They used to be missionaries in Nairobi, and while they were here they were able to
spend time with team mates, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ that they had not seen in 13 years.

"He makes winds His messengers..." Psalm 104:4

Jeremiah 1:9-10 Then the LORD reached out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over Nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

Along with the Pastor of my church, his wife and daughter (Stan, Mindy & Carly Blue) and myself, we flew into Sudan on January 20Th, to be a part of the pastor and women's conference having no idea what we would find. God prepared the path for the conference before the foundation, and He gave us the privilege of joining Him in what He was and is doing in Doro.

I share with you the work our Heavenly Father is doing: Upon our arrival in Doro we started having meetings with the SIC leaders, planning the conference times, the food, and who the translators would be, it was at this time that I was told Hadia my translator was no longer available, but there was another Hadia who would meet with us the next day. The next day we meant Hadia and from just talking with her a short time we realized that she would not be able to translate. God provided another meeting that afternoon with the leaders and I was able to talk to them about my concerns for a translator for the women's conference. They said we have one and you will meet her tomorrow. Praise the Lord. We walk by faith not by sight!!!

Saturday dawned and we all prepared to go to town. Upon our arrival I was told that the translator they had selected was no longer available, but they had another one in mind, after some minutes we found out that she was also not available, they introduced me to a young man but his English was very poor. I just lifted my hands to the sky and said "Father I know that you have opened the door for this women's conference, who will be able to translate there are no women translators?" Butrus was chosen (He is the choir leader for the youth) God's answer!!!

Mindy, Carly Blue, I and Butrus meant with the women over 50!!!!!!!!! came, Praise the Lord; Mindy shared her life, Carly shared her walk with the Lord, and I shared my life, as we talked to them and read scripture about God's faithfulness, His love, His grace. Oh as you looked at the sea of faces you see such beauty, but you think are they hearing? So much despair, bleakness, no hope. But as we continued to share scripture, you could see faces start to change. The Holy Spirit was present, and as He spoke to the women's hearts you could see them start to respond. For the women to be able to come and sit for a whole day, it doesn't happen here, God provided for these women to be still and listen. Praise the Lord as we asked if anyone had questions and many spoke up.

Please pray for the women here, their lives are very hard, and also continue to pray that God would bring to me a translator who will work side by side with me, so that the women can continue to hear about Jesus, and continue to grow in their walk with Him.

There are no words that can explain what God allowed us to be just a small part of on Sunday. We biked to town and Stan gave the message, there were so many, that they spilled out of the grass church and grouped around the doors, so that they could hear. Oh what a blessing as we joined in worship with all of our brothers and sisters, to hear worship in other languages, this is God's way of showing us just a little of what heaven is going to be like, when ever knee bows and ever tongues confesses that Jesus is Lord, and we all come together around His Throne of grace. Thank you Jesus. After church we broke bread with our Sudanese brothers and sisters in Christ.

Then we all came together men and women under a big baobab tree, and listened as Stan spoke on John 13; Jesus did not come to this earth to be served, He came to serve, at the last supper before His death, He washed the feet of His disciples. We are to be like Jesus, and we are to serve one another. Stan washed the feet of his wife Mindy, and then asked the pastors to wash the feet of their wives. You could feel the Spirit of the Lord, and we knew that God had prepared the hearts of the pastors.

This is a culture where husbands and wives do not sit together, do not eat together, and do not talk in public to each other, but God had prepared the path. The husbands went and got their wives and the foot washing started, oh how humbling to be such a small part of this. The women had never had their feet washed by their husbands, there was so much emotion, so many tears. I was also privileged to be able to wash the feet of many women and to be able to pray with them.

I cried as they cried, we saw brokenness, we watched as the Holy Spirit started healing old wounds, we saw forgiveness start, repentance as sins were confessed. Feet were washed, hearts were softened, and tears were shed. As God opened up the door Stan spoke on marriage, Eph 5, "Husbands are to love their wives as Jesus loves the church". As we sat there and listened there came a very strong wind out of the west, blowing leaves and things out of the tree all over us, this lasted for about 10 seconds. I believe the Holy Spirit was showing us He was present, and continuing to speak to the hearts and souls of those there.

There was a women that was standing away from the group, and one of the leaders came over and told us that she was struggling terribly, so we went and circled her in prayer, after that we asked her if she knew Jesus and if she could confess with her mouth that Jesus is Lord, she was not able to speak. We prayed and as we prayed the Holy Spirit touched her and took away the muteness. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. He is the Victor, and we had the privilege of leading this women to the Lord. Praise God.

Please continue to pray for the Pastor's, church leaders, and women that what God has started will continue. Pray for roots that run deep, soft hearts, continued healing, forgiveness, unity, for the pastors and their shepherding of their flocks.

KNIT ONE PEARL TWO

James 1:27... to look after orphans and widows in their distress... Matthew 25:40...'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of theses brothers of mine, you did for me.'

When I was home for a short time last year, the women of my church knitted many, many sweaters, and with ever knit one pearl two they prayed for the children that would be wearing these sweaters.

In December I was blessed to be able to take all of these sweaters to an orphanage outside of Nairobi, and hand them out to the beautiful children there. I would like you to meet the children that are being prayed for and by God's provision's are being kept warm.

The children are drinking a vitamin enriched porridge to help them stay healthy so that they will and not become malnourished.