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.
