Adventures with the Most High God: 2014

Ever wonder how some people, especially followers of Jesus Christ, can be so patient, forgiving, so giving? One of our devotions during this trip really hit me when we read the passage in Matt. 5:41 and was asked with the question: "Is there a sin to avoid?" when reading. It's a familiar passage...When someone forces you to walk one mile, walk with him two. As we discussed this passage, it's obvious new creations in Christ are expected to do things not normal for human beings...turn the other cheek if you're hit one side. What!?

Jesus expects more from his followers. We are expected to do more because we are more. The passage is a command. It didn't really give an option, but an instruction. The sin to avoid is not tapping into the person God created "new" in a believer. In Christ, we have the capability to have peace that passes understanding. We won't think anything of it when we are persecuted for our faith because Jesus said that would happen. When we're overwhelmed with life's circumstances, we can look to Jesus for power, for strength, for wisdom, for guidance, for making a way for the bad things that happen and turn them for our good. He's God. He can do that. He is always good and he is aware of every detail of our lives. Nothing escapes his notice. Our thoughts and motives included.

The woman in the middle is Rose. She is a widow and a believer. Our goal on this expedition was to strengthen two churches. We shared the passage with Lord's prayer with her, breaking down this model of prayer and discussed each section. She loves the Lord, and it was good to hear her say what she appreciates about God (hallowed be thy name) and surrendered everything in her circumstances to His ways in His time (thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven). We prayed for her needs. Her home was burned down and she is alone in her compound. Even with this, her countenance is friendly and she welcomed us and listened to us. We prayed that God will provide for needs and surround her with people to care for her.

Emmanuel, Thomas, Oliver, Charles, James and Sabastian - three of which are new believers. They thanked us for stopping by and sharing the Gospel with them. They thought we would skip them because they were drinking.

Tim wrote a little about this visit:

As Amy and I were finishing sharing and encouraging a Sudanese Believer by the name of Rose. She pointed down a path and suggested that we visit some people nearby. As we were walking towards some tukels (huts) we noticed some gentlemen off at a distance. We approached them and they invited us to sit down. As we were sitting down they set there alcohol bottles down about 10’ away from us. One of the gentlemen stated that they saw us walking down the path but thought that we would not stop to talk to them because they were drinking alcohol. He added, ’We are glad that you came to us and caught us in our sin.’ We thanked them for allowing us to sit with them and get to know them. We asked if they attended a nearby church or have heard of Jesus. They explained that they may go to church on Christmas or Easter but that was it. They allowed us to share the Gospel with them as we sat together. We shared stories from scripture verbally and also drew in the dirt to show our separation from God and how by the grace of God we can be reconciled to Him. We shared Romans 3:23, 6:23 and additional scripture to point out that all of us are sinners and separated from God because of our sin. We further explained that many people try to do good things to please God and hope that they might enter heaven one day because of the good they have done. We pointed out that when we do good deeds and hope those good deeds gain us entrance into heaven they fall short every time. We added that if we think our good deeds + Jesus dying for us on the cross get us into heaven we are saying that what Jesus did by Himself is not enough. As we continued to share the scriptures it was evident that God was doing a work inside the gentlemen. While we were sharing one of the gentlemen began to repeatedly wipe his face with his hand and his countenance changed as God was revealing Himself and working inside of this gentleman. A total of three gentlemen at this tukel confessed Jesus as Lord. What a humbling experience to be given the opportunity to witness God call His children unto Himself.

Karlis and Tracey doing a team building/trust exercise. They had stone soup later. It was delish.

Community transformation training with pastors and leaders.

Yei Primary Academy. Schoolmaster below shared the Gospel in each classroom.

During one of the mornings we arrived at the school, the kids were not in regular class. We were mobbed like we were rocks stars! They were very friendly, wanting to shake our hands.

The young lady by Rose's house.

James and Felix

Joseph, the schoolmaster and Martin

James, Tim, and Martin and the youngest Karidi

James and the children - clip of kids praying and playing here.

Nursery school where James teaches math.

Fried kasava! Didn't taste it, but it is James, our translator's favorite.

Thomas, Felix and Moses - they want to study bible after school.

Ready to go to market with John Mawa, Court, Tim, and Lena.

At the market with Mullai, Tim, Cory and Court.

Shopping with Tracey, John and Lena.

Lena wrote a little about her experience in how they found their person of peace:

"We found our main Person of Peace the very first day, before we even split into our subgroups, so all we witnessed this miracle: Kampali. The Lord did go before us and prepared the heart of this 23-year-old man to receive the Good News! When we came inside the tiny church structure in the village in the morning of our first day there, in amazement, we found this young man already on his knees on the floor of the church, up front, with his arms raised, with the look on his face of solemn and total surrender... He was waiting there to be lead in prayer to receive the Lord Jesus Christ in his heart. We laid hands on him, prayed with him, and witnessed the birth of a new creation in Christ! It was a powerful and out of this world experience, for one could not but feel the hand of God on it all..."