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October 24, 2005
4PR's
Dear Friends,
We miss you and are thankful for your prayers.
This last week has been interesting because only we and Brian and Jen
Gresham have been here on the compound. We have had a good time hanging out as "couples" and laughing about things. This morning it was good to see Dr. Mubarak who returned from his farm in Deim Monsuer (pronounced "dem monsewer").
We have several prayer requests for you to lift up. We are reaching
a point where ministry plans we have made are beginning to happen, which is very. very encouraging.
First, we've had many meetings about how to share the good news in this region. The churches have been saying, "We know what to do, and we feel great urgency about doing it, but can you help us with transportation?" So we purchased three mountain bikes and today have made plans to visit some local villages to talk to people and look for any Christians there.
This Friday, Pastor Paul Malual will go (with the Lord's help) to
a place called Jerot. It's a mountain ("jebul") that we can see as we look out the window that has absolutely no Christian witness as far as we know.
The following weekend, we plan a two-day trip with several of us to Deim Monsuer to follow up on 18 baptisms that took place.
Amazingly, when the evangelists and pastors saw the bikes, they rejoiced but soon admitted that most of them do not know how to ride. So, they have jumped in and are learning quickly. In about four days, our dear friend Gabriel Bith Nyok has learned how to coast downhill by himself!
Second, would you please pray for my (Chris's) sinusitis? It's not quite an infection yet but is really uncomfortable and is dragging my energy down.
Third, we are meeting with hospital staff on Wednesday to propose a
Chronological Bible Storytelling Ministry at the hospital. SP is favorable to the idea, and we need wisdom about how to structure it. Who should tell the stories? Should it be done in Arabic, English, Mabaan, or Uduk or all? Today, I hope to talk to a senior pastor about being involved.
Fourth is really a praise. Bev is learning so much at the hospital. Dr. Atar has invited her to do rounds with him morning and evening, so they work together and compare notes as they go. For her it's a little like medical students going on "teaching rounds" with a doctor to soak up medical wisdom. Her knowledge and confidence are skyrocketing!
Other news from Kurmuk - the guy Chris is discipling has been accepted
(praise God!) to a Teacher Training Institute! This is huge! But it
requires him to move south to Deim Monsuer. So, our meeting together will have to be put on hold.
Other more mundane news - many of the SP vehicles are broken now. The
pickup coughed up its water pump on Sunday. Two of four quad bikes are working. The big trailer for the tractor is down with bad bearings again. Luckily the tractor and the Land Cruiser are still ok. We joked that the mountain bikes are now our most reliable form of transportation.
Dear Friends, although we feel like we are doing so little, we remind each other all the time that Jesus has done everything that needs to be done, so we can only follow him around each day.
Your hands and feet in Sudan,
Chris and Beverly
Published at October 24, 2005 09:35 AM
