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November 05, 2005
1st Mtn Bike Trip
Dear Friends,
Chris here, writing about some exciting events in Kurmuk. This last Saturday, Pastor Paul Malual and myself took the first of our bicycle evangelism trips. We left about 1pm and rode to Jebul Jerot ("jebul" is Arabic for hill or mountain). We made excellent time on the mountain bikes. The trail is essentially a rutted, dried mud footpath. Hundreds of feet have packed the soil to make a path almost as hard as pavement. We went through one long downhill section and across the sandy riverbed and pushed up the other side. Soon, I began to hear a big machine-like roaring sound that got louder and louder. It turned out to a brush fire about 100 meters off the trail.
We chose Jerot because as far as we knew there was no Christian witness at all. It is the capital of the Funyj tribe which was a huge sprawling kingdom going back several hundred years. Even though I can see Jebul Jerot out the window as I type, there are no outreaches or programs going on
there.
Paul and I expected to arrive as strangers.
Our God, however, had gone before us in two ways. First, we were greeted in the market by some boys who were Pastor Paul's students (he is a teacher at the primary school in Kurmuk). They suggested we go to see the Omdah - basically the chief. So, we were conducted into the presence of Mohammed Fadl Mullah, the Paramount Chief or "Omdah". We chatted in Arabic about the weather, the kids, the animals, etc. Mostly I listened.
The second preparation by God is that Beverly was currently treating the Omdah's daughter at the hospital, so when Paul introduced me the Omdah remembered who Beverly was. He smiled warmly because Bev had treated his daughter! I smile as I think about my wife's smiling face as she does rounds at the hospital. With her work she's doing what Paul describes in Titus 2:10 as "make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."(NIV)
Next, Paul said that we had a "program" for him. He immediately invited us back to his compound. We followed him back to his group of huts, including one that served as a school building. Mysteriously, two boys showed up with our bikes which we had left in the marketplace. Juice was poured and more conversation ensued, especially about a huge bull that wandered through the compound. A crowd of about 10 men and boys had gathered.
Then Paul turned and sort of whispered to me that I should begin the storytelling. So, I pulled the big laminated Bible story pictures out of my backpack and all eyes were fixed on the pictures. We began by saying that we came because we all agree that there is one God. They nodded their heads. After that, the words just came but with Paul translating into Arabic. It was completely unrehearsed; we had not talked about how to do this at all; we just did it. And God really showed up.
It was funny how God orchestrated the environment around us. We began at the very beginning in the Garden of Eden and explained the Fall of Man. When I was explaining how Abel's sacrifice was pleasing to God, a large
billy
goat walked up and joined the group. As Paul translated, he pointed out the goat and explained how God deserves our best offering, not the smallest and weakest from the flock.
We were soon driven inside by a huge thunderstorm. No kidding, we had just finished telling the story of God's judgments on Adam, Eve, and Cain when a huge clap of thunder and simultaneous flash of lightning made us all wince. Talk about a show of God's judgement! We retreated inside as buckets of rain fell. The next story was (I am not making this up) Noah and the flood. We pointed out that it rained "just like it is now" for forty days and forty nights. I paused and looked around the hut as that sobering fact sunk in.
We told stories for two hours all the way up to Abraham. Most were listening intently and the Omdah only nodded off briefly.
You may be wondering how we got home. Well that's the rest of the story. We decided to leave the bikes since most of the county was now a mudbath. Paul nominated two of the boys to bring the bikes to Kurmuk when they came to school. The bikes spent the night in the Omdah's chicken hut. We were invited to return, gave our goodbyes, and slogged off through the mud on foot, for our hour and a half journey. We praised God the whole way back and were so joyful that the time passed quickly.
Then we arrived at the banks of a swollen river. The dry river bed we crossed earlier was now three to four feet of muddy torrent. So, we waited 45 minutes, but the level dropped only slightly. Some guys from the other bank were able to cross over to us, and they were short. So we decided to give it a try. Balancing all our stuff on our heads we got halfway across. I was having issues. When I placed my foot down the current would pull sand from under it, essentially burying my foot. Paul was having no trouble because he is 6 ft 4 inches and over 200 lbs. He reached back and took my hand and pulled me over the rest of the way. After that, we made it back to Kurmuk quickly.
The next day both Paul and I came down with a fever. It turns out that the Omdah's juice was made from, shall we say, not the purest water. Because Paul had been subjected to bad water most of his life, he shook it off quickly. But the critters in my gut took me down for 48 hours and a full course of Flagyl and doxycicline. As it turns out the rest has been good for me, and I feel even better than before.
Thank you, friends, for your prayers. As you can see, they have been very effective. Please pray that the Omdah would receive Christ. I saw him at the hospital the other day, and he sent a special greeting to us when he returned our bikes.
We love you and miss you all!
Your hands and feet in Sudan,
Chris and Beverly Crowder
Published at November 5, 2005 09:38 AM
