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May 27, 2007
A Village Visit
Dear Friends,
Hello this is Chris, writing from Sudan. Our email is working now via satellite phone. Sorry we've been out of communication for a while. Beverly and Thomas made a short visit to the US and will return to Kenya in the next few days. I'll rejoin them on the 1st of June. Below is an account of one of our visits to encourage local churches.
In Christ,
Chris
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One Sunday, we went to a little village nearby called Buldit. Kasu and I left at about 7:15am. He was carrying a big piece of plastic sheeting in his backpack as well as the storytelling pictures. We took the road toward Bugaya but then veered off into the bush. I saw he was aiming for a hill in the distance, but I was so sleepy I was just putting one foot in front of the other.
We moved through springtime in Sudan. It seemed like walking in a botanical garden because all the blades of grass were the same height. The really heavy rains were still a few weeks away, but everything had germinated. We passed a little tree festooned with little purple and green things that looked like 2-inch chandeliers. There were a few birds but no animals or insects. It was really quiet and still.
After some time, we reached the first hut. A boy started smiling at us, not just a normal smile but a really big one. Shyly he ducked into the hut. We greeted ladies sitting on the ground at the next hut. Rather, one was sitting awkwardly and the others crouched around her. As we got close we could see the sitting woman was not well. She was shaking slightly. We crouched to listen, but they were speaking Coma, so we could not understand. Kasu asked "Enti ayena?" (Are you sick?). The sitting woman switched to Arabic and told us how her stomach had started hurting badly yesterday, and she had not slept all night. She was sweating and shaking a bit from the pain. Her abdomen was obviously distended. She complained of slight fever and neck pain. It could be anything and probably included malaria, which always comes when their bodies become slightly weak. We agreed to pray. I tried my best to pray in Arabic.
Moving on, we found the recently built church, a little covering from the sun made of poles and grass. Benches were made of logs supported by forked poles. One young man was there already. The plastic in Kasu's pack was a gift to help rain-proof the church.
After about one hour, about 20 people had gathered. The service started. Kasu tried to get them to sing some songs he knows in Arabic, but they did not seem to know them. So we moved to the Bible teaching. Kasu taught first, doing rather well in Arabic. Then I taught about Jacob and Esau and about Jacob's dream. In spite of the fact that I could not remember the words for "ladder" or "dream," we got through it. I was able to weave in the gospel by saying how Jacob was dreaming of a way to reach God.
The lady who had been sick showed up and sat off to the side. Suddenly she announced: "I want to sing." And she started singing - then all the people joined in with her.
Afterwards, we went out to all shake hands. We thought it would be good to pray over the sick lady, so we asked her to sit down on the plastic. I asked if there were elders but they didn't have any. So, I just picked 4 of the older men out of the crowd and asked them to come and lay hands on her. I prayed then the oldest man blurted out: "I must pray." So he prayed for her in his own language. That was beautiful. Afterwards I told them that the Bible says when someone is sick we must call the elders and pray for the sick person.
So, the Buldit church is springing back to life. I say back to life because it has been dormant ever since the wartime when Northern soldiers raided the village burning the church and any Christian-looking literature they found.
Thank you for prayers and support dear friends. It is a joy and pleasure to represent you here. We are privileged to witness a spiritual springtime in Sudan.
Serving In Mission Together,
Chris and Beverly Crowder
Published at May 27, 2007 04:06 PM
