« May 2007 | Main | September 2007 »

July 24, 2007

Propelling Forward

Baby Thomas has just learned to propel himself forward across the floor. In English we call that "crawling". It's appropriate for an 8-month old, I'm told.

It also made me think about the Damo village church we just visited. What we are trying to do and what we are asking the Lord to do is "propel" the church forward from dependence to independence.

In the same way that Thomas has learned to sit up, grumble for food, and go to sleep on his own, a baby church (only 6 months old) has to learn to do things on its own.

Today we worshipped with the people, sang some songs in their language, and taught them about how the wise men came and gave gifts to baby Jesus. Our short-term team acted it out in a drama. The one playing King Herod spoke in a booming voice. The foreign kings (some of whom were girls) knelt down at the feet of a bewildered village mama holding a baby. Did they really understand that the Great King came to live in the body of a small child?

Then we had a chance to challenge the church to select elders. For the church to be moved or propelled forward it needs leadership. Even if those elders are not quite sanctified in their lifestyle or literate in any language, the Damo church needs their guidance and structure.

I think the Lord was preparing me to learn this lesson because I learned an Arabic phrase this week: "mostakabel a-nas li gidaam". It means "encourage/propel people forward". The guy who taught me this word was talking about how our SIM Basic Education Learning Center can help to move people forward. However, I think God sort of throws little hints at us in our lives to teach us things, don't you?

Finally, will you pray for the Damo church to appoint elders? Please ask the Lord to move in the hearts of the men so that they have a truly different lifestyle. The problem of alcoholism is rampant among the Coma tribe and it is a stumbling block for other churches to relate to them.

For the Crowders and the Yabus team,
Chris

Published at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)

July 15, 2007

Today in Sudan

Dear Friends,

We've been very busy with a short-term team since coming to Sudan on June 19th! Sorry for the lack of emails, but hopefully you've received either an email or paper copy of our newsletter.

Can we tell you about our day?

It started at 4am with Thomas waking up with smiles and pleas for his morning milk. Praise the Lord (and I mean that quite sincerely) he fell back asleep until 7am. We got up and got moving, and by 8:30am our whole team was loaded into the pickup truck. Traveling with us were 3 bales of blankets donated by Voice of the Martyrs.

Moving carefully down a very slickery track through chin-high grass, we passed through an absolutely deserted Damo village, finally arriving at the Damo church. Almost the whole village was at the church. About 60 people were gathered under the trees, seated on logs supported by forked trees driven into the ground.

After some bantering and confusion about who was getting the blankets, we turned out attention to the Bible lesson. This duty fell to Jake, Jennie, Cam, and JJ our short-term team. With Beverly, Thomas, and me playing Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, we acted out the angelic visitations from Luke 2. Jake played the angel and the others played terrified shepherds, to the delight of the church people. As usual the English teaching was translated into Arabic, then into either Coma or Uduk. It's a bit chaotic, but the drama communicated truth really well, we thought.

There was one significant moment. Since I was a translator I was able to stop and ask key questions to check for understanding. At one point Cam said: "The Spirit prompted Simeon to go to the temple. (Luke 2:27)" I asked the people, "Where is the Spirit? Who is He? Does the Spirit speak to you?" Two of the older women said: "There was a Spirit of God here but we don't know if it is still here." I traded a quick glance with our Uduk church partner Yohann. We sensed an opportunity to teach some truth. He stepped in, asking more questions from the church. About 10 minutes of rapid-fire conversation in Uduk ensued. Finally one man said: "The Spirit of Jesus lives inside us, but I don’t think he talks to us."

It's moments like this that remind us how important is it to ground the Coma church in the Word of God. Please pray with us that we can communicate truth accurately despite the language and cultural barriers.

As the blankets were being distributed, we socialized with the people. I got some precious pictures of little Thomas touching the face of one of the Coma ladies. Jake climbed a tree to get some aerial shots. Jennie and JJ played with the kids. I helped Yohan count blankets. As the rain began to fall, we loaded up about 15 people with many soggy blankets into the LandCruiser and slid down the trail and arrived safely home.

With thanks for your love and prayers,
Chris

Published at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)