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December 08, 2007
ATV Fire
The next thing is quite a bit sadder. Do you remember the quad bike (ATV) that we were able to fly into Yabus? We had just sold it to our Yabus colleagues when it met with an accident. It was parked under a grass, wood, and bamboo shelter after church. One of the children was playing with fire and, well, burned down the shelter with the ATV inside.
No one was hurt but the $10,000 quad bike is a total loss. It’s sad for a lot of reasons, the largest being that it was a great tool for preaching and evangelism. Please pray that a divisive situation would not result because the child of one of our colleagues was responsible. We don’t care so much about the loss – it’s only stuff. We just don’t want Satan to use the resultant bad feelings to divide any of us from the other. Please help all our team to look past the monetary loss to love and forgive one another (John 13:34, 35) and to praise God that no one was hurt.
If you like to be a part of providing around $12,000US for a new one, please write and let us know.
Published at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
December 03, 2007
Preparing to Come Home
Dear Friends,
·12 states
·27 cities
·45 families
·3 churches
·And thousands of prayers. . .
What do those things have in common? You, our supporters! Without you standing with us we could not be here in Africa. Thank you for your prayers and your kind words, your care packages and your phone calls. I’m writing from the SIM office in Nairobi, Kenya where we are packing up to come and visit you. On Dec 8th we fly from Nairobi to Amsterdam to Detroit to Charlotte, North Carolina. During our six month Home Assignment we hope to meet each of you.
I felt compelled to share two things with you this morning.
Pastor’s Conference
There have been two Pastor’s Conferences underway this last week. The one in Yabus is still going strong and the one at our Doro base just finished. We just heard at prayer meeting today it was a powerful four days. It was well attended, even by the current SIC church chairman, who was back in his home area.
Here’s what happened: as a Zambian pastor was presenting the story of Cornelius from the book of Acts, one of the Mabaan elders stood up and bravely asked a question: “If Cornelius was a believer in God and was working in the church, why did he need to be saved?”
The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to the question. He turned it back to the gathered elders. After a lot of discussion, it became obvious that NONE OF THEM KNEW THE ANSWER. So, Pastor John explained to them that knowing God is not enough. Even Satan knows who God is. He led them to understand that, after hearing the good news of Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf, each man must accept it for themselves.
You see, the Sudanese mindset is one of community. Some of our brothers tend to believe they are in the family of Christ by being born into a Christian tribe. But some of the elders in the church that day began to understand Rom 10:10 “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
Some of the elders admitted that day that they were not sure they were in Christ. So, several prayed to receive God’s free salvation appropriated to each of them because of Christ’s payment. How great is that! Elders receiving Christ for the first time!
We love you and will see you soon!
Chris for the Crowders
Published at 08:03 AM | Comments (0)
