The bitter wind blasted me nearly sideways, ruffling the hood of my parka. Was I going to make it? With cold-stiffened fingers, I retrieved my receipt and my cash. A short dash, a fumble with the keys, and I was back inside the safety of my car. 42 degrees said the bank sign. What! Only 42F? It feels like the North Pole out there!

Such was my experience last night: a Sudan missionary, acclimated to 110 degree heat, snakes, scorpions, and dust storms – barely surviving a trip to the ATM on a winter night in Tennessee.

How are We
We are very, very well. The Crowders are settled in a missionary house in Murfreesboro, TN. We arrived to find so many blessings: all our family at the airport, a donated car full of fuel, a house all set up for us, a freezer full of summer vegetables, and a pantry so stocked with food (by our church) we didn’t have to shop for two weeks. The Christmas season was so nice and we stayed quite busy bouncing from celebration to celebration. Once again, we experienced the wonder of channel surfing, fast internet, English as a mother tongue, and smooth roads.

How is Chris
I am great. Let me give you the Physical, Spiritual, Social, and Professional scorecard. Physically I’m healthy but I’m a bit light. Six weeks of Kenyan food put eight pounds back on, and as of today I’ve put on another six pounds. I started running 3 miles at a time and have now joined the YMCA. Spiritually, I feel close to the Lord through studying the Psalms each day. I just hit chapter 40 today. However, and this links to the Social, I would love to be meeting with a group of guys in Nashville on Wednesdays. Also, I’ve been able to reconnect with Jake, Scott, Luke, Wade, Carl, and some other good friends. Hopefully Brian Gresham and I can get out to his family’s farm for a few manly activities. Professionally, I’m driven down to my knees as we contemplate the challenges of our next assignment. Nothing is firm yet but it’s possible we’ll be in some form of leadership which brings challenges of all kinds. The way I see it, this 40-year old’s life is about half over, therefore it’s time to fix our eyes on the author and protector of our faith and accelerate to maximum cruising speed.

How is Beverly
Beverly is glad to be with friends and family. She is sharing the little joy named Thomas with all who wish to be dazzled by his giant smile. She has been able to have a date with her husband and is so absolutely excited about a Bible study that starts this week. Being a missionary in the middle of nowhere can leave a lot of desire for fun time with the girls back home. So she is trying to fill up her tank while she can. We also just found out that the Crowders are increasing in number again. We have a baby Crowder due August 25th. So please be praying for mama Thomas to have a lot of energy to incubate and still run around chasing little Thomas! Thank you all for your love and support. It is so great to see so many loving faces and just to get to have fun with you all. We are missing our Sudanese friends and our co-workers in Sudan. So please don’t forget to keep praying for the country of Sudan and for our co-workers.

How is Thomas

Thomas is a happy, silly little boy. God has given him a Careful Explorer’s personality. He enjoys life with gusto yet with a measure of caution. He checks things out before leaping. His best friends are 1) his Mama, 2) Elmo, and in a tie for 3) his Pop-Pop and his Grampa. His little cousin Abigail Grace is quite possibly his first girlfriend. His vocabulary, over 70 words, is frankly impressive to us. He misses his friends in Sudan, especially our guard Daniel and his donkeys.

How is Sudan
Sudan is a still at peace but the next three years are critical. Since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the two parties have embarked upon attempts to integrate their warring factions, develop new government structures, but all the while the original reasons for the conflict still simmer. Recent events have shown me the Northern government’s intentions: continue half-hearted gestures at peace while seeking other non-combative ways to get at the vast oil reserves in the South. SIM, having an open door for ministry in the south, intends to push ahead to strengthen the church and God’s people in the South. All the while, we pray for peace.

How is Kenya
At press time, our team has been able to travel to a retreat center for an annual Spiritual Life Conference. After an apparently rigged election that sparked all kinds of tribal conflicts, things have calmed down a bit. Please pray for the opposition and President to sit down to settle their differences. Kenya is and has been blessed by God as a peaceful, democratic launching pad for many different Gospel missions. Interestingly, the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir spoke last week in Malakal regarding the Kenya situation. He said: "We have to conduct a free and fair election [in 2011] in order to not repeat the Kenyan experience in our country." I never dreamed Kenyan violence would provide a negative example for Sudan.

Our Schedule
Jan 18-20 Covenant Presbyterian Church, Tullahoma, TN – Missions Conference
Feb 3-5 meeting colleagues in Charlotte, NC; Chris teaching a class on writing and web sites
Feb 23 Happy Anniversary! Trip to a secluded mountain B&B courtesy of our wonderful family
Mar 1 Bev shares at WECC Women’s retreat
March trip to Texas: Houston and Austin
June15 return to Sudan for 2nd term
August 25 next baby Crowder

Every blessing in our Savior,
Chris, Beverly, and Thomas

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.

Email Us

·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

Sometimes Chris and I forget to tell you about where we live and some of the people we get the privilege of serving here in Sudan. So I thought I would give a little bit of a bird's eye view.

So many people are hopeless. They have been oppressed for so many years, they feel like no one cares about them. Many have had so many family members killed during the war by Antinov bombers and by land mines. Many have even watched family members die from starvation. Our Sudanese friends either sleep on the ground or on a rope bed. They have no furniture. They buy sacks of sorghum grain, and they grind it to make something called kisera. They do eat bamia stew which is an okra stew. They dry the okra and can use it throughout the year.

All of our friends also cook on three stones over a wood fire. If there is a celebration, they may kill a goat or a chicken or even a pig if they belong to the Mabaan tribe. The Uduk and Berta tribes typically don't eat pork. The Berta tribe is mostly Muslim. They live in very small mud huts. Goats come and drink the water from the same place they drink. They have to carry 20 liter jerry cans (on their heads) of water from the river to their houses. They poop and pee outside and don't even build latrines, so they have to go in the bushes. It is amazing that in the year 2007 people are still living in such a fashion. But they have been oppressed for so long that they can't imagine their life in any better situation. We have come to give hope, education, healthcare, and to try to give love through friendship.

Today I was comparing a normal Saturday here and one in the US. It is so absolutely light-years away from each other. But I have a hope that someday development will come for my Sudanese brothers and sisters. They deserve running water, healthcare, electricity, clean drinking water, and the privacy of a toilet just as much as we Americans.

For those who don't know our precious Savior, we have come to share the gospel. For those who do, we have come to offer discipleship, encouragement and mentoring. But I think the most valuable thing that we get to do is love our brothers and sisters and let them know that people in the US and all over the world are praying for Sudan and for the difficult situation that has been caused from 25 years of war.

We have recently had the privilege of seeing three churches planted in an area where a tribe called Como-Ganza are living. They had churches many years ago that were burned during the war and had never come back together. With the encouragement and assistance of our Ethiopian missionary colleagues, we have seen these churches singing praises to God in their own language and becoming hungry to learn about the Bible.

Can you please pray with us that our Sudanese friends would feel encouraged and loved and that those who don't know our Father would come to know Him soon?

:)Bev for Chris, Bev, and Thomas

We'd love to tell you about our visit to the market the other day. This is not a terribly spiritual email, but you are friends, and we're not trying to impress you, only share our day with you.

Love,
Chris, Beverly, and Thomas
SIM Sudan - Yabus Team
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Tuesday in Yabus is market day. So, after I had spent some time in the office, Beverly strapped Thomas onto her back and we headed out to the market. As we walked down the path, Bev said that she was glad to get out a bit. As a mom to a crawling, nine-month-old Thomas she sometimes feels stuck in the house.

We walked down a hard-packed trail bordered by 6 foot high grass, through sesame fields planted by our neighbor Yakub, down through muddy runoff channels, and passing many huts where kids ran out to greet us.

Halfway to the river we stopped and greeted Taiya's two goat boys who left their flock and came running over to greet us. Taiya is Bev's friend - she is about 8 months pregnant and alone because her husband has gone off to Chali village to greet his family.

Some Como or Ganza ladies (could not tell which) passed us with approx 20kg-40kg bags on their heads, headed for market. We moved out of the way to let them pass. At the river, we got in line with 30 people waiting for our makeshift ferryboat. We could have pulled rank and gone to the head of the line, but we wanted to show that getting in the line was valuable.

Titus (pronounced Tee-tus) Bashir, our Mabaan boat guard was getting the people in shape. He's a tough guy and always thwarted the ones trying to crash line. Kassu, our Ethiopian collegue and his family joined us in line. Together we stood and talked and joked with people nearby. Naturally, people were curious to see Thomas. A little white boy in the middle of Sudan creates a spectacle wherever he goes. While waiting Titus helped me negotiate a deal for three chickens.

When our time came we boarded our "boat". It's a pontoon boat, but not like you're thinking. It's fabricated from square steel tubing, is 3.5 meters by 2.5 meters, and it floats on six empty fuel drums. A steel cable is tensioned across the river and attached to big, ancient baobab trees. On that market day alone, the boatmen transported 1,250 people across the Yabus river. Quite an unexpected ministry God has given us. Without it, we'd be effectively isolated from the market, airstrip, and other services.

The current slowly pulled us across. We slithered and slid up the steep bank to firm ground and walked another kilometer to the market.

The Yabus market is largely a social event. We greeted zillions of people and slowly made our way to the main objective: cold soda. When in town, we eat at Nimeri's resteraunt. It has "W Hotel" painted on the outside. Nimeri is a Bertha guy who is really nice and has always helped us personally and in selling us bread, etc. He pestered me for an English book, and I promised I'd look for one.

Washing goat stew off my hands outside, I was accosted by an older lady who was asking for things. She was wearing the "taub", the traditional outfit of some ladies. But, as she was speaking I began to suspect she was drunk. She was definitely uninhibited. I went back inside the resteraunt and was holding Thomas so Bev could eat. Loud Arabic music was playing so I was swaying to the music to entertain him. Then, I looked up to see the drunk lady dancing with me! Bev whispered "maybe you should sit down". Still the lady continued to dance - for about 5 minutes. After a while Nimeri came over and sort of griped at her. Then she left.

Moving through the market, we found lots of friends and chatted with them. We saw Yuna our compound manager making his purchases. Kassu had finally found a donkey harness, which we had been trying to get for months. We bought some flip flops for Bev to wear in the house, a new flashlight, and some sodas to stash at our house.

We walked the mile or so back to the river and boarded the boat. However, our adventures were not over. The boat needs frequent load shifting because it, shall we say, lacks stability. All the ladies and cargo were situated near the center of the boat and the men were asked to shift fore and aft to compensate as needed. We shifted forward to get the stern out of the sand but when we shifted back, I slipped off the back! I managed to grab the overhead cable but the boat tried to continue across the river without me. Fortunately, I clambered back aboard.

After that it was only walking back to our base.

Some Prayer Requests
1. Our ability to encourage the newly formed Como-Ganza churches.
2. Continued health for all.
3. Praise for Thomas' excellent health and good sleeping.
4. Focus for Chris and David Lama as we try to drive the secondary school project forward.
******************
* SIM by Prayer *
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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

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

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

You may have noticed that our prayer updates have been coming in the “list” format! Forgive our brevity but we want to remain connected to you and enabled by prayer.

1. Pray for safe and successful month of travel with baby Thomas!

2. Praise for the first successful week traveling with afore-mentioned newborn! He did great in a place in northern Kenya called Lokichoggio that is very hot. We had a wonderful Spiritual Life Seminar which did wonders to refresh the dryness in our souls. We studied Daniel, a cross-cultural missionary who refused to be corrupted by the culture, kept to his spiritual disciplines, and became a hero of the faith. Thomas was held, played with, and cuddled by many of our colleagues which he seemed to enjoy greatly.

3. Next week we’re in Addis Ababa for the SIM Regional Management Seminar. Chris is honored to be invited to this intense week of training. Pray that he and Bev would learn to navigate the SIM financial and organizational structures.

4. The week after that we go to Limuru, Kenya to the Baptist Brackenhurst Conference Center for Beverly’s Nursing CEU. That’s March 11 to 17. Chris will be playing Mr. Mom while Bev attends her classes.

5. THEN, on Mar 20th and 21st we move the family to Yabus, Blue Nile State, Sudan to establish a Christian secondary boarding school. A wonderful Cessna Caravan will carry us and our stuff to Yabus.

6. Please pray for our vehicles to be delivered in good time. The Landcruiser pickup is lagging behind, not arriving in Kenya until March 8th! Please pray for a speedy trip through Mombasa customs and fitting with accessories. Then it will be ferried by land, then air to South Sudan where we will be waiting for it.

7. Also, please pray for our Yamaha ATV to be ready to fly in on the Caravan with us. Would be great for moving our stuff to the base.

8. Lastly, please pray for our bridge project. We were hoping to construct a steel cable bridge across the river to connect us with the village. However, the engineering phase is a bit slow also. Pray also for the finances to come in and for the bridge to be blessing to the community.

9. Lastly, please pray that we would continue to be connected daily with Jesus the author and perfecter of our souls, so that streams of living water would flow out of us. We want to be a blessing to everyone we meet.

Thanks for your prayers,

Chris and Beverly Crowder and baby Thomas

SIM Sudan

The Arabic term for white man is "khawadja". So I was a little surprised to discover that Khawadja is the name of the young Uduk man selected to be our guard. Khawadja's English was pretty good, and he proved to be an excitable, energetic young guy.

As we were walking down the trail to the river, he asked, "What were you talking to those elders about?" I had been having some intense discussions with them, and Khawadja was curious.

As we continued down toward the river, he was still curious about my conversation with the elders. "What in hell is that?" he asked. Taken aback, I thought fast. "Khawadja, that is not a good way to talk. Did you hear that in a movie?" I asked. Yes, he admitted he had. I knew he was a believer because when he got bored, he would wander around the
compound singing Jesus songs. So I explained, "The Bible teaches we should not let bad things come out of our mouths." His next question removed all doubt that he did not know what he was saying. "What is hell?" I tried the Arabic term "nar gehenna," but that did not ring a bell. So I said in simple English, "Heaven is the good place; hell is the bad place." "Oh," he said, "I do not want to say that bad thing."

Around 9pm as the beans were simmering over the fire and a million stars were overhead, he pulled out the Shukuru Yesu songbook and started singing. His buddy Yacob joined in. They love to sing, and I could tell he wanted me to notice his good singing. However, even the next day when I was tired and hot, he was still as chipper as ever, following me around the compound with his songbook.

I found out more about him later. As he narrated it, his father had "got dead" while Khawadja was still in the womb. Some people came in the night and beat him to death. His mother also died when he was young. He was raised by his uncle's family which is normal for Uduk culture.

Khawadja is quite an amazing guy. He can pick up hot coals with his calloused fingers. The hot sun does not bother him. He knows what plants are good to eat and which trees produce fruit. He can really take some pain, because his hand swelled up after a scorpion bit him while he slept on the ground in the guard tukul - and he kept right on working. Amazingly, he has learned to catch big, fat, tasty doves with his new guard's flashlight. He sneaks through the abandoned buildings, catches one sleeping on the rafters and blinds it with the intense beam. The stunned doves fall at his feet, becoming a late night snack. He did it twice while I was there.

Our vision for Southern Blue Nile Academy and the Yabus Basic Education Learning Center is to encourage young men like Khawadja. Here is a young guy who has enthusiasm, energy, and intelligence and who loves to sing to Jesus. All he needs is a little guidance, discipleship, and a chance to show what he can do. And maybe someone to help him smooth out some rough spots in his vocabulary. :-)

As of Wednesday, Jan 17th, the SIM compound in Yabus is now occupied for the first time in about 30 years. Please pray for Michael, John, Nate, Kasu, Masaret, Tsion, and Benjamin as they work to build the secondary school, start a learning center, and bring the sweet aroma of Christ to this corner of Blue Nile State.

All blessings,
Chris for the family

Have you ever embarked upon a project which was doomed to failure unless God was driving it forward? A friend of mine calls that “Godspace” – the place where God is moving.

Southern Blue Nile Academy, a Christian secondary boarding school in South Sudan is moving forward in Godspace. We’ve watched in awe as we a) received government approval, b) watched the community respond, c) sensed young people’s excitement and d) saw the local SIC church really engage the project.

However . . . our financial “man” power that was filling the sails is about to run out. As project manager, I was awed at the generous donations that have come in but still aware that upper level education requires a higher level of financial support. After 21 years of civil war, the SIC church is not able to contribute financially to a project of this size.

Bricks and Mortar

The Yabus site was chosen because there are serviceable buildings onsite – a true rarity in South Sudan. The bulk of our first year’s funding (75%) is going into renovating the buildings. We feel the school structures should be very humble, yet we feel strongly that computers and textbooks simply must be protected from the elements. Of the five buildings onsite, three have good roofs! However the others require walls to be repaired and foundations to be mended.

“We go to Yabus on Jan 3”

That was the text message I got from our trader’s satellite phone! Praise God that his big lorry (truck) arrived from Damazine (on a road built by Osama bin Laden) and is leaving Kurmuk tomorrow morning. Nightfall should see it rolling into Yabus. It contains 500 bags of cement and about half the lumber we need to finish all the renovations. Other loads will follow later.

Plus Ten

In January, the population of Yabus will increase by ten as we move in and set up shop. Three separate flights (there’s no way to enter by road) will bring in mattresses, materials, masons and . . . missionaries. Please pray for safety and good logistics as we fly on Jan 10, 11, and 13th.

The co-located Basic Education Learning Center will be cranking up with Pastor Kasu (Ethiopia) and Nate Kidder (USA) as the first teachers. Michael Odhiambo, a fantastic Kenyan engineer and friend, will be the Engineering and Construction Supervisor. Then, Beverly and I will move to Yabus with baby Thomas around the first of February. That is, as long as I can boost the living conditions from “bush camping” to “luxury camping”.

Setting Up Shop in South Sudan

How do we do that? Well, we’ll be working on the basics: food, shelter, and water. The food will be a mix of staples we fly in and things bought locally. Mostly it will be rice and beans followed the next day by beans and rice.

For a while, shelter will be big canvas tents or in the Crowders' case a small 2-room brick building with a big tarp for a makeshift roof. Water will be brought from boreholes or the river via our brand new SIM donkey. The water will be boiled and/or treated then filtered with big Katydyn filters to ensure drinkability.

All these things cost money. The water filter costs over $500. We are purchasing a Toyota Landcruiser to move sand and stones up from the riverbed. That will cost a pretty penny, not to mention $10,000 just to fly it in (again, no roads). And cement costs $13 a bag.

Our Vision

Can I share my vision for Southern Blue Nile Academy? Through eyes of faith, I see a graduation taking place in about a year and a half. About 30 boarding students, a mix of men and women, will be receiving certificates of promotion from Form 1 to Form 2. They will have been challenged, loved, disciplined, and shown how to follow God. They will be the first students from a population of 1 million people to have any hope of upper level education. And that’s really the point – hope. The hope that comes from repairing the walls.

“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

Isaiah 58:12 (NIV)

Thanks for your prayers and your love,
Chris for the Crowder family

Thanks for your prayers. You'd be surprised how many people wrote back saying they were praying. Can we give you and update on the Malakal situation?

The news is mostly good. All our missionary colleagues got out of Malakal, Sudan to Lokichoggio, Kenya. They arrived well but are honestly traumatized.

Now the news gets a little worse for our Nigerian team members. You must understand that Nigerians undergo intense scrutiny in Kenya because of the drug trade. There are a lot of bad feelings. Our Nigerians tried to get transit visas that would allow a short stay in Kenya, but they were denied harshly. In fact, their passports were confiscated, they were threatened, and they were forced to travel straight from the small regional airport outside Nairobi to the international terminal to await the next available flight.

They were basically kicked out of Kenya. We wanted to minister to them, pray with them, and listen to them after this awful experience, but ultimately only one SIM'er was allowed to talk to them.

It's quite ridiculous that they can easily obtain a visa in Nigeria but are unable to get anything in Kenya!

Here's the prayer request: our newest batch of missionaries includes 2 Nigerian families. They are wonderful, humble servants, but after coming all this way and saying goodbye to their families, they may now be forced to turn around and go home. Please pray for good judgment on all our parts.

And yet, we are remembering that Satan continually fights against servants of the light going out in obedience. So we are praying for judgment mixed with holy boldness.

Thanks for your prayers and your love,
Chris for Crowder family