Storying
In
the midst of language learning, veterinarian work, community
relationship development and daily life, one of my joys is storying. I
love the Word of God. I love the stories that He gives us to grow our
faith, our understanding, and our hope in Him. There is nothing more
precious to me than being able to open the Word and learn from God. It
saddens me to think about all the people who do not have that same
opportunity, who do not have access to the Word due to an inability to
read or the fact that no one has shared it with them. So I count it
among my greatest blessings that I get to share the Word to others.
There
is a village called Kassiopus located about 6 kilometers from
Nabilituk (where we live). It's a pleasant walk when the rivers aren't
flooded or the sun it not too hot. We have been going there once every
month for many months to do a spraying project. We spray the animals
against ticks. Since four of the most dangerous diseases for cows are
tick-born this is an appreciated and important community outreach.
Traditionally Tom would wait until the animals were sprayed and then
gather the shepherds who remained and share with them a story from
God's Word. The people were receptive to the Word but were often
distracted by the need to take the cows back out to pasture. Another
problem was that this was only reaching the men and not the entire
community.
About
two months ago, when all of the visitors were still here, the village
invited us to go and spend the night in their village. Unfortunately I
had a migraine that night and was unable to go. However, I joined them
in prayer and rejoiced with them in the reports that came back the next
morning. Apparently Simon had the opportunity to share a Bible story
with them. As Joshua, the translator, engaged the people in dialogue
the conversation continued for hours, the people actively listening to
every word. At around midnight, eleven people said that they wanted to
become Christ-followers!
For
weeks we tried to go back to the village and do follow-up discipleship
training, but various factors such as weather, travel schedule and
sickness kept getting in the way. We pressed forward with prayer
knowing that God was doing something in this village.
When
we finally got back to the village Joyce, the woman who hosted the
team last time, met us with excitement. An older man sat at the
entrance of her hut. "This is my husband!" She excitedly explained, "he
has been ill for three years and has not been able to come home during
that time, but since you came and prayed, he is getting better! Your
prayers have brought him home!" He stood and welcomed us to his home,
thanking us for our prayers and for teaching the stories of God. They
asked us to share more stories with them.
We
have come to realize that this man is an important person in the
village; he is the head elder and holds great influence over the
decisions that are made in the village. He is also the father to many
of the children in the village (I think he may have nine wives), so
having him welcome us is a huge blessing. Joyce, being the first wife,
also has a place of influence. She has a spirit of joy and interest in
spiritual things. She also has the spirit of hospitality and openness.
One
of the Biblical principles we find in beginning church planting
movements is to look for the person of peace within the community. The
person of peace is someone who has a heightened level of spiritual
interest, is willing to introduce us to others (takes us deeper into
the community than we could go ourselves as outsiders), and is willing
to listen/obey the Scriptures. As we look at the community of
Kassiopus, we believe that Joyce is that person of peace. We believe
that God is already using her to open up doors in this community that
we could never have opened on our own. We are praying that we will be
able to develop this relationship with her and that through her we may
be able to begin a church planting movement in Kassiopus.
Please
join us in prayer over this community, over our relationship with
Joyce, for wisdom to know how to bring the stories of God to her and
the people there, and for a reliable, trust-worthy person to translate
for us.
I
would love to eventually be able to tell the Bible stories in
Ng'Karamojong. Please pray for continued language learning and
understanding (it is not easy!!!). I had a wonderful language helper
named Christine (loved her!), but she had to return to boarding school
and is no longer able to work with me. I am in need of a new language
helper that will be faithful and patient with me as I learn. It is a
tedious task to teach adults (like me) a new language! Please pray that
God will provide the perfect person for me! Language is such a barrier
(and I am praying for all the barriers to be knocked down!).
Another
difficulty we face in going to Kassiopus on a regular basis is
insecurity. In the two months that we have wanted to go, the village
has been raided four times. We have tried to arrange over-night visits,
but they often have to be canceled due to the insecurity. So why don't
we go during the day? Because the people aren't in the village during
the day, they scatter to the fields for planting/harvesting, to the
pastures with the cattle, to the rivers to gather water etc. One of the
great challenges of working with a nomadic people group is that they
are not settled into one routine or place. Please pray for wisdom to
know how to bridge this difficulty.
-Summer--
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