Baptism: welcome to the family

Yes, I know that we are supposed to start highlighting New Orleans team members today.  What happened between last weeks blog and today is that our lead planter had his first daughter.  We are rejoicing with the Jagers and we'll wait to pepper them with church planting questions until next week.

Here is little Laynie!  She's the newest member of the NOLA plant team and we're glad she's here!

So, instead of highlighting team members, our blog today will discuss the goal of the church planter: Sinners convicted and then forgiven of sin placing their trust in Christ and joining a local body.  We saw this on display yesterday at the NFCC Baptism service.

We baptized several members yesterday and I was blown away with their stories as they communicated what their lives looked like before they trusted in Christ.  At this point, I should let you know that it is easy, as a staff person, to become consumed with the "grunt" work of the ministry.  It is easy to lose focus on the things that are important...on the reasons why we went into the ministry in the first place.

Each person communicated that they were trusting Christ for their salvation and they were entrusting themselves to the local body to hold them accountable and help them grow in godliness.  There were young folks and a few that were more seasoned, but they were all able to say that they had previously trusted in behavior or self-gratification, or any number of other things to make them whole.  By the grace of God, they have been transformed.

Yesterday, we saw a very visible symbol of that transformation.

Soli Deo Gloria

Neighbors to New Orleans

New Orleans is a city rich in tradition, culture, and fine foods.  It is a cultural center, not just of Louisiana, but of the entire gulf south.

A list of the unique attributes of New Orleans would be very long.  Sadly, in one way, New Orleans is not unique among the cities of the world.  New Orleans is under-churched.  What I mean by that is that there are too few evangelical churches to successfully reach the population for Christ.  

You see, for all the color, beauty, and culture in the city, there is also a profound darkness.  This is a darkness that can only be lifted by the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Simply put, New Orleans is a ripe mission field for the ambassador of Christ.

The New Orleans Baptist Association provides this staggering list to communicate why  New Orleans is in need:

1) Highest murder rate per capita in the United States
2) Rated by Traveler’s Digest as the second most sinful city in the world
3) Leads the United States in incarceration per capita
4) One of the most impoverished, underserved cities in the United States
5) Worst disaster to ever hit American shores – Hurricane Katrina

Being burdened for the city and the work of a Pastor, one of our NFCC staff has committed himself and his family to lead a plant team in NOLA.  Over the next few weeks, we'll highlight Kyle and Suzy as well as their team members.  Our goal is that you would feel a closeness to them and would commit to praying for them and the work that lies ahead.

Soli Deo Gloria

Sudan Reflections: Flash Floods

After three days of travel from Shreveport to South Sudan we were excited to finally be heading down the muddy roads to Karkamuge in the rugged Land Cruiser with five days of camping gear strapped to the roof, great anticipation in our hearts and our senses in overload as we tried to process a variety of sights, sounds and smells our mind could barely comprehend. As any good southern boy would do we hooted and hollered as we slid down the muddy roads narrowly escaping stoppage at every turn - that is until the flash flood hit. Out of nowhere the bottom fell out and in an instant the roads became streams and the streams became rivers. Upon reaching a deep intersection of streams Shannon and I got out scouting for a way to pass. With each step going deeper and deeper into the waters and as the cool rain pounded our hoods, Shannon and I came to grips with the reality that we wouldn’t be making it to Karkamuge.

Instantly the next question began to form in our minds - would we be making it home today. Analyzing our situation with rivers to the right, rivers straight ahead, no way to back up and trees to our left, our only option was to perform the first ever U-turn with nothing but a wench so for the next twelve hours our translator, who came to be known as Peter the Great, cut a path through the bush as we wenched the Land Cruiser to one tree after another at impossible angles until finally we were facing toward home.
During these hours of wenching, digging and cutting the Lord allowed us to share the gospel with eleven men who decided to watch the wenching festivities. These men received Christ that day. Two of them were even baptized in the floodwaters when they cut off their bracelets to denounce witchcraft.

With the baptism celebration complete and the Cruiser facing home we piled into the truck and headed home with the closeness that comes with the fellowship of ministry. Everything was rollin and we could feel the warmth of our beds until we came to a river and the air got tense. Shannon shifted into low gear and off we went. We made it across the river but as we tried to ascend the steep banks of the river our wheels began to spin and we were stuck again. Like a well oiled machine we all jumped out of the car, assumed our positions on the wench team and got to work once again; however, by now the wench was totally shot. After fighting the wench for four more hours, at 1:30am Shannon finally announced that we’d be sleeping in the Land Cruiser that night.

Imagine seven smelly grown men sleeping in a truck tilted at a 30 degree angle with all the windows rolled up nice and tight to keep the mosquitos out. After an eternity of trying to steal just a few hours of rest not knowing what tomorrow held, with the first peak of the sun we peeled ourselves from the truck and began digging out again. I wish I could say we then made it home safely but we are not there yet. A we excitedly headed down the road with cheers of celebration - you guessed it - we got stuck again - not a word was whispered in the truck.

Thankfully, by this time he river was down so Carrie came to our rescue. What a beautiful sight she was as she came muddin up and all we could see was truck full of mud and a face full of smiles. She is always a breath of fresh air. After only one more three-hour delay to repair the fan belt we were home safe and sound and drifting off to sleep in our soft, warm, clean beds. 

As we lay in our tukel discussing the events of the day we couldn’t help but think that God had just given us a glimpse into the struggles the Lewis’ face on a regular basis. On this day and throughout the rest of the trip one thing truth became abundantly clear - You gotta be tough to reach the unreached! 

TG
jn

Sudan Reflections: Singata Surprise

After a week of adventure we awoke early on this last day to begin our journey home having gone to sleep the previous night praying God would allow us to cross the Singata in the morning to get to our first of five planes home.  

We awoke to dark clouds so we kicked it into high gear at Shannon’s command.   We loaded into two trucks since during our previous adventures the fan belts in the Land Cruiser were being held together with zip ties in a move that would have made McGuiver proud.  With Carrie Lewis and Mark Pearson following behind us in the second truck we rushed out to beat the river once again. The road to the river was filled with hazards at every turn but it wasn’t until we rounded the final curve that we saw Singata flowing fast and furious and rising  by the minute. 

Using the tree across the river as his target Shannon shifted into low gear and we lurched into the waters praying once again.  It was  quiet in the truck and the air was filled with tension until we burst into cheers as we landed safely on the other side.  Immediately our attention shifts to Carrie and Mark behind us as we prayerfully watch them  launch into the river only to see them immediately come to an abrupt halt.  

Without a moment of hesitation Shannon orders us out out of the truck telling us he is running into town to get help.  As he speeds away all Scott, Hamm and I could do was circle and pray as the waters quickly rose over the hood of their truck. We prayed and waited only to see things rapidly growing more serious and dangerous. As the water begins to flood into the truck Carrie and Mark crawl out the window and onto the truck bed.  Just then, without a moment to spare Shannon rounds the corner riding in the Bog-Rat, the biggest and most beautiful old beat up truck I’d ever seen. They launch back into the now deeper waters and on to the other side where they deliver our friends from the waters and begin to attempt to hook straps to the sinking truck. Fighting the swift moving currents made it slow, hard work so that by the time they secured the strap the truck was going under and was  sure to be lost but to the cheers of the onlooking crowd they pulled the truck out just before it was washed away!  They rode back across in the Bog-Rat and we all hugged with the understanding that the Lord had just provided for us once again. 

Wow!  What a week! All week we had a saying that we repeated when things got challenging.  Whether it was a broken wench that meant we would sleep in the truck all night, being runout of a village by drunken fools, wading  across the river just in time, the long painful walk into the middle of nowhere, or escaping the river just in the nick of time – one phrase was repeated throughout reminding us of why we were there  - “And that is why they are unreached.”

TG
jn

Sudan Reflections: Leadership Chai

The Toposa people love their chai – a mixture of one part tea, one part milk and one part sugar – add to that up to thirty Christian Toposa  leaders, four servings of American visitors and one fantastic missionary and you have the makings of a fantastic batch of Leadership Chai. 

As the rain fell quietly all around we had the great privilege of participating in Shannon’s weekly gathering of leaders the Lord has raised up from all the surrounding villages.  They come to this safe place every Monday morning to share what the Lord has been doing in their villages and to be equipped and encouraged to keep pressing on for the sake of Christ’s glorious name.   

Under the straw roof of the open air tukel the stresses of ministry melted away as we visited, laughed, sang songs and sipped endless amounts of warm cups of tea .  Behind each weather worn face with markings from the past was a story of God’s transforming grace.  Each man a believer whom Christ  had brought to spiritual life, whom had been baptized and whom was now a leading their village to turn away from idols and witchcraft and to find life in Jesus Christ.  Each man that is except for one new face in the group.  This new visitor showed up unexpectedly saying that God had led him to walk for days from his town, which was a nine hour drive away, to learn about this Word of God he had been hearing about.  Needless to say he did not leave disappointed. 

Each leader shared personal stories of the daily blessings and struggles they faced being the lone source of light in their dark sinful villages.  Some shared of great movements of God where large crowds were turning from sin and gathering regularly to hear God’s word proclaimed on their solar powered proclaimers whiles others shared how they were losing their followers to the old ways of drunkeness and sin and how they were facing verbal abuse, isolation and even stonings for Christ. 

It was plain to see the real warmth of this chai was the love of Christ found within this special group of leaders.  Perhaps the sweetest part of this chai was the time when I asked them each to tell me who had led them to faith in Christ and one name was repeated over and over in Toposa, “Shannon…Shannon…Shannon…I heard about Jesus from the Word of God and I talk to Shannon and he led me to trust only in Jesus.”  Oh what a glorious day it will be for the Lewis’ when they stand before Christ and see the tribes of Toposa standing before Jesus and when He asks who told you about me together they will say “Shannon and Carrie Lewis” and Jesus will say “Well done my good and faithful servants.”  

This batch of Chai has been brewing for many difficult years and on this rainy Monday morning we enjoyed the fruit of the Lewis’ labors.  After several hours and cups of chai one by one the leaders meandered back to their villages with a smile on their face and a song in their heart ready to face what the Lord would set before them.  Still today I thank God for the honor of participating in just one Leadership Chai.

TG
jn