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

Sudan Reflections: The Journey of Pain

Imagine walking for an hour and a half through the bush of Africa in the dark of night with your feet sinking ankle deep in the mud, with barbed thorns ripping your flesh,with no shoes on your feet and a 100lbs sack on your head. That is what the women do here virtually every day as they head to and from the nypengoroko village to sell their harvest of grain or to get it ground for consumption.

Or imagine being a 16 year old boy walking that same walk every Friday night to take God’s Word to a people whom you know will persecute you and then returning the next morning for follow-up.

Last night we got as all taste of their struggle. We headed out last night at 7:30pm to take that same journey only we had flashlights in our hands, shoes on our feet, and no 100lbs sack on our head. We waded across the river, trampled down a path of deep mud with the bush climbing higher than our heads until we finally arrived at a village in the middle of nowhere under the glittering stars of the African sky.

I’m ashamed to say that Initially I fought discouragement when I saw there were only eight young men. I found myself trying not to think it was all wasted effort. During the first several songs I was selfishly focused on my exhaustion, the painful blisters on my feet, and the aching back that I didn’t notice the crowd was growing one by one as the people slipped in under the cover of darkness. By the time I got over myself I was amazed to see that this young 16 year old boy had gathered over 100 people to hear God’s Word!

After a wonderful time of teaching by the boy we had to face the hard road home. By the time we arrived safely at home all we could do was shower and collapse in bed. I cannot imagine getting up the next morning and heading out there once again to follow up with very same people.

Lokoyo is the name of this amazing young follower of Christ. Please pray for him as he takes this long journey of pain every weekend for the glory of God. Joseph Lonya, Joseph Lotibe, Joseph Lomana are also heading out on similar journeys weekly. May we pray that the Lord will grant them courage, peace, protection, strength, endurance and so much more as these men faithfully obey the Lord’s command to share His good news.

Pray for the Toposa women who live a very hard life of physical labor and for the Lewis family who have dedicated theirs lives to loving and serving and teaching these people the Word of God though it is often a journey filled with pain.

TG
jn

Sudan reflections: Adventure in South Sudan

Over the next few weeks, we'll be sharing stories from out Sudan team.  Not only will these stories help you know how to pray for the Lewis family in their ministry, but it will also display the joys of faithful Gospel proclamation.

Well the adventure continues in Sudan!

Because the roads are so wet Shannon took us to a different village today. Knowing the roads would be bad we drove only part of the way and hiked it the rest of the way with Shannon serving as our guide pointing out the African countryside, the unique Toposa culture, and the truck that someone got stuck over four months ago because the river suddenly rose without warning.

We made it to the village and began singing and dancing with the women and kids which brought the men in from their houses only to find some young Toposa men had been drinking homemade brew for three days. They were a real distraction to the teaching time as they acted like fools and displayed aggressive behavior. One of the few Toposa Christian women stood up to them and tried to run them off. Things got a little heated so we decided it best to leave. Shannon tells us that women who stood up for us will probably be slapped around or even beaten that night for taking a stand. Please pray for her as she must live there and face the persecution as we leave the village for our safety.

We do believe the Lord used their wicked behavior for our good because as we left we discovered the streets were flooding and the river was rising rapidly from the rain in the mountains. As the Toposa people were running home away from the river we are running toward the river trying to get to our truck before the river became impossible to cross. When we get to the river it is rushing fast with rapids growing stronger. After asking some Toposa where the best place to cross, we lock hands and waded through the rushing rapids being sure to drag our feet as we had been taught. The current was strong and moving fast so when we arrived safely to the other side we all cheered and shouted praises to the Lord! It was awesome!! Even better than the rapids at Disney :)

What an amazing adventure with emotions ranging from tears over the unbelief and sin of the drunken young men, heartbreak for the suffering the young lady will likely endure with such courage, to the thrill of wading through the rushing waters. No words can ever express what we have experienced and what the Lewis’ are living every day. I can’t wait for you to meet them next year!!

TG

jn

Before and After

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, "You also are not one of his disciples are you?" He denied it and said, "I am not." One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, "Did  I not see you in the garden with him?" Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed. John 18:25-27

This is how we often think of Peter.  He is cowering and afraid.  He is overcome with the fear of man.  He's so overcome that he denies the man that he correctly identified (via the revelation of the Father) as the Christ.  We condemn Peter for his cowardice, but we do so with fear in our hearts because we can certainly identify with him.  In fact, if we are honest with ourselves, we far too often keep our mouths shut when we out to open them and speak truth to the lost.  Far too often we forget the warning of Matthew 10:32-33.

But just as flesh and blood did not reveal to Peter that Jesus was the Christ, flesh and blood does not empower us to speak the truth of the Gospel in difficult times.  Back up a few verses from Matthew 10:32 to verse 19: When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

The Father has a track record of giving his followers the words to say when they are faithful in their attempts to represent him accurately.  He is our power.  His Spirit is our helper.  In Acts 1:8, Jesus tells us that we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes and that this power will enable us to be His witnesses.

Look at how the Spirit empowered Peter in Acts 2:14-41.

We are faithful in evangelism in the same way we strive for holiness or worship rightly or love our brothers and sisters sacrificially...through the power of the Spirit.

May we faithfully rest in the power of the Spirit for the strength to live as those who've been crucified with Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria

...to Nations

This will be an abbreviated entry.  Check back next week when we will be back in full swing.

This morning, four men from our church left Shreveport and began the trip to Southern Sudan to assist in the ministry work of the Lewis family.  



Pray this week for Mark Pearson, Scott Adams, David Hamm, and Tracy Graham that they would have travel mercies and they would find favor with the Toposa people that they will be witnessing to.  Specifically, pray for the Karkamuge people that we will be working with directly.

Shannon Lewis talks about the Toposa People

Happy Labor Day from N2N!

Soli Deo Gloria

Let Isaac spur us on to prayer

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefor pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Matthew 9:37-38

Can I admit something to you?  I don't pray as I should.  I read and I study and I think, but the ratio of reading/studying/thinking to praying is way out of whack.  This became clear to me this morning as I was getting ready to write this week's blog.  We are in Louisiana and life in Louisiana often involves hurricanes.  I've watched Isaac closely over the last few days and over the last few hours, it seems likely that Isaac is headed for New Orleans.

I was a Louisiana resident 7 years ago and I remember Katrina and the devastation she caused.  Now, it seems very unlikely that Isaac will be a storm of the same magnitude as Katrina, but even "weak" hurricanes can cause major damage.  I've recently began to learn about the work of ministers and church planters in the New Orleans area and how devastated they were by Katrina.  This past week I heard from Dennis Watson of Celebration Church and he spoke of his depression immediately after the storm.  Similar comments were made by Southern Baptist Convention president and New Orleans pastor Fred Luter.  These men have poured themselves out in the the city and for the people.  The morning after Katrina, it appeared as if much of their work had been washed away by the storm.

We know, though, that the work of a pastor and planter is not one of mortar and brick, but of discipleship, prayer, and people.  Katrina may have destroyed buildings, but we know that that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.  Circumstances, however dire and formidable, cannot stop the work of God.  In the days following the storm, Dennis Watson and Fred Luter began to see what the Lord was doing through the storm as the people they had invested in girded them up and encouraged them to get back to the vital work of ministry in a city that was more in need than ever before.

This morning as I looked through facebook and twitter, I saw pastors caring for a people that are likely to evacuate and be dispersed.  Pastors from Vintage Church, Mosaic, and Harbor NOLA are urging their people to keep them updated on where they'll be.  As I read post after post from these men, I began to feel a burden to pray for them.  And I think that we should.  We have some folks who have already moved down in anticipation of the plant and I have been in prayer for them.  I urge you to pray for pastors and planters in the path of the storm.  I also urge you to pray for their congregations and the lost of the city.

What struck me though is that I should already be praying for these folks.  It shouldn't take a hurricane to spur me on to support our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been sent out as laborers into His harvest.

So, as Isaac bears down on New Orleans, let us commit to pray for the people there, but let us not stop on Thursday when Isaac is somewhere in Arkansas.  May we continue to pray for the Lord's will be done in New Orleans and all over the world.  May the Lord send workers into the harvest, and may our prayer be, "Here am I Lord, send me."

Soli Deo Gloria

Our plan

The past two weeks from the pulpit, we've been challenged to personally engage in spreading the Gospel from Neighbors to Nations.  A special emphasis has been placed on intentionality in reaching out to our neighbors.  I would like to share our families plan to engage our neighbors for the Gospel this fall.

Is this plan perfect?  Nope.  I'm sure we'll revisit the plan after a few months and evaluate its effectiveness.  I want to share it with you so that I can give you updates on how it is working and work through some of the things we need to change.

About two months ago, the Lord blessed us with a house in a great neighborhood.  Our neighbors are always outside walking dogs or throwing footballs.  If you want to meet our neighbors, you need only to sit out on the porch and wait for them to pass by.  In addition to the accessibility of our neighbors, there are also a large number of Christians in our neighborhood who are burdened for the lost in our neighborhood.

With this in mind, my wife and I have decided to invite one of our neighbors into our home at least once a month for a meal.  The goal is to open the lines of communication with them so that we may share Gospel with them and very tangibly show them the love of Christ as we seek to love them sacrificially for their good and God's glory.

Our prayer is that we would be faithful at every step of the process.  The Gospel is not lasagna, so we must be faithful beyond the initial invitation and we must be ready to share our faith with them.  Then we must keep in contact with them and share the love of Christ with them regardless of how they initially react to the Gospel.

Please pray that we would be faithful!

So that's our plan.  What's yours?

May we be faithful to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost!

Soli Deo Gloria