These Days in Doro

It has been a couple months since arriving in Doro.  I have had the immense pleasure of shadowing my fellow missionaries and believers in our area to see what God is doing in the lives of the people in and around Doro. 

SIM runs a clinic in Doro where I have seen people receive excellent care at the hands of our team of nurses, PAs and Community Health Workers.  Our family has even been the recipient of their care.  Evan developed an abscess on his leg and they cared for it until it healed completely.  Two chaplains are available for counseling and share the gospel with those who are waiting.

 

I had the privilege of shadowing the SIM water team as they went out to fix a borehole for a community.  They received a report that the borehole stopped working and after investigating, gathered the tools and supplies necessary to fix the problem.  I got to drive them out about 45 minutes away on a quad bike and trailer.  They were a well oiled machine.  After gathering the community and praying for the work they were going to do, each man on this 4-person crew knew their assigned task and they whipped the cover off and had the pipes and other things I had never seen before pulled out of the ground in no time.  They figured out that the pipes were worn through from corrosion, replaced them and had water pumping before lunch! 

 

I tagged along with 3 of the ladies who work at the clinic to some of the different Bible studies that they do with women in the various refugee communities.  Through a combination of spending time, story-telling, pictures, discussion, and even a wind-up radio that tells the story of the gospel, these ladies communicated the love of Jesus Christ.  

Two of our teammates, Bubba and Cathy, invited us to go out and visit a tribe called the Ingassana.  We were introduced to several people who had heard about Christians before but now they wanted to know more.  Over the last couple months, we have spent several days with them, sharing the gospel and starting to tell the story of Scripture.  There were 58 people gathered to worship God yesterday!  This has been truly amazing to witness as there have been only a handful of believers in this tribe before. 

 

We were invited to attend the annual Spiritual Life Conference of the Uduk Church in the refugee camp.  The Uduk tribe has embraced the gospel and they have a strong church.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but the boys and I bought some sugar and coffee (these are very dear to the Uduk heart) and when we rounded the corner to the church, there were over 1,500 people packed into the shelter and spilling out into the shade of nearby trees.  We spent the day worshipping God in no less than 6 languages and being encouraged by the Word of God. 

On August 23, 75 years ago, two SIM missionaries lost their lives in Doro and were buried near where we stay.  Another grave stone marks the spot where Dr. Masters was buried after he passed away in Doro in 2008.  In memory of these missionaries who paid the ultimate price, we gathered and cleaned the grave sites.  Bethany planted flowers and they have begun to bloom.

 

Two of our teammates, Christiane and Debbie, hosted a seminar to look at the topic of discipleship in Scripture.  It was a fantastic time to be a “fly on the wall” and look at Scripture together with Sudanese and Southern Sudanese.  I will be facilitating a seminar next month where we will look at how oral learners can understand and apply Scripture. 

 

It has been an incredible couple of months and even though we are not at Gideon Theological College, we are excited at the ministry opportunities that have opened up here in Doro.  God is at work and we are thankful to be a small part of it. 

Here are some ways you can pray:

1. Despite the peace agreement that was signed last month, there is still a lot of tension and active fighting between forces of the government and former rebels.  Please pray for peace to come.

2. There are a lot of tensions between the refugees and local people here.  Sadly, some people have been killed lately.  Pray for peace between the tribes here.

3. The rains have not come this year and people's crops have died.  The hunger has increased tensions and theft is happening more frequently and people are in need of food.  Please pray for miraculous rains and for people to not turn to stealing when they are hungry.