Church of the Brethren Sudan Initiative

In the wee hours of this morning (and my body says it was about 3:30a) under the protection of our mosquito net, at the SCC/CEAS compound in Rumbeck, and idea for this blog came to me. I found myself singing (in my mind, at least) the gospel folk tune "Seek and Ye Shall Find" based on the core message of Luke 11:9-10. The chorus paraphrases that eloquent discourse of Jesus on prayer in this way: "Seek, and ye shall find, ask, and it shall be given, knock, and it shall be opened and the love come a-tricklin' down."

The message is pretty clear: be proactive and persistent in your prayer life! Good things will come of it!

As one of the members of the Church of the Brethren's Sudan Initiative's A-Team (Assessment Team), this scripture struck me as an apt Biblical metaphor for our task.

In order to aid the discernment process for the larger church regarding where we go in southern Sudan, our prayer/actions, as a team, needed to be quite proactive and persistent, trusting on God's guidance/leading along the way. We have tried to do exactly that--building upon old relationships, forming new ones, and making many exciting connections all along the way. I think we have gotten an amazing amount of information, creative insights, some cautions, a fair amount of sage advice, and encouragement when we outlined the purpose of our visit. We've always done our best to be clear and transparent, seeking the same from those with whom we shared these hopes and dreams for renewed work in south Sudan.

(Here is a photo of an (N)SCC education project on this compound.)

Countless times I have felt the movement of the Spirit in this discernment process--the Spirit has been a steady yet sometimes surprising source of encouragement/inspiration in our seeking/asking/knocking. I have truly been amazed at the insights showered upon us for the needed guidance.

One of the latest manifestations was through an absolutely delightful Sudanese UNDP (United Nations Development Program) Training Analyst named Manock Lual--a deeply thoughtful, sensitive, bright, global citizen in his own right.

Another amazing gift was to meet an old friend, Bishop Reuben, as we were returning on foot from the market, where we also visited the Women's Cooperative Bakery, which is in business now. On Louie's previous visit last September with Merv Keeney and Bread Bohrer, it had only walls and floor, and they were stuck with no further funds to complete the building. It is good to see it in operation.

We bought and ate some bread, and then met Bishop Reuben with whom we had a good, long, and helpful talk. The closing prayer time we shared with Bishop Reuben was particularly touching and meaningful, and we felt like there was possibly an open door if God was to lead us in this direction.

I know it is through your heartfelt, undergirding prayers (as readers and prayer partners) that we have been able meet/connect with persons of this caliber all along the way.

THANK YOU!
Phil, for Louie and Enten too