rebelsandasnake

well im back to work in sudan after a great vacation in nairobi. it seems i got out just in time as violence erupted yesterday with lots of gunfire on a street that i had traveled several times. pray for my friends chris and lindy thompson as they remain in nairobi for a few more days.

right now sudan is much more peaceful than kenya, but keep me and all the SP workers in your prayers as the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army--ugandan rebel group known for robbing and pillaging) is supposedly on the move. a village about 10 miles from my base was attacked by this group of pirates on the 17th. they kidnapped a child and looted several stores. rumors are that they are going to be hiding out in southern sudan as neighboring countries are cracking down on their presence. fortunately my base is in a well known soldier town, so i feel very safe, because i know that the rebels will not want to mess with the soldiers. but keep us in your prayers as we travel around to our different sites out in the bush. with all that being said keep in mind that sudan is a huge country and this rebel group is small and dwindling, and that this particular band has moved on to the east. more importantly we serve a God is who is much bigger and stronger than a group of bandits. now, sorry it is a short and somber update, but i've got to go see the green mamba we just killed by the shower i just used tonight!! i love you all and thank you for the emails and prayers.

quickupdate

hey guys, sorry my posts have lately been few and far between. internet access has been limited these days so i have to post when i can. right now i am in nairobi using my few vacation days before they go to waste. surprisingly nairobi is very calm and life as usual. the locals say that the news stations were blowing all the turmoil out of porportion and after seeing how normal it is here i would almost agree. then my taxi driver drove us through an intersection and nonchalantly said, "ten men were killed in a fight here last week." that was a little unnerving, but rest assure i am safe. like i said i have noticed no violence and there aren't even many police or soldiers around, so obviously things have calmed down.

ill be back in sudan next monday. things are rolling there. right now my base is supervising 13 churches and about to start construction on 7 others. so with only one pickup and one quad we are running till late hours every day.

my return date to the states has been pushed back to the middle of april. the 26th to be exact. that is by my choice. i want to do some traveling and have some real alone time to get my heart and mind ready to come back. pray for me as, though i will get to see my family, i will be torn as i leave a place i consider home, and a people that i truly love.

thank you guys so much for praying for me and my family as my mom recovers from surgery. for those of you who don't know, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple months ago, but God took care of her and allowed her to come through surgery just fine. i can't wait to get home and hug you mom, and let you know how proud i am that you have been so strong.

love you all

backinaction

well the holidays are over and work is starting back up. i head back out to my base tomorrow, hopefully. with all the turmoil in nairobi gas prices have skyrocketed leaving us with the possibility of being immobile in a week or two. so we are definitely praying, obviously for our workers and others stuck in nairobi, but also for the sake of the project, that things will calm down in kenya. we have a few kenyan workers confined to their home towns because it is too dangerous to travel. two of which are our engineers, so not having them here will definitely cause some problems in the building process. please pray for their safety and for the situation in general. for those of you that haven't heard (i don't know how much it is being talked about in the states) the nairobi elections went bad when the losing candidate accused the president of stuffing the ballots. people are outraged at the president and unfortunately are taking their anger out on the president's supporters and anyone of certain ethnic backgrounds associated with the president. there has been a lot of killing and rioting in cities all over kenya. it is truly a sad situation. unfortunately this is all too common for africa. a greedy politician gets into office and gets as rich as possible until another equally crooked politician takes over the country and does the same. kenya had lived in peace for almost 15 years and now all the democracy, freedom, and peace they had acheived is being swept out from under them and replaced with fear and tragedy all because of one man's greed. the bad thing is, if democracy in kenya fails, the rest of africa has no example of a peaceful country to look to as a guide.

but on to some better news. guys i want you to scroll down and read "my prayer requests." you see the one that says building design. well back in december i took an SP engineer (who is one of the guys stuck in kenya) out to the school in wadupe. he had helped build the church out there so he knew the people well and was real excited when he heard of my visions for the community. after seeing the school we sat down and discussed some building options and traded ideas about what would be best. a few weeks later he emailed me professionally done drawings of possible building designs for a new school. he offered his services for free and told me he would help as much as possible. i am almost in disbelief of how much everything is falling into place for me. i prayed, and you prayed for me, for land to set up a base of operations and the chief of the area (mayor) offers me as much as i need and the church offers to build me a tukul (house) all for free. i have been praying that God would bring the right people my way and within the first week of being out here i was assigned to work with a sudanese man who has a college degree in teaching, wants to be a teacher in sudan but can't afford the low pay, and is excited about helping me either by teaching in the wadupe school or helping me find qualified teachers who will. we prayed for building designs and an engineer sends me professional drawings of some buildings i had described to him, again for free. my next step is sitting down with the engineer again and figuring costs and labor. the doors are being opened and the people are ready. i am anxious to get working on a website and get around to churches, schools and really whoever will listen to spread my vision and my passion for WTW. everyday i see the need more and more and just pray that my ideas and visions will one day help make a change in this country and others around the world. i can never say it enough but i truly thank you all for your faithful prayers and encouraging words. love you all....until next week or two...who knows?