whythewoods

i can't tell you how excited i am about the recent progress for whythewoods. i have filed an application with the IRS for non-profit, tax-exempt status, and i have a big meeting with one of our representatives of north carolina, virginia foxx, tomorrow. my buddy thomas schambach scored a knock-out with the design of my future website, whythewoods.com, but don't bother trying to go there yet because we are still in construction mode. i am praying that it will be up and running within 2 months. i have had several great speaking opportunities including my home church victory baptist of cooleemee, my old middle school south davie, and several others. friends, things are happening fast. almost too fast; so i hired my sister katie to keep me organized. it is amazing to watch the hand of GOD move in all of this. i only wish there was a way to keep in contact with the people of wadupe so they could share in my excitement. i know they are greatful for your help and support. and one day they will share in this great project.

now that i am home i want to be clear on what it is i am actually doing with whythewoods. i have had a lot of questions about the relationship between wtw and samaritan's purse. i went to sudan as an employee of samaritan's purse for two months last summer and again from sept. '07 to april '08. but, now i have completely started a new organization, whythewoods, seperate from samaritan's purse. we will continue to be dear friends as we work side by side in the country of sudan.

so now the question is, "why did you leave s.p.?" and the reason is that GOD's guidance in this has been very clear. samaritan's purse is a great organization and is capable of impacting a huge area of sudan with the many projects it operates. my heart is in the village of wadupe and my style of ministry enables a long term relationship with that village. both types of ministry, short term and long term, meet a variety of needs for a country that is crying out for all the help it can get. i look forward to working alongside my brothers and sisters at samaritan's purse and i know that our passion for sudan will help make a tremendous difference in many people's lives. i am eternally greatful for samaritan's purse as they were the ones who introduced me to the country of sudan.

my website, whythewoods.com (again, don't try it yet) will explain in depth the plan of action, the specific needs, and the beliefs of whythewoods. if you would like a copy of my mission statement, my current projects, and plans of action just email me at billyriddlejr@gmail.com and i will be happy to send you a copy.

i love you guys much....as always thank you for the prayers and support.

i would love to come and speak at your church,school, or business sometime to spread my vision and passion for Whythewoods so please contact me and schedule a date.

lastadventure

my last adventure in the sudan bush was one that left me ready to return to a world with cold drinks, toilets, and ice from the refrigerator door. getting malaria for the second, yes the second time wasnt the final adventure i was hoping for, but it did at least give me a great story.
for my final week and a half i went to stay in my sudan hometown, wadupe. my friends at samaritan's purse dropped me off 17 miles from the base with only the clothes on my back, a small bag with a jacket, my sunday pants, and bracelets that my little sister made for the kids. i hadnt seen my wadupe friends since february so we were all pretty excited about me staying with them. that evening i settled into a tukul they prepared for me and sat down to a hearty meal (by hearty i mean two plates piled high with rotten dried fish, kasava flour--tastes like dough with no flavor--and beans. honestly i would rather have two plates of goat guts than dried fish and kasava flour-by far my least favorite meal in sudan) around a campfire with all the pastor's family and neighbors. they had no idea the food made my stomach turn and offered it as a great gift to me. i was definitely honored...and so were the malaria parasites swimming around in my blood unknown to me. the next few days were great times watching the daily lives of the wadupe people, though my stomach got progressively worse. by friday i was feeling pretty bad with a terrible headache, dehydration, and a churning stomach. every meal was a tremendous obsticle as my appetite was waning. when sunday rolled around i finally told pastor rufus that i felt horrible and wouldnt be able to get out of bed. i was so dehydrated i could hardly think straight and i looked like a drunkard trying to stand up. i thought i was going to die in wadupe. i had no choice but try to return to the base. so they sat me on a motorbike, rode me three miles to the main road, and then flagged down a passing taxi/van that miraculously had one seat open. the 15 mile drive took over an hour due to the horrible road conditions. i sat crammed in the back of the van with about 20 other extremely hot, sweaty people and concentrated on not puking my guts out. thankfully the SP nurse was at the base, and took care of me for the remainder of the week. in short it was probably the worst i have ever felt in my life and i seriously thought i was being eaten alive by parasites in my stomach and brain. the most amazing part of the story is that two days after i had left wadupe, i was lying in my bead recovering and pastor rufus popped in. he had taken the three and half hour bike ride in the 103 degree heat to make sure i had made it ok and wasnt going to die. i asked him why he rode so far in the heat, and he replied, "billy you are family. when our family is sick we take care of them. i have to let the village know you are ok." i gave him a hug and promised i would see him again.

so now i am home trying to adjust to the very different american lifestyle. on the outside it has been a smooth transition, but it has and always will be an inner struggle for me.

i am wanting to get to as many churches, schools, youth groups, etc. to speak about my trip and my future plans. if you would like me to come and speak please contact me-- billyriddlejr@gmail.com -- cell-336.403.3188 home-336.284.2709 --until my website for whythewoods is complete i will continue to post...hopefully more often than i was able to in sudan. thanks for your prayers and support.

happyeastersudan

with only a few weeks to go before leaving sudan i am sad that i found this beautiful village so late. i was moved from my old base mid february for security reasons and relocated in a village out in the bush near the border of the democratic republic of congo. unlike my last base, which was very dusty and dry, this town is very tropical and green. there are palm trees lining the roads, banana trees growing wild, and mango trees covering the entire town in shade. the Bible says that GOD will never allow us to be tempted with more than we could handle, and i am sure that if GOD had allowed me to be in this town my entire time in sudan i would not be coming home in april. speaking of home, i want to wish you all a happy easter and know that i am excited to get back and share this trip with you. my workers and i are celebrating easter by starting our workday tomorrow morning with singing and dancing. they have agreed to bring traditional instruments and lead us in traditional songs; i have agreed to let them spend the first hour of the workday laughing at a white boy dancing to african music. im sure it will be a great time. later in the day i am going to be partaking in scripture reading with over 40 of the local pastors and the bishop. i am starting the ceremony by reading the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet. oh the irony. if only you could see my feet. after the reading we are actually washing feet. it may the biggest honor of my life to wash the feet of a man who would not deny Christ in the face of death. i only have 1 more week to spend in this village and i am so glad that it is the week of easter. after i leave here i will be going into northern sudan for 2 weeks and seeing a school that WhyTheWoods is going to rebuild. imagine, the money that you gave will in just a short time be buying building materials for a new Christian school in the middle of northern sudan!!! northern sudan is not exactly welcoming to Christians by the way. that is why all the Christians are living up in the mountains where they are safer. i will have more information on this school and this project when i return. for my last week in africa i am going back to my sudan home town, wadupe. i will live with them for one week and get everything arranged for my return in 2009, GOD willing. i am excited about getting back to them and spending quality time with the community. i am sure i will post at least once more. check out this picture from a day that we went swimming in a nearby lake. we threw some kids in first to make sure there were no crocodiles or giant snakes. just kidding....we used chickens.

he caught these with a stick for a rod and termites for bait.

exodus

the view from my back porch is breathtaking. i look west and see the sun setting in a redorangeyellowbluepurple sky behind a mountain scene framed by wild african trees; on the same day i look north, east, and south to see a huge group of women and children walking barefooted down the road from miles away carrying all their belongings on their heads and holding tight to their children with their hands fleeing the terrible fears poured on them from evil men. some of these women have lost their young girls and boys to these evil men-forever.

as most of you know, i have been right in the middle of a UN declared dangerous area for the last week and a half. the LRA circled around the town looting pillaging and raping villages all around me. this is the second time in less than a month that this evil group of pirates have raided towns near my base. i thank you all for praying for my safety. it truly blesses my heart. you guys are my backbone-my prayer warriors. thank you. again i say, pray not for me but the people here. i sat in a fenced in base with a huge organization to evacuate me if necessary, but these people have nothing but their own sons and guns to protect them.

neighboring countries have forced the LRA out, which has resulted in a mass exodus of LRA soldiers into southern sudan, which, in turn, has resulted in an exodus of people from small villages to larger towns with more soldiers, and which lastly has resutled in my own personal exodus from my sub base to the main base. i am completely safe. mostly i just sat in my base and read, or worked on base improvements. thankfully my boss thought it would be better for me to be around a lot of people, so here i am. thank you all for praying.

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?