shoutout

i just want to give a quick shout out to my friends, and true servants of Jesus Christ, Chris and Lindy Thompson. they have just moved to nairobi kenya to be missionaries in the slums of nairobi. check out their blog at www.onlyservants.blogspot.com. please give them your prayers and support as they reach out into the uttermost and do great things for the kingdom of GOD.

chris and lindy, never lose hope, never lose faith, and never quit. GOD's hand is on you and your work. much love.

GOD is Greater

justlisten

recently i have become close friends with a homeless man here in boone. i dont know why i feel a strong connection with him, but i feel he truly is a brother in Christ who is filled with hurt and emptiness. over the past few weeks he has been coming by the son's light coffee house (check out the link to son's light ministries) just to talk with me. i first met him when he stopped me in a parking lot asking for money for food. i took him to chic-fil-a, gave him my cell number, and expected to never hear from him again. but i think GOD has different plans for this man and me. little by little we have gained each other's trust and have opened up to each other with personal stories, both sad and happy. he comes by almost everyday to just sit with me on the sidewalk and talk about life. last night i got a call around 11 to come to the coffee house. my friend was there and was in bad shape. when i walked up he embraced me and cried on my shoulder. i stood there in the parking lot holding a 41 yr old man, starved for love, starved for a shoulder to cry on. we sat down on the sidewalk and he poured out his heart. he was at the "jumping off point" and repeatedly he told me he was tired of life. i have offered him help with finding a place to stay and some new clothes, but last night he told me, "billy, the only thing i want from you is friendship. someone to listen to me. if i had all the money in the world it wouldnt heal this hurt inside of me. ive got a hurting soul. ive got an emptiness i cant fix and i dont know how. i know everybody tells me Jesus loves me, but why do they have everything they need and i live on the streets. they just dont understand. im tired of life. every morning i crack my eyes open i ask God why He woke me up again." i didnt know how to respond. I prayed, "GOD give me the words to say." but the only thing that came out was "love." i said, "i dont know how to fix your situation. i dont know how to help you get over addictions, and get you off the street. but the only thing that is going to fill that emptiness is love." but as darkness flees from the light the mention of love seemed to scare him. he stood up and frantically said to me, "ive got to do something, im tired of this. i better go. see you tomorrow." im afraid he doesnt know that GOD really loves him, and i really love him, and there are others who really love and care for him. i dont know if i will ever see him again. i prayed last night that GOD would comfort him through the night and show him a reason for living. it is hard not to fear the worst for him, but i have faith that GOD will keep him alive and bring him back to a place where he can find love. we have the ability to give him all the material things he needs to live a "normal" life, but he knows and i know that he will still be a broken soul. sometimes we need to give money, food, or clothes, but sometimes we need to just listen. either way it is all about love.

please pray for my friend. he has been a big help with teaching me how to minister to the homeless and i hope that one day he can help me teach others how to reach out to those on the streets. this is what the name whythewoods is all about. reaching out to those who sleep in the woods, under the bridges, behind the walmarts, and and in the alleys of our world. please keep praying.

GOD is Greater

dailyprayer

thank you guys so much for praying for me through this time of sickness. i am feeling much better now and the malaria is finally getting wiped out of my system. i should be 100% by next week.
friends, my plate is full. wtw is becoming a full time job and with football and school looming in the foreground i know that i will need the strength of GOD to get me through the next several months. as whythewoods continues to grow and develop, and my personal life becomes busier and busier, the last thing i want to do is forget where my strength comes from. only by giving do we receive. and it is by giving our soul, body, and mind to GOD that we receive His divine strength and ability to do His great work. i wrote this prayer a couple years ago, and i pray it from time to time when i am feeling spiritually or physically weak, because it reminds me to give everything that i am to GOD and He will lift me up; He will heal me.

a daily prayer

LORD GOD, in the first of morning, when my eyes open and see the sun of another day graciously given by You, i give my spirit to be filled with the joy of Your Love.

in the day, when the harvest is ready, i give my hands and my feet to Your service, to Your will, and to all who need to know the Love of JESUS.

when the day is done, and the darkness closes in, i give the battles that rage in my mind, i give the struggles of the day passed, and the fears of tomorrow. i give You the still moments of solitude when satan wants me.

LORD GOD i am Yours. today, in this moment, i give my life.

amen

prayerwarriorsunite

hey guys. well the old devil is on the war path trying to disrupt the great things that are going on with whythewoods. i have continued to speak at churches and schools including local ellis middle school and new hope baptist in woodruff south carolina. but today i am being admitted into the baptist hospital for what we think is...you guessed it, malaria. i have been feeling the symptoms for about two weeks now, and after visting the doctor wednesday my symptoms have gotten increasingly worse. i pray that it is just malaria and nothing more serious. i appologize to those churches i will have to cancel on this upcoming weekend, but i hope you can understand. please pray for my health, because i know that as the work with whythewoods becomes greater so will the spiritual and physical battles. please don't worry for me....GOD is Greater.

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.