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?

mychristmasstars

i would like to say that i spent this first christmas alone with my nose in the Bible finding strength and joy in the fact that God came to us as a baby to show us true life. i wish i could say that this Christmas i studied the word and grew closer to the Lord. i wanted to start this blog with something like, "i had no presents, no family, only God, and that made it the best Christmas ever." but i can't. actually this Christmas was a rollercoaster ride of emotions, due in part by the fact that in a time of loneliness i didn't rely on my Rock, my Savior, to fill the emptiness in my heart. the hot dusty days mocked what christmas feeling i did find in listening to "frosty the snowman," and the goat intestines and rice(those are the holiday goodies--yay for me) just didn't bring the smile to my face that a nice turkey would have. of course, i could have done what we are supposed to do at christmas time and spent the holiday praising our Savior. instead i found comfort in anything that felt like home...Christmas music, soda, red jello, and the emails and cards you sent me. but, believe it or not, my Christmas eve meal of rice and beans to the tune of "White Christmas" just didn't fill that hole in my heart. oddly enough i don't even think a hug from my mama could have completely filled it. i needed Jesus; but i was too lonely and depressed that i was in Sudan over Christmas to realize it. i put on my smile and preached the Christmas service at wadupe on Christmas day. i preached about "coming back" to Jesus if we have gone astray. i talked about how the wise men and kings humbled themselves and bowed to a baby in a manger. i said that as we start the new year we should start it on the path that God has made for us, by "coming back" to and following Jesus, and christians we should be like the star above the manger showing those who are "afar" the way to Jesus. but i preached all this with emptiness in my own heart. i wasn't buying what i was selling. i wasn't "coming back."

"i cried to the Lord with my voice. many cry to the Lord that they may win riches, that they may avoid losses; they cry that thier family may be established, they ask for temporal hapiness, for worldly dignities; and, lastly, they cry for bodily health, which is the patrimony of the poor. for these and suchlike things many cry to the Lord; hardly one cries for the Lord himself! how easy it is for a man to desire all manner of things from the Lord and yet not desire the Lord himself! as though the gift could be sweeter than the giver!"---St. Augustine; taken from "On Prayer and the Contemplative Life" by St. Thomas Aquinas.

sometimes we just need that star to show us the way back. i was able to hand this kid the only gift he got this christmas from you, the only family he had this christmas. this smile was the star i needed. he showed me the way back to the manger. through all the loneliness and homesickness i saw Jesus in his eyes. as St. Augustine says, we should desire the Lord Himself not just His blessings. as i handed out hundreds of cards at wadupe and at Harvesters orphanage the fact that i was away from all the pumpkin pies, snowy nights, cheesey christmas movies, and my family stung a little less. all those blessings i once knew i could now lay at the Lord's feet, for i had, as the shepherds, wisemen, and kings of long ago, seen the messiah.

i told the people at wadupe and the orphanage that there were hundreds of people at home that wanted the sudanese to know that they are loved and prayed for. one sweet kid at the orphanage, after receiving her card said to me, "thank you meesta beel (mr bill) and we pray for you too." i tell you this as a messenger from the sudanese to you. all of the smiles and thank yous that i was blessed by will be waiting for you in heaven. i deeply thank you for sending me over a thousand christmas cards to give to the wonderful sudanese. every single card was delivered to a very happy man, woman, or child.

Greetings from Sudan:

--your greetings are received. i greet you. God bless you. Galatians 3:27-28--Marchello Lugala

--we receive your christmas greetings. let this spirit of communication continue. 1corinthians 13:4-7--Grace Ngusuman

--i receive your greetings. i thought we were alone, meanwhile we are with you in Christ. i don't have gifts but let God bless you.--Joseph Andrew

--i send my greetings to all of you in the church in america. we are praying for you so that we have a relationship in prayer. John 15:4--Joseph and Betty

--i am by name pastor Rufus Anyibu wishing you in America merry Christmas and happy new year. peace to the brethren, and love with faith in Lord Jesus Christ. grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, Amen--pastor Rufus Anyibu (my dear friend).

my friends, whatever your christmas star may be thank God for it, and follow it back to the manger, back to the beginning of it all, the birth of our Savior and Lord. it is possible to live even without the wonderful things of christmas time if we have love and grace from our father. in fact, it is life more abundant.

i personally thank all those who prayed for me and my family this christmas. and once again, thank you for all the wonderful cards. please, also remember all the missionaries who, like myself, spent this christmas with the people they serve. love you all and Merry Christmas.

quickupate

i haven't posted any updates in a while i know, and this is not even going to be a real in depth post, but i wanted to say thank you for the tremendous response to the christmas card project. we have received over 600 and more are coming. i know the kids at the orphanage will love getting the cards and all of the churches will appreciate them very much. i do have some stories to tell, but not enough time tonight to tell them. i head out for R&R thursday so i will write them then and let you know how things are going. love you all and appreciate your faithfull prayers and giving.

be sure to check out the prayer quests i have posted. a tragedy has struck boone n.c. and a dear friend has been taken from us. drew newell and his family were hit by a drunk driver, killing drew and leaving the father in critical condition. drew lived in the same dorm as me my freshman year and was a dear friend to my roommates from boone. in the short time i knew him, drew welcomed me as a friend and greeted me as if he had known me forever. we will truly miss his spirit and his love of life. his friends have created a blog to keep people updated on drew's father's condition and to post prayer requests for the newell family. pray for the family and check out the blog at http://www.newellreport.blogspot.com/.

cryforthem

if tonight is a quiet one, and you lay down to sleep with no fear in your heart, if tonight you only hear the crickets and bull frogs, and the soft chatter of the neighborhood kids, or a late passerby on his way home from work, if tonight you read this and can hear my cry, please i pray, please shed a tear. never a tear for me, for i am in the presence of the Lord, but cry for the sudanese, for they are like a cooing moses being placed in a basket and shoved into a raging nile.
my world was silenced today on my way to celebrate another meeting with several churches. the conversation of my passengers was lost as the rumble of truck after truck after truck, filled with soldiers and ak47s, passed by us on their way to the northern states. "they are moving soldiers to the northern border," said my sudanese counterpart. "the south is demanding immediate independence." with every truck that passed my throat closed into a knot and my eyes filled with a cry i am asking you to have for me, for at that time i had to hold back the tears and maintain a joyous demeanor to greet new churches and make new eternal friendships. because these villages are cut off from the majority of the outside world, many of them are ignorant to what is happening in their country. the refugees are returning from the first war to be resettled in a new peaceful home, the people are rejoicing as we come in to build them a "permanent" church, but the clouds are getting darker over sudan and the winds are changing. i can imagine the pain moses' mother felt as she looked into the eyes of her smiling child, who only knew the innocent peaceful moment he was in, and not the dangers he was floating towards. today as the trucks rolled by, all the wonderful people i have come to love smiled at me and shook my hand the african way, and sang their wonderful songs. i then imagined myself standing between the two charging armies with my hands stretched to heaven crying to God. why do guns and bullets silence the crying and not love.
do not be afraid for me. i promise i am not in any danger. but i am begging you, i am calling you to prayer and fasting for the country of sudan, the "gateway to africa." please pray for the arab and christian alike, for the northerner and the southerner, that they will find peace, and know the love of Jesus. don't send a christmas card to them saying you have prayed if you haven't, don't send me an email saying the sudanese are on your hearts if they are not, for this is a serious matter. so tonight shed a tear, thanking God for His mercy and for the wonderful sudanese.