As I perused the latest news about Africa as reported on the internet, headlines spoke of military action, government inaction, corruption, genocide, drought, tribal rivalries, cattle raids, protests, and riots. My head started to spin.

“Make it all stop!” I wanted to yell as my heart pounded and tears filled my eyes. But how? I closed my eyes and began to recall the people, the events, the land, the hard realities, and the grace I came to know during my recent time in Africa.

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The dust continued to settle as we disembarked the 15-passenger airplane that had just landed on the dry, barren soil of the Malual Kon airstrip. As I tried to take in the great blur of the world around me, dust was not the only thing that was settling. A thud hit the pit of my gut as a rush of conflicting emotions welled up in me. Months of planning, preparation, and anticipation all came together in that moment. We were in Sudan.

We were met at the airstrip by Abor, a local Christian woman who is the founder of an indigenous NGO (Non-Governmental Organization). She quickly ushered us and our luggage to her Land Rover and told her driver, Deng, to take us to Wanyjok. Uncertain of the plans that had been made for us via radio regarding our accommodation, we were taken to the compound of the police chief, Ping Ding, where Vince and Julie Ward had stayed on their two previous visits to Sudan. By evening a group of men had gathered who were pitching two tents—one for the Wards, one for me—and preparing a bed inside a mud hut for Andrew Stringer. This would be home for the next five weeks.

The RPCNA Sudan Team, consisting of Vince and Julie Ward along with their one-year-old son, Samuel, and myself, had just completed a three-month internship in Karamoja, Uganda, with an established Orthodox Presbyterian Church mission. This was followed by several days of rest and preparation in Nairobi, Kenya. While in Nairobi, Andrew Stringer, associate pastor of the Ottawa, Ont., RPC, joined us. Together we traveled to Lokichoggio, Kenya, where we boarded a plane to Sudan.

The purpose of our trip was to survey the land, get a feel for the language, begin building relationships with the people, and assess the spiritual climate.

Being there during the dry season meant it was possible to survey places that would be impassable on the dirt roads when the mud, floods, and rivers were at their peak in the rainy season. Because of this we were able to visit four of the five counties of Mading Aweil. We wanted to see more, but, due to a vehicle crisis amongst the NGOs, the opportunity just wasn’t there. But what we did see and experience will help us as we plan for our return.

The drawback of being there during the dry season was the heat. Temperatures reached levels in excess of 120° F. We had a small sheltered area made with woven grass for the walls and roof, and gnarled tree branches for supports. Many hours were spent there during the heat of the day. Though the heat was difficult to endure, we were glad to have been there during this, the hottest time of the year, so we know what to be prepared for in the future. It gave Vince and Julie a chance to see it in a different light than they had on their previous visits, as they had been in Sudan during the rainy season.

Though there was much rest during the daytime due to the heat, there was otherwise much activity as people prepared for the coming rain. Land needed to be cleared for planting crops; houses needed to be repaired to resist the rain. We saw the hard realities of women who had to walk miles to get water. On two occasions, we did not see our friend Joseph Makuac for several days, and he reappeared explaining he had to ride for two days to get affordable food for his family. He then had to ride two more days to get home with the heavy load tied to his bicycle. Life takes a different pace when survival is the main goal.

We progressed fairly well in our second goal—learning the Dinka language. During our time in Karamoja, Uganda, we learned some of our individual strengths and weaknesses when it comes to language acquisition as we made efforts to learn some Kiswahili and the local language of Karimojong. We tried to utilize these as we attempted to tackle Thongmuonyjang (this is the native word for the Dinka language). We became acutely aware of our need for regular time with a particular language helper, which was not often available during our recent trip. So, we have paved the way for such things upon our return. We each had some community language and cultural helpers whom we visited regularly in the suuk (market) or in their homes.

These encounters also enabled us to begin building relationships. We had ample opportunities to get to know people: from contacts with shopkeepers in the suuk, to visits with neighbors; from encounters with local church leaders to meetings with local government officials; from spontaneous on-the-road meetings to people stopping in because they heard we were there. But meeting people is different from building relationships with them. Building relationships will take years. As hard as that will be, it is one of the most important endeavors that we will undertake. It is through relationships that we will begin to be effective in our goal of seeing gatherings of people worshiping Christ. This is also where Satan will want to see us fail. This is where we will have to trust the Holy Spirit to move in the lives of the people. This is where we need prayer.

In terms of the spiritual climate of Aweil, there is still a lot of research to be done. However, we were able to observe that the message of the gospel as brought by the Catholic Church years ago had failed to bring about a transformation in the hearts of the people. We were often amazed at how Christian practices were being mixed with the traditional animistic worldview. It was sometimes frustrating to realize that their understanding of “the Word of God” is often misguided and filled with mixed motivations (i.e., “Word of God” = relief, education). But our frustration was replaced by a burden when we saw despair, sadness, and hopelessness in the eyes of so many who had yet to find Christ. As a result, we became even more jealous for the worship of God to fill that land and to spill over to other neighboring people groups.

There are a number of new, solid, evangelistic, indigenous churches that have begun works in Mading Aweil. We had the opportunity to meet with many of the leaders of these churches and were mutually encouraged by a common vision: a church planting movement in Aweil and beyond. Our hope is that we will be a united front for Christ as we combat the forces of darkness together through the power of the Holy Spirit.

One awe-inspiring encounter we had was with a Dinka man named Garang. His story showed the hand of God directing his path in incredible ways. As a boy, he was sent by the SPLA (Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army—the main army in the South) to school in Cuba, where he would learn military science. During his time in Cuba he became a believer. After some time his zeal for his faith conflicted with his schooling, so he left Cuba for Guatemala. While in Guatemala he furthered his studies, not in military science, but in the Word of God. He met a Guatemalan woman and married her, and they have two children. But he never forgot the battle going on at home—the spiritual battle. He was in Wanyjok the same time as we were, paving the way to bring a long-term mission team with him to his home in Aweil East.

Garang is encountering some difficulties, such as not remembering the language as well as he would like. His family doesn’t recognize his marriage as legitimate because his wife isn’t Dinka. But his identity rests in the Lord, and we pray that his dreams to come back to the land of his birth will become a reality, and that one day we will be working alongside him and his team for the sake of the kingdom of Christ.

It is tempting for me to think of this trip and our future plans in Sudan as insignificant. This nation has itself seen all of the atrocities listed at the beginning of this article, and they continue to go on even in the midst of a partial peace agreement. We can’t make it all stop. But we serve the God who can. We trust in Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace. And we pray the Holy Spirit will move the hearts of men and women throughout the nation of Sudan, from the highest ranking officials and military leaders to the marginalized peoples of Darfur. We, as the Sudan team, are not going because we are particularly skilled and because we are braver than the next person. We are going because we are convinced that we were saved not for our own comfort, but to be bearers of light in dark places. We are going because we know that God can use ordinary people to do extraordinary things by His power and for His glory. We are going because we believe that God is working among the peoples of Sudan and deserves to be worshiped by them in spirit and in truth.

They shall not hunger or thirst, Neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, For he who has pity on them will lead them, And by springs of water will guide them.
—Isaiah 49:10