BORDER JUMPING

Well my few weeks of a break between semesters quickly disappeared. And I had no idea that part of my semester break from teaching here in Ethiopia would hold a border jump into South Sudan.   

My sister Noel and our good friend Elizabeth worked out the details in partnership with our home church in Ohio, Ginghamsburg. Logistics were quickly put together. And before I knew it we were traveling to Aweil, along the border of North and South Sudan, where our church had several projects in partnership with UMCOR (The United Methodist Committee on Relief).

As we were flying...several thoughts were running through my mind.  First thought I had...how I loved traveling with my sister.  She's a barbarian for God.  We sat in amazement for a long time.  What an adventure God takes you on! On this adventure, God would bring her from the cold weather of the Czech Republic, me from Ethiopia and Elizabeth from Yei, South Sudan. Crazy :-)

Then I thought about how much I have come to love adventure. Experiencing new cultures and meeting those in the fields- people serving and empowering the poor, LOVE IT.   

Now, I had been in South Sudan during this time of year before though. And it didn’t take me long to recall the incredible HEAT in April of 2010 when I went in with a medical team.  IT WAS HOT!!!

Could I do it again? And this was even further into the “hot zone.”  Would I melt?  Projected heat was between 110 and 120 degrees.  Probably no AC, or fans.  Oh my.

But WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY. I couldn’t resist!

Our home church wanted the three of us to look into the projects we had ongoing and help the field team there determine a good strategy for the way ahead. This was needed. So in we jumped...

Noel with Elizabeth

God continues to show me time and time again that routines often lead to comfort…that can lead to stagnation.  We can become pigeon-holed or stereo-typed into thinking we can only be one way or survive in one kind of environment.   

I believe God likes to often have us stretched…beyond what we think we can be or do.  He likes us taking impossible jumps in faith when He asks us to…and trusting His power to back us up. We should be movable and moldable to be whatever God needs us to be and go wherever He wants us to go! 

1 Corinthians 9:19-27

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Isaiah 50:2
When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to deliver you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.

And often in our most uncomfortable places, in our extreme brokenness- is God’s voice most clear.

Our week in Aweil Town, about 70 miles from the North Sudan border with Darfur, would indeed be hot. But we were so blessed by all we saw and learned.

We heard stories of God at work and saw communities being powerfully impacted by access to water, healthcare and childhood education.  

Noel talking to local healthcare workers

We also heard stories of heartbreak. One afternoon we sat with a group of women from Darfur and heard of their lives and struggles. We were inspired by their will power and their determination for a better life. 

We met missionaries battling sickness and fatigue, yet standing strong and courageously. Some of their goals… to reach the street kids in the community and to love on and encourage the displaced.  So much of what Jesus would be up to!!!

We were stretched through the week- as we shared living space. We laughed. Cried. And cheered as God helped us again and again.   

My faith increased. My joy expanded. My worldview grew larger. I felt inspired, re-motivated. And left South Sudan with greater perspective on life overall.

I’m so thankful for the border jumping “break” time. And how God is continuing to want to stretch me beyond what I think I can be and do.

I think of those in scripture who went through times of stretching.  Maybe extended times of suffering like Job. Or those who were told to do the impossible or unthinkable and believed it to be true or trusted God's direction and He changed history through their faith…

Hebrews 11

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.  By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”  For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.  

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.  By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.   And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.  People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.  If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.  Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
 
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.  He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.  By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.  By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,  who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,  quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.  Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—  The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

In reflection of it all this week, now back in Addis, I think sometimes what is harder than a crazy border jump is when God has you HOLD a position.  I remember working with a trainer at a gym in the past and he often would push me into a stretch and I thought all my muscles were going to tear.  But he held me there and over time- kept pushing me into that stretch…until I could easily go down that far.   

Sometimes it’s hard to be still. God stretches us in that way too.  Not easy, but always for our good and often for the good of someone else...

Exodus 14:14

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Psalm 46:10

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

May we be willing to be stretched as we run on- by border jumps of faith when asked, or just holding still in obedience. God is with us and will help us! 

Onward with You!

Praises/Prayer Requests

-My Dad is doing GREAT!  His pain is still very low. Thank you for continuing to prayer for him!

-My good friend Debelle’s wife continues to improve in her health, please keep his family in prayer- God’s best for their way ahead.

-Big praise for a great trip and safe return from South Sudan, prayers for our church as we debrief an strategize next steps.

-My school semester started TODAY, I am teaching four classes this semester. May this be my greatest semester yet for God!

-Some friends I know are seeking visas to be approved, others are looking for work, please pray God’s hand in all!

-Please pray for wisdom, courage, and good relationship building with students, staff, and neighbors.

-And please pray for my book, that I can find time to finish my draft.

Thank you for praying!!!