Looking back at 2008 in Doro
Here are thoughts, written in the quiet of this Sudanese night, reflecting on the grace of God in 2008. As you remember His grace in your own lives in the year 2008, I trust you recognize His handiwork there. As you think of us, please pray that the Lord will raise up a team of capable men, and perhaps women, to come and build with us in Doro for the month of May. We are praying for a team to leave the States on the 2nd or 3rd of May, flying into Doro on the 6th of May, and returning to the States the final weekend of the month. I can promise a life-changing experience. We’re trusting that the Lord will send builders, handymen, and willing workers who can follow directions and work with a team. Please let me know if you can join us! The team will be limited to 8 members. I would love to entertain the thought of a few medical workers as part of the team…
With love, Rob and Nancy
God’s Grace in Sudan in 2008
The year 2008 in Doro was a vivid illustration of the rich tapestry of God’s grace in the lives of His people. For the Mabaan of Sudan, this past year was the third year of peace, and a time of rejoicing as more than 10,000 returned from exile to resettle in the battle-scarred land of their forefathers. For the SIM Sudan team of missionaries in Doro, it was a time of thanksgiving: The adult education students successfully completed their final level; the first class of community health workers graduated and went out to serve; a nutrition village was envisioned, and became a life-changing reality; and the long-awaited opportunity to open a clinic came early in the year, when the army vacated the ruins of SIM’s old hospital.
The love of Christ and the message of the Cross of Christ were a key part of that tapestry. The village evangelism spearheaded by our Ethiopian missionaries during 2007 bore fruit in three new ‘preaching points’, and in each place there was growth in the grace of the Lord Jesus during 2008. Daily prayers at the Doro missionary compound joined with devotional times at the training schools, nutrition village, and clinic, bringing a knowledge of the presence of the Spirit of God to this part of Mabaan.
The heat of Sudan, the perspiration, the challenges of daily life for the missionary family, the broken water pump, the mosquitoes, the heavy rain and flooding late in the year, the deflating bicycle tire punctures, the termites and bats and ever-present pigs… these also were part of the reality of life in Doro, and part of the lesson in grace which the Lord brought into our lives. There was hard work: nearly 1000 patients a month were cared for at the medical clinic, in very challenging physical circumstances. Tragic illness is no respecter of time, and the grace of the Lord Jesus touched some who were sick even in the nighttime hours. A starving child in the arms of a young, frightened mother is a heart-rending missionary experience. Our teaching was not without its challenges: Training Sudanese ex-combatants under a hot tin roof is fatiguing, mentally-challenging work. Helping illiterate village midwives to understand sterile technique is a labor of patient repetition. By God’s grace we taught, and by His grace we were ourselves taught.
By the end of 2008, more than 90 severely malnourished children had experienced the love of Christ in the Village of Hope. Plans were under way for the building of a maternity clinic with facilities to care for high-risk pregnancies and sick newborns. God’s grace became apparent when He sent an architect to design the maternity ward, and draw out a plan for a new outpatient clinic with lab and pharmacy. Then he prompted an engineer to leave his job in the UK to come with his wife, a doctor, to join our team in 2009. His grace will, by faith, bring us a lab tech, more nurses, and a team of builders to help in the year ahead.
The 2008 tapestry of God’s grace in Doro included more than these joys, and these challenges. Deep sorrows touched our lives as well, sorrows which brought a weight of glory we struggle to accept, yet which we know is producing already a wellspring of unlooked-for grace in our hearts and lives. As Christ suffered, so is our calling. Our friend and brother Dr. David Masters was called Home from Doro, on an unforgettably tragic first day of April, 2008. Later that month an airplane accident in Doro shook our team to the core, yet all lives were spared by God’s gracious hand.
His grace was sufficient for us, in 2008. We know it will be enough in the year ahead. Will His prompting bring a willing lab tech in 2009, to answer the prayers of those whose lives are wasting away from undiagnosed tuberculosis? Is His grace enough to bring a team of builders, an electrician, someone to erect a water tower for the clinic? Is there grace for the heat, grace for the challenge of a new class of 12 community health students still recovering from childhood memories of brutality we cannot imagine?
Yes, we know there is grace. In our weakness, God’s perfect grace. May it spill over into 2009 from all we have received in the year 2008.
With love, Rob and Nancy
God’s Grace in Sudan in 2008
The year 2008 in Doro was a vivid illustration of the rich tapestry of God’s grace in the lives of His people. For the Mabaan of Sudan, this past year was the third year of peace, and a time of rejoicing as more than 10,000 returned from exile to resettle in the battle-scarred land of their forefathers. For the SIM Sudan team of missionaries in Doro, it was a time of thanksgiving: The adult education students successfully completed their final level; the first class of community health workers graduated and went out to serve; a nutrition village was envisioned, and became a life-changing reality; and the long-awaited opportunity to open a clinic came early in the year, when the army vacated the ruins of SIM’s old hospital.
The love of Christ and the message of the Cross of Christ were a key part of that tapestry. The village evangelism spearheaded by our Ethiopian missionaries during 2007 bore fruit in three new ‘preaching points’, and in each place there was growth in the grace of the Lord Jesus during 2008. Daily prayers at the Doro missionary compound joined with devotional times at the training schools, nutrition village, and clinic, bringing a knowledge of the presence of the Spirit of God to this part of Mabaan.
The heat of Sudan, the perspiration, the challenges of daily life for the missionary family, the broken water pump, the mosquitoes, the heavy rain and flooding late in the year, the deflating bicycle tire punctures, the termites and bats and ever-present pigs… these also were part of the reality of life in Doro, and part of the lesson in grace which the Lord brought into our lives. There was hard work: nearly 1000 patients a month were cared for at the medical clinic, in very challenging physical circumstances. Tragic illness is no respecter of time, and the grace of the Lord Jesus touched some who were sick even in the nighttime hours. A starving child in the arms of a young, frightened mother is a heart-rending missionary experience. Our teaching was not without its challenges: Training Sudanese ex-combatants under a hot tin roof is fatiguing, mentally-challenging work. Helping illiterate village midwives to understand sterile technique is a labor of patient repetition. By God’s grace we taught, and by His grace we were ourselves taught.
By the end of 2008, more than 90 severely malnourished children had experienced the love of Christ in the Village of Hope. Plans were under way for the building of a maternity clinic with facilities to care for high-risk pregnancies and sick newborns. God’s grace became apparent when He sent an architect to design the maternity ward, and draw out a plan for a new outpatient clinic with lab and pharmacy. Then he prompted an engineer to leave his job in the UK to come with his wife, a doctor, to join our team in 2009. His grace will, by faith, bring us a lab tech, more nurses, and a team of builders to help in the year ahead.
The 2008 tapestry of God’s grace in Doro included more than these joys, and these challenges. Deep sorrows touched our lives as well, sorrows which brought a weight of glory we struggle to accept, yet which we know is producing already a wellspring of unlooked-for grace in our hearts and lives. As Christ suffered, so is our calling. Our friend and brother Dr. David Masters was called Home from Doro, on an unforgettably tragic first day of April, 2008. Later that month an airplane accident in Doro shook our team to the core, yet all lives were spared by God’s gracious hand.
His grace was sufficient for us, in 2008. We know it will be enough in the year ahead. Will His prompting bring a willing lab tech in 2009, to answer the prayers of those whose lives are wasting away from undiagnosed tuberculosis? Is His grace enough to bring a team of builders, an electrician, someone to erect a water tower for the clinic? Is there grace for the heat, grace for the challenge of a new class of 12 community health students still recovering from childhood memories of brutality we cannot imagine?
Yes, we know there is grace. In our weakness, God’s perfect grace. May it spill over into 2009 from all we have received in the year 2008.
posted by Congdons in S. Sudan at 9:30 PM
2 Comments:
It is soooo good to hear from you thank you so much for getting in touch. I have read your blog avidly and will continue to do so, and will continue to pray.
Love from Helen
Thank you so much for sharing, Nancy! I'm praying for your continued ACL healing and strength as you pour out His love in member care and as a mom. God bless!
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