Project Sudan
Rather than pine on about finals and the pits of despair, I’ll give some perspective to my life and tell you about Mark and me going to southern Sudan this summer.
Yes , Africa!
Our church is sending its second small team to work with ALARM (African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministry) and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (no relation to a particular Presbyterian group in the US). Before giving you the details of the trip, I’ll fill you in on some of the vision we’ve been instilling in our local church.
Why Sudan?
Because you have to pick someplace and just get involved. There are big and legitimate needs in China, Asia, India, the West Bank, South America… everywhere! We cannot (as a church or as individuals) get involved everywhere… but we should not be overwhelmed by the global needs to the point that we ignore getting significantly involved SOMEWHERE. So, Sudan. Yei, Sudan. We know people there. We’ve been invited there. We’ve been there. We can go there. We can have long-term relationships. There are real needs. There are real opportunities. So, let’s embrace this opportunity that God has made known to us.
We’re working with a 3 point emphasis for our church getting involved with the Christians in Yei.
TAKE NOTE:
Appreciate the goodness and wealth and safety of our lives. Give thanks and be grateful to God. Pay attention to the news, search the net for stories about Sudan. Look at maps with our kids.
TAKE ACTION:
Be a good steward. God has placed us in a country with great advances and blessings for us to enjoy, we shouldn’t deny those blessings, but we should be willing to take advantage of them not only for ourselves, but for our brothers and sisters overseas. How?
- Drink water instead of soda or juice or coffee a few times a week and save the money
- Buy a used book instead of a new book, and save the difference
- Take an evening to babysit, and save the money for someone in Africa who wants to work but doesn’t have the opportunity.
- Take on an extra odd job and save the money, or cut back on something that you normally do and save the money
- Pick up money on the street and save it (I really did collect quite a bit over the years doing this)
- Just look for ways to do a little extra to take advantage of the wealth of this country so that we can share it with those in Sudan
- Write a letter for the group to take to Africa. Put a picture up on the refrigerator or on the computer. Get to know the faces of some of the people. Make it personal.
We’re NOT saying do without, we ARE saying do with less and share the difference.
TAKE IT TO THEM:
Share the resources we’ve accumulated, saved, and sacrificed. Money, encouragement, knowledge, supplies, prayers, our lives! We can share all these things. This is a partnership. There are African leaders, pastors, relief workers who all live in the Sudan and who are asking us to come for specific tasks that will assist them in what they are already trying to do. They have good ideas! They have good plans… and we can be a part of their plans…we don’t always have to be in charge or the ones with the ideas. We can be servants and we can be conduits of God’s grace to them. Some of us will physically go, but all of us are participating.
Don’t stop! This isn’t (or shouldn’t) be about one trip or a group of trips. This is about a lifestyle of us standing with some other Christians who happen to be in a different part of the world. They can teach us, we can teach them. We can worship together and grow.
Be balanced about all this! We still need to take care of our own families (immediate and extended), reach out to our neighborhoods, be aware of the needs of our own country. But we shouldn’t stop there. We can follow the example to go to Jerusalem→Judea→the ends of the earth.
So, here are the details:
WHERE:
Yei, Sudan. In the southern area of Sudan, just north of Uganda. Sudan has experienced 21 years of civil war and has a newly signed peace agreement (January 2005). While there is still great difficulty in the western area (Darfur), there is great hope that the time is now at hand to begin rebuilding the southern area (where many of the Christians live). Many displaced people, and returning refugees are passing through this area. There are many needs for infrastructure (clean water, roads, hospitals), education, and for pastoral training. The church is in great need of more pastors and training for those pastors.
WHO: 8 people from liberti church (Mark, Karyn, Jesse, Anna, Esther, Coury, Nick, & John)
WHEN: July 14th-July 24th
WHAT: A team with a four-fold mission–teach pastors at a week-long Biblical Institute, lead professional development for schoolteachers, provide medical care, and document the needs with a film crew (to make a video for churches in the US to use). These are the things that the local leaders have asked us to come and do. We are excited to join with them as they work to build up the church and community in Yei.
HOW MUCH: the total cost for the project is approximately $30,000. But wow! What bang for the buck! That’s less than $250 per pastor for a week of seminary-level training. That will provide immunizations and other long-term medical help. That will equip schoolteachers to reach many students. That will produce a video that will be used by congregations around the US to better understand the needs and opportunities for partnership with the Christian church in Sudan. Our small church is working hard to make this happen, but we’re also hoping other people will join with us and help. If you want to participate financially, you can send a check (so you get a donation receipt) to liberti at:
LIBERTI CHURCH
1530 Chestnut St., Suite 607,
Philadelphia, PA 19102
or… you can send money to us (Mark and Karyn Traphagen) for the trip via PayPal:
We hope you will join with us in praying for our brothers and sisters in Yei, Sudan.
May 21st, 2005 at 9:53 pm
Hi Mark/Karyn,
Greetings from a fellow WTS student!
The prospects of your trip are very encouraging to me. May the Lord bless this student’s mite of mine for His glory and the good of the Sudanese brothers and sisters.
Grace & Peace,
Mark Robinson
July 1st, 2005 at 5:03 am
Hi,
I was Google-ing Yei and stumbled on your website. I am thrilled to see that you are doing the same thing myself and a team of 6 others from our church will be going to Yei in July as well. We are partnering with ALARM too and will be working in the same area on similar tasks!
Our team will be leaving San Francisco 7/20 and arriving in Yei 7/23. Being 1 of the 2 teachers on my team, I was wondering if you could share with me what your team will be covering in terms of teacher training. We are uncertain how to go about planning for that task. Anything you can share would be greatly appreciated.
I really enjoyed reading your prayer letters. The documentary is a great idea! My prayers will be with all of you.
I am excited by how He unites those that love Him and desire to take part His work!
Best regards,
Erica
San Francisco, CA
July 1st, 2005 at 7:27 am
I’ve contacted Erica via email so that we can talk more about the trip. I’m excited to see how God is connecting us with other people who have been in Yei or who will be going to Yei in the future. We can certainly benefit from each other’s experiences and we can see how God is truly using many parts of his church to minister to each other.
July 2nd, 2005 at 12:41 am
During 2001, I lived in Yei for four months and worked with a bible school there that was training chaplains. Are you going to be staying in the compound of Pastors Elias and AnneGrace Taban? I had the privilege of staying in their beautiful compound during part of the time I was in Yei and they were one of God’s blessings to me. They are an incredibly excellent couple committed to bringing Christ’s love to their country and Christian leadership to a nation ready for healing. If you would be willing, I would love to send letters of greeting with you to them.
Yei is a beautiful town and the Sudanese are wonderful, caring, and thoughtful people. They taught me so much about God’s love and they continue to be an example of God fulfilling His promise from 2 Chronicles 7:14. Your lives will be blessed by your time there and your service to God in that place will give fresh meaning to all that you do. My prayers are with both teams mentioned above that are going into Sudan… what an adventure and what a high calling you have ahead of you!
July 10th, 2005 at 3:45 pm
Hello Mark & Karyn,
I will be teaching the pastors at the training center on Personal Spritual Life the week following your visit. Could you tell me what you will be covering (I’m on the same team as Erica Ng)? Thank you.
July 26th, 2005 at 8:33 am
Jerry & Erica:
It was great to cross paths on the Yei airstrip as we were leaving and you were arriving! I look forward to hearing about your week when you return.
January 9th, 2006 at 10:24 am
My company is considering a contract to put satellite earth stations and cellular towers in Southern Sudan.
We are looking for a contact in Yei who can work for us to do site surveys and consult with us about local business pracitces.
Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.
February 9th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
Hi
I am goung to Yei on June 14 on a project for USAID. Do you know what language they speak there?
Thanks
February 9th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
Most everyone speaks a local language in addition to the main “common language” of Juba Arabic (pronounced JU-ba a-RA-bic, short a sound). Many people do speak English (especially teachers or community leaders). The children are being taught English in school. If you make an effort to learn some Juba Arabic, the people will be very encouraged and appreciative.
About the only Juba Arabic/English dictionary you can find (which I have a copy of, and so I know it is pretty decent) can be ordered from the Michigan State University Press.
March 30th, 2006 at 3:48 am
i’m a seed from Yei, that was been away for while. i’m planning to come back home as soon as i can to rise our left overs that was been distroyed by the war.long live Yei, long live Sudan, long live Africe. God bless
November 11th, 2006 at 10:34 am
Need for spiritual growth in yei
December 13th, 2007 at 7:49 am
Greetings from wet and rather uninspiring Amsterdam. I was pleased to come across this blog about Yei. I worked there ages ago from 1980-85, during which I led a project promoting agricultural production, cooperatives marketing and handicrafts. I was able to secure funds to built the cooperatives movement and union offices there. We were interrupted by the war which started around 1983/4. I hope some of the things that I put up there still stand. Can someone in Yei please update me on the above. I still hope to return to Yei sometime in the near future. I am also looking forward to re-connecting with people I knew there - e.g. Mr. Amos Benjamin Tombe, Santuki Kiden, Mary (I forgot her other names) and Sarah Kiden. I can be reached via . If you are in Yei, please pass the message or connect with me. Andrew Ekwar Okello
November 12th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I’m a Wyclifee audio/video tech dubbng Jesus and a variety of other films around the world. I’m interested in Juba Arabic. We are testing a concept called video to video translation, V2V which will allow us to skip the scripting stage and start out just doing a single voice narration in the language. I need to find some Juba Arabic people here in Dallas if possible. Please contact me if you can help! Ken
November 15th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I hope to be in Yei in december for an overnight. I’ll be on my way thru towards Maridi. Let me know if I can bring any small items to someone special.
RWD