Remember Ambassadors

I was alarmed to read of this weekend's violence in Sudan.  Violence in Darfur is tragically normal these days, but these clashes were very different, and could have a direct impact on the work that we are doing in Kadugli.

This violence has taken place in the capitol city of Khartoum, where rebels from the Darfur region have attacked the government, causing many areas of the Sudanese capitol to be shut down, including cut bridges and closed roads.  While Remember has not worked with the Darfur genocide specifically, these recent developments could directly impact our work first by hindering the actions of our local contacts, dependent on Sudan's already tenuous transportation infrastructure, and in the increased build up of military forces in Kordofan, where we are basing our work.  It could further damage the shaky peace situation, which would have a direct, powerful, and tragic impact on suffering Christians in the country.

Pray for Sudan.

Though I only met Mahagoub for a couple of days, I will never forget him.  He was a man of enormous heart, character, and passion–and even though we did not speak the same language, his fist-pumping encouragement ministered far beyond any language barriers.

His story is as amazing as the joy he spread to all around him.  He had been a member of the Sudanese parliament, an influential leader and able representative of the tribes of the Nuba Mountains.  But he gave up his position of influence for one simple reason–to preach the gospel of Christ.  He used his political influence and charismatic personality for the greatest good of all, bringing souls into the Kingdom.

The time spent with Brother Mahagoub was precious, and in just a couple of days I felt as if he were a good friend, as well as being a brother in Christ.  As he traveled with us throughout Sudan, he could barely hide his excitement for Remember's work and the movement of Christ throughout the Nuba.

A couple of months after our first Sudan trip, we received the word that Brother Mahagoub was dead.  I was heartbroken, and I wasn't the only one; everyone involved in ministry in central Sudan felt the loss.

We are still not sure what caused his death.  In central Sudan they do not do autopsies, and Brother Mahagoub died on the mission field, in the midst of the Nuba Mountains.  It would appear he died of heart failure, which could easily have been the result of an assassin's poison (a tactic known to have been employed by Muslim extremists in the area) or just the result of many years of hard work, poor diet, and the stress of being a Christian in Sudan.  One thing is certain, though–Mahagoub died doing the work of the Kingdom.

His wife had died of cancer a couple of years before Mahagoub went to be with the Lord, leaving their four children orphans.  Three daughters and one son, each in their teens and early twenties as far as we can establish, left without anyone to provide for their needs.  They can work, but in doing so, have no opportunity to obtain the education necessary to give them a chance to prosper–and to continue in the ministry footsteps of their father.

I am so happy to say, in the face of all of this sadness, that Remember is reaching out to these children in the love of Christ.  We have undertaken to provide them with enough money, on a monthly basis, to provide for their education and basic needs.  Because of your generous work and donations, we are able to make sure that they get back on their feet.  Our support is not a permanent entitlement, but a gift of love to give them the opportunity to be mighty weapons in God's Kingdom.

Will you join me in praying for these four?  Pray for them through the grief of loss and the pain of hunger.  But don't just pray for their current situation; pray for their futures.  They have seen the Body of Christ at work, and the sacrifice the Kingdom is worth.  Pray that this memory will never leave them, and as they grow up that they will become powerful tools in the hands of their Eternal Father.

Only that Father knows what value our investment will be worth.  Let us pray that our assistance to these persecuted children will be the tool of revival throughout the nation of Sudan.

Members of Remember's Sudan team with Mahagoub's children - Khartoum, December 2007.

You read about the trip here first, but our trip wrap-up, as well as some of the results from the trip, have now been posted over at www.rememberthose.org.

Trip Wrap Up

Projects Page Update

Photo Album 

On New Year's Day, a news story broke that was, to me, a very sobering reminder of both the danger of our work, and the desperate need for it.  Just weeks after I and five Americans returned from Sudan, a U.S. diplomat was shot and killed in an attack in the city we stayed in.

US Diplomat Shot Dead in Sudan

The story impacted me on a very personal level, just because of its proximity to my own travels, but then I realized that in spite of that personal impact I can only imagine what it must be like to be a Christian living in Sudan.  Even though I have met them, heard their stories and seen their needs, I can only begin to comprehend what life must be like in a place where everything they believe is hated to the point of violence.

But even my small comprehension drives home to me just how great the need is for the work of Remember.  Truly, these believers have no place to turn–except to us, the Body of Christ.  And why should they turn anywhere else?  We are called to meet their needs.

Remember's goal is to expand in as many directions as God allows us to in 2008.  The possibilities are endless, and as God opens doors we will jump through them!  Won't you join us?  Your prayers are the power from which we derive our success–and a direct blessing to the people that we serve together.

"Hallelujah.  In the name of God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  My heart rejoice because of God's love, that he was able to meet both white and black together and are united in the love of Jesus Christ.  I am very happy that I can shake hands with my brothers who are in white skin, and I wan to ask the Lord to continue to bless you so that your ministry will expand more and always be continue to follow God's steps."

These words were brought to us by one of the Sudanese widows we talked to today.  Though the main focus of this trip has been the building project I have mentioned before, Remember is always on the lookout for people to help, and we arranged a meeting with 9 widows from one local congregation.  We asked them to briefly share their stories, and to share prayer requests with the church in the United States.

One after another they came,  but they refused to be limited to prayer requests.  As they told us of their suffering and loss, they offered up their thanksgiving and praises to the God that giveth–and taketh away.  No trace of bitterness was anywhere to be found, not in the woman that is not only a widow, but is also a diabetic; not in the woman who pulled aside her head covering to reveal a massive goiter on her neck; not in the others who spoke of stomach troubles and even deafness.

Instead, their praises rang out.  As they stood, beginning their testimonies by saying "Hallelujah," those waiting their turn would echo with a simple, but vibrant, "Amen."  One praised by simply thanking God that He had allowed her to survive to this day.  Another shared that, though they miss many meals, God was ever faithful to keep them from going an entire day without eating.

These beautiful testimonies are but a drop in the bucket.  One generous church in North Carolina donated enough gifts for 185 widows, and the church leaders did not bat an eye when they said they could make sure it was distributed.  And this is but one city in a country awash in suffering.

What sweet incense their praises must be to the father of the fatherless and the husband of the widow.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this…

The whole team, representing three partnering organizations (L-R): Gabe Waddell (Remember), Edgar Feghaly (Remember/MAP), Sam Stricklin (MAP), Mark Searcy (Remember), Will Halker (Operation Renewed Hope), Marshall Hamilton (MAP) 

I wrote this up yesterday, and wanted to share it here.

***** 

I arrived at the church headquarters about 11, passing through a good portion of Khartoum to get there, in a typical little Sudanese rental van. I walk in through the little gate, over the dirt paths, and enter a plastered room with around 100 chairs set up. At the front is a rough wooden pulpit with a red cross hewn in the front, and our team heads towards it, taking the seats in the front.

One by one the pastors enter, resplendent with handshakes and smiles, many asking with excited, broken English how our trip to Kadugli went. They take their places, standing for the opening prayer, in which my limited Arabic only recognizes one word - "Shukron," or "thank you." After the prayer of thanksgiving, they join together in praise that easily transcends all language barriers; the Spirit of the Lord is present.

A frail, white haired elder named Samuel rises to his feet and totters to the front, starting with a Scripture: "He that sows with tears," our translator tells us, "will reap with rejoice." With that introduction, Pastor Samuel shares the history of the Sudanese Church of Christ, the Baptist movement in Sudan that began in 1904. He tells the story with a clarity and detail borne out of the simple fact that he was there. No, not back in 1904, though he looks old enough to have been alive then, but as the church blossomed and grew he was there. He was the one who turned himself in, going to the police, sacrificing his own freedom to advance Christ's cause–and he was the one miraculously saved by the power of God.

An hour and a half later, he has not lost his audience. They still hang on each word, but our time is drawing to a close, but much is yet to be done. Our team has not come empty-handed; far from it. Bicycles are brought in, a gift to their pastors to allow easier transportation. And then I am allowed to stand and give a short introduction to the gift I have brought from the churches in the United States. It's a small gift, an envelope with a $10 bill for each pastor, not much money perhaps, but hopefully an encouragement and a way to alleviate the expenses they have incurred to come to Khartoum.

But before I can give it out, another elder, a grey-haired man of wisdom rises and shuffles on deformed ankles to the front. "I do not want to take time," he says, "but I feel led of the Holy Spirit to share. In my old age, when I look at my church, I think of it as an orphan, a child that is left without father or mother. It cannot think, it cannot live by itself…"

His words trail off into a flood of tears.

"In short," the translator takes over, "He wants to express his thanks for your cooperation with us as a ministry. He was especially touched by Brother Gabe's news that the church in the United States is praying for the church in Sudan."

And the gift I hold seems completely inconsequential compared to that gift, the gift of prayer.