There and Back Again? Part 3
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” —Matthew 9:37-38
Continuing from my last blog articles, There and Back Again Part 1 and There and Back Again Part 2, I did go back again to South Sudan. Earlier this year, I returned to South Sudan, this time for a couple of weeks with two other RPGM board representatives. Our mission was to experience, listen, learn, evaluate, encourage, and provide some oversight for the Cush4Christ (C4C) team there. For me, I was also getting reacquainted, after almost four years, with some of those C4C is serving. Only Scott and the Lucas Hanna family had been left from the C4C team my wife and I served with for three months in 2019. However, now in 2023, the team consists of 7 adults and 9 children: the Hannas, the Smiths, Scott, and two mid-termers—Samuel and Morgan.
It was good to get reacquainted with my Dinka brothers and sisters in the Lord. How tall the children have grown in the last four years and how deep they have grown in their knowledge of the Bible, even taking on assistant teacher roles in the school. This is the next generation of Christians that will hopefully be the future leaders of the church there.
Looking back to 2006 when the work of Cush4Christ was just beginning to send down roots in Aweil, and then looking at the team today, seventeen years later, we see good progress toward establishing existing organized congregations and mission works. Using the Parable of the Sower that Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 13:1-9, we see the seeds of the gospel that were broadly sown when this work began. They have not all borne fruit for the Kingdom of God. Some of those seeds landed on a beaten down path, some on rocky soil, some among thorns, but some thankfully fell on fertile ground. The team today continues to water and fertilize those seeds in fertile hearts and God is causing the growth. Yes, there have been some setbacks, challenges, and disappointments along the way, but overall, we see God's faithfulness in planting, growing, and sustaining his church in South Sudan.
There is much patient and steady work to be done that will, in God’s timing, see a solid, multiplying church in the future. Meanwhile, more laborers are needed in this part of Christ's kingdom. Last year the team had eleven people join them in this labor of gospel love, each serving several months at various intervals. We are thankful for each of them and hope to see more long-termers (serving 3+ years) to give stability to the core C4C team. The team has much to do, and the need for gifted and equipped personnel to carry out specific roles and tasks is great. Without this help, the necessary tasks (most of which are practical in nature) further burden the leadership who then must assume those unmet responsibilities. For instance, how can you progress in learning the local language if you do not have time or energy at the end of a busy day to devote to the important requirement of getting to know the heart of those you are training and ministering to? What do you do when your vehicle breaks down and you have to fix it yourself?
Perhaps our Lord is calling you to join the C4C team and use your gifts to help in establishing the church in South Sudan. If so, consider at least three months to see if God might be calling you to laborer there as a long-termer. I know it has changed my life, and I have gained a deeper heart for supporting missions even in my late age and stage of life. We have the privilege to live in this era of going into all the world to proclaim the gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:15) until Jesus comes back and says it is finished. In Matthew 28:18, Jesus says he has all authority in heaven and earth, and in verse 20, he assures us that he is always with us to see the mission complete. All we must do is pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into his harvest (Matthew 9:37-38), and be open to being one of those laborers who will go and make disciples of all nations wherever he plants us. Is he calling you to go "there and back again" like he did me?