God is amazing.  We just had a conference in Nairobi where we brought together all LCMS-affiliated work in South Sudan , and it went off splendidly.  The coordinators of the LCMS-World Mission work agreed to unify themselves with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan (ELCS) not just in name but in reality even agreeing to create common church structures to accommodate them all.

Let me back up and say why this was a historic day for the church in Sudan .  To begin with, it was the first time that representatives from all LCMS-WM work sat together in the same room (excepting Nuba who for various reasons couldn’t send their reps).  It provided them three days to spend together in a conference center getting to know each other better.  This resulted in, at the end, the formation of a council made up of LCMS-WM coordinators to oversee all work in the Upper Nile region of the South.  This council is also now a part of the ELCS structure, sort of like an LCMS district.  This level of cooperation among different tribes is very difficult to achieve, especially among tribes who have a long history of conflict like the Dinka and the Nuer.

Another reason this was a historic day was because, for the first time since we started working in Sudan , peace has enabled the ELCS to actually venture from the Government-held cities to the rural, SPLA (rebel) held areas in which we work.  That is, to date the ELCS has largely been an urban church largely unable to function in the rural countryside and the LCMS work has been entirely in the rural areas.  So now we have two different church cultures accepting one another and agreeing to find an united way forward rather than continuing their activities independently of one another.  Peace in Sudan is greatly facilitating this type of interaction.

It is also historic because the ELCS congregations have now almost doubled.  Though Nuba’s 38 congregations were not represented, the remaining 40 congregations from Shilluk, Rupbuot, Tam / Leel and Pochalla all accepted to be officially integrated into the ELCS structure.  Add this to the existing 61 ELCS congregations, and now this young church has 101 congregations.  While numbers are just numbers, they do reflect the fact that people are hearing the Word and receiving the Sacraments (though rarely – they desperately need pastors) and so we know that the church is there.

This is a huge step forward for the young church in the Sudan .  Please continue to pray for them that they may build on a solid foundation and dedicate themselves to a common confession of the Gospel and the unity God gives in Christ.

God is moving forward in the Shilluk Kingdom as well.  After the devastating attacks of a year ago, the MTC is functioning again and the schools have re-opened.  In fact, Papawjo Primary School re-opened only 1 month after the attacks by studying under trees.  It has since been re-built, and now materials have been sent to re-build the schools at Nyilwak and Wicajwok, too.  A total of around 700 students study at the three schools.

LCMS-World Relief’s generous donation of relief supplies greatly helped the people of Shilluk.  It enabled an entire population to return to their homes that had been burned out and receive the food aid they need from the World Food Program (without an existing population, WFP won’t give food – it’s sort of a “chicken-or-the-egg” system where people get chased from their homes and cant’ return without food but they can’t get food until they return to their homes.  LCMS-World Relief broke this cycle by their willingness to step in when made aware of the need).

However, the human care needs are still extreme, so LCMS-World Relief just provided yet another relief grant to provide food to the school students and additional relief materials to the community which is still reeling, one year on, from the effects of the vicious attacks.  The school feeding is especially necessary since UNICEF, who used to provide the food, has not yet returned to the area due to the perceived instability.  So the Lutheran church is becoming the backbone of the community.

Now, the schools are functioning at all three locations.  There is a need for more Lutheran, trained teachers to teach the higher grades (4 & 5), so we will begin a recruiting push shortly.

We are also opening up a new MTC in Shilluk in the Northern half at a place called Ajibo.  This new location will enable the Gospel to reach places that it has not yet reached due to geography.

Things are beginning to look up again in Nuba, “slowly-slowly” as we say here in Kenya .  Though the situation on the ground prevented Nuba from sending representatives to the LCMS-ELCS conference in Nairobi , plans are underway to begin a big “push” in Nuba where Rev. Henry Kabasa and Rev. Titus Okoda will go to Nuba and stay for 3-4 months to accomplish the following tasks: a) Verify how many congregations remain affiliated with the LCMS; b) Identify their leaders; c) Provide training to those leaders; d) Arrange for regular worship services at each location; and e) Lay the groundwork for full incorporation into the ELCS.

Our Nuba coordinator, Yunan Bashir, has been under incredible strain for the last year due to the problems in Nuba arising from the incursion of a different, corrupt church.  So it is likely that he will leave Nuba for a short time to get some much-deserved “rest and relaxation” as well as additional training to accomplish the ministry to which he has been called.  Pray that his time of rest and learning would be of benefit to him and future benefit to the work of God in Nuba.

We have been eager to receive visitors to Nuba, but have been prevented for over 1 year due to the problems.  However, after Rev. Henry’s & Rev. Titus’ stay, we hopefully anticipate that we would, once again, be able to send visitors to this very important harvest field.

1. The unity of the ELCS not just in name, but in fact – achieved through doctrinal agreement and a recognition of the unity given by God.
2. The expansion of the work of the Lord through a new MTC in Ajibo in the Shilluk Kingdom and the re-opening of all 3 schools.
3. The bright future of the work in the Nuba Mountains , even post-troubles.

1. That the Gospel might be preached purely and the Sacraments administered consistently throughout South Sudan .
2. That the church in the Nuba Mountains will no longer be plagued by problems arising from this outside group who has invaded God’s harvest field.
3. That additional missionary teachers from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK) are found for both the Shilluk Kingdom and the Nuba Mountains to bring education and the Word of God into the region.

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