Coming home!

The guys come home today!

Their flight gets in at 5pm (American Airlines). If you can, get there by 4:30 :)

Let's give them a big "Welcome Home"!

Clinic is done!!

March 15, 2010

Clinic done!

The clinic is done!!!   We finished the floor in it yesterday and all the walls are

done including the finish coat, praise God!!

This morning we will be doing a finish coat on the dorm side gable which

will complete all of the outside walls. Today we will also be working on

the second partition for the dorm.

I am going to make a run to Bor today to get some more cement.  We have the

time and only need the materials to complete the floors which will

complete the entire building.

We will be heading back to Bor again tomorrow (Wednesday) for

the Pastor Training meeting since Emmanuel's flight was delayed previously. It has not yet been decided if Del will go or not.  There is a good chance that he won't because the work that the local guys can do without us at this point is very little, meaning we need to be present in order to pore the slabs.

So everything is going pretty good, we even had a slightly cooler night

last night, and got some much needed rest!  We thank God for that.

Thank you for your continued prayers!  Give everyone our love!  I can't

believe we're going to be home in 1 week, crazy!

David

NOTE:  This email was written by Rick Wood to several individuals listed below regarding a pastor training assessment meeting to be held on March 15th in Bor, South Sudan. It is the first time that this has been attempted here and we ask your prayers over this gathering. 

The response is from Emmanuel Chemengich, the Principal of Africa Theological Seminary for ICM (pastor training).


From: Wood, Rick
Sent:  March 5, 2010
To: Emmanuel Chemengich; rev.thomas kur

Subject: Historic Meeting
Dear Brothers-in-Christ,
It is with great pleasure and God’s divine timing that a pastor training assessment meeting will soon take place in Bor Town between the Bishop of Bor Nathaniel Garang, Rev Thomas Kur (Dean of Bor Cathedral) and Emmanuel Chemengich, Principal of Africa Theological Seminary for ICM.  Emmanuel is also secretary for the Anglican denomination in Kenya (I believe), so there is much in common between you.
The purpose of this God-ordained gathering is to assess the pastor-training needs of the Jalle/Bor area. This includes those who are currently pastors and need additional teaching to better shepherd their flocks, but also those who desire to be trained to spread the gospel to Dinka and non-Dinka areas.  As Thomas once shared with me, the only way for peace to exist in Sudan is through the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people. Yet, the gospel cannot be spread effectively without knowledgeable pastors and teachers.
The main questions for this group to answer are:·         Is there a desire and commitment from the Anglican Church of Sudan to create such a training program in this area?·         If yes to the above, what is the most effective way to make the Jalle area a center for spiritual training and evangelistic outreach for Jonglie State and beyond? ·         What resources will be required to make this a reality?
Emmanuel will then summarize your discussions and prepare an assessment for Grace Chapel and ICM to review and determine whether there is a way to go forward with the findings.
The reason we view Jalle as a good location for this ministry is its central location to all of Jonglei State and the ability to utilize the buildings that have been built there recently by Grace Chapel Church in partnership with the Jalle Community Center Association.
I’m sure that there are many other questions and issues to discuss than those above but I am trying to build a framework from which to begin these talks. I think that I am correct in saying that whatever assessment comes out of this meeting, it is important that any program be operated by Sudanese for the benefit of all Sudanese.
I apologize for not being able to join you all in Bor for this God-inspired meeting. However, we will be praying for His will to be done and that amazing things will result from these discussions.
Blessing,Rick
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RESPONSE:
From: Emmanuel Chemengich --THE PRINCIPAL OF AFRICA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY for ICM

Subject:  Historic Meeting
To my beloved brothers Rick and Thomas:
Greetings to you and thanks Rick for summing up quite well the primary objective of next week’s mission down to pastor-training assessment needs for Jalle/Bor region. I agree that the questions you outlined forms the core foundational framework to clarify and shape the rest of the assessment mission. I equally agree, as does as ICM organization, that indigenous leadership of local Sudanese churches and individual leaders is vital and the best way to proceed in identifying, developing, and implementing whatever God lays out in our hearts for His training work in Jalle/Bor region. In all, may this Pastors’ Training Assessment Mission meet with God’s approval and enjoy His gracious favor.
I will miss meeting you Rick, but I do know that you and the Grace Chapel partners will be standing with us and this mission in fervent prayers and providing logistical support and guidance as you have done in the past weeks.
Christ’s Peace and renewal to you during this meditative season of Lent,
Your Brother in the Lord,Emmanuel    

From David

To Rick....March 9th

Hey man,

Things are going great on the clinic and dorm.  We have kind of changed our
strategy and we are going to finish all the walls before we do any of the
slabs. Creating the partitions within the dorm is a little time consuming. All of
the walls on the clinic are done and include a finishing coat on all of the
inside and a good portion of the outside. It is ready for a slab when we
get to it, however right now we are focusing on finishing the walls on
the dorm. We are 95% complete with the outside walls and should complete
all of the walls including the partitions by the end of this week,  which
will leave us plenty of time to complete the slabs next week. I hope that
all makes sense!   haha.

It has been really, really hot!  We had a few cool days at the very
beginning and haven't seen any since then.  It makes sleeping somewhat
difficult and we typically wake up already dehydrated as well as behind on
sleep. So please be praying for our rest and our strength as we find
ourselves fatigued often.

Overall, everything is going great.   Give our love to everyone, and keep the prayers coming!!

david

From Majak

NOTE:  This is from Majak Garang, a friend of William's in Bor who has been helping us with the project.

Dear Rick, I'm glad to hear from you and I'm very happy to thank my LORD for HIS protection. Also be informed that Jalle Community is very happy to have David and his team back to Jalle to complete the work. All hopes by the community members living in Jalle are put on the Jalle Project. They are also very happy to have the clinic operational by the end of March 2010. Population in Jalle is now triple as many people are returning to Jalle from Baidit and Makuach Payam where they were displaced. Thank you for making this health facility a priority in Jalle as there has been no clinic or health facility in Jalle. Thank you once again and pass on my regards to all. Majak

Update!

March 2, 2010

Hey Rick,

So it seems we have found somewhat of a groove. The Ferro Cement is

working quite well and I think the guys are getting a decent handle on how

to do it. Today is Tuesday, and if I had to guess, I would say that the

clinic walls should be done by Friday and then we will start on the clinic

floor.

Also, the erection team should be done with everything by Thursday. I

have asked them to go through and fix all the doors so that they close and lock

properly and easily and then they are going to weld them shut with just a

little welding so the doors don't get left opened and then damaged by the

wind. The welding can be broken later with a hammer and chizzle.

Over all, I think that everything seems to be going well. The team is in good

spirits and  healthy.

Please be praying for our endurance and our ability to love others well

amidst hard work.

david

God is good!

Hey Rick!
Just wanted to shoot you an email and let you know that the supplies have arrived!! We will unload them tomorrow morning and hit it hard! Praise the Lord for getting the truck here right on time!

A bit of bad news however. John (the local teacher that helps us) his 5 year old cousin was playing with a bullet and it exploded and killed him and wounded his brother. We just left the small funeral that they had for him. So please pray for him and his family.

David

From David --

Wednesday, February 24

Hey Rick,

We have made it safely to Jalle, we got here late Monday. We had to go back to Bor the next day to get supplies since we had no room and we didn't know what exactly we would need. So Tuesday we got the Ferro cement technician and most of the supplies. Today is Wednesday and we gotten a good day of work in.

Tomorrow we will continue to work, and hopefully secure the transportation of the sand.

Everything is going great! As you could imagine, the locals here were very excited to see that we have returned!  They all ask about you and your family, Ty and Fred.

Continue to pray for the team that God would strengthen us and that the communication barriers would come down.

Give everyone our love!!
David

Please pray!!

Please pray TODAY that the building supplies purchased by the team in Kampala will be delivered soon to Jalle. The truck is now 4 days overdue and we're not exactly sure where it is. The trip is over 1,000 miles long with many obstacles along the way.

Also, please pray for Omar, one of the Ugandans who is leading the work to enclose the structures. David drove him to the nearest clinic, which is about 2-3 hours by car, and given an antibiotic for his illness. Please pray for swift healing and his ability to help complete his portion of the work.

In Christ,
Rick

Photos from the airport

Here are some photos that were taking of the team when we sent them off at the airport in Nashville!

Checking all the trunks!

Rick, David, Del, and Caleb

Praying over the guys

Update from David!

So we have made it to Sudan! Praise God! We spent 2 days in Uganda. While we were there, we got our Sudanese visas, and visited William's mother. We also got to spend alot of time with John (Our friend and contact in Uganda who helps us with obtaining supplies and trucking). He is doing great and sends greetings to Grace Chapel.

We arrived to Juba today around 1:00 (4:00 am your time). We have been sitting at a hotel for about 5 hours now, and things are feeling all too familiar!  We can't get the money that was wired here until Monday, we also can't meet with the aggregate company until monday, so now we wait.
It's all good, God is in control as usual!

They made it!

We got word that they guys made it safely to Kampala, Uganda. They should be headed to Sudan tomorrow!

_________________________________________________________________________________

From Kathy Wood:
Just wanted to let everyone know that the guys had an awesome send off on Wednesday, beginning early that morning at our house for packing, fellowship and prayer and then off to meet up with a warm reception at the airport of about 20 others.  I know that they felt very loved and knew that they were surrounded by the prayers of SO many!  

I have to tell you this...we were all gathered in the ticketing area of American Airlines and near Southwest.  The entire group of us gathered around the 3 of them (Del, David and Caleb) and laid our hands on them to pray and on each other.  As we were praying, I was near the outer circle and I felt someone gently embrace me and whispered to me..."thank you so much for doing this...we do not see this happen very often around here."  I looked behind me as a woman  was walking away from me and we both smiled. I think that she worked for Southwest.  We are a witness for our Lord wherever we are!

Supplies

From William: 


Here are a couple of pics of the truck being loaded with cement and fencing in Kampala and ready to leave for Jalle!

The Jalle Project continues!

Happy New Year to you from the Jalle Project team!

                                                                                       

Rick Wood here...first, I want to apologize for not updating the blog since Fred, David and William returned from Sudan months ago. I think by May, we were all physically and emotionally drained and needed some time to catch up on family, friends, work, etc. 

Let me also thank you on behalf of the team for your prayers during Phase 1 of this project. Spiritual warfare was being waged all around the Jalle area while the team was present, we believe, because Satan did not want our freeing presence in an area where he had dominated for so long.  There is no doubt that your prayers carried the team through their most difficult times and kept them moving forward to make amazing progress on the project. We owe a great deal of thanks to David Green and Fred Beesley for sacrificing four months of their lives to this effort.

Second, I want to let you know about the beginning of Phase 2 of the Jalle Project, which is just about to begin.  However, let me first recap what was accomplished during the first phase of the project.  The team dug and poured the building foundations and assisted in the erection of six large steel buildings, consisting of a church, a medical clinic and 4 school buildings. The work was extremely difficult and the climate almost inhospitable, with temperatures reaching 110F or more.  Disappointingly, the rainy season arrived earlier than usual and work on the buildings was cut short. Had the team attempted to stay longer, they risked being unable to travel back to the airport that is located almost 8 hours away due to flooded roads.  Overall, the Grace Chapel team has accomplished what no other organization has in this remote area of South Sudan. As a result, the community’s hope for a brighter tomorrow has been elevated to a level not seen in decades.

So, Phase 2 will begin where Phase 1 ended, which includes completing the installation of the roofs and sidings on all 6 buildings. In addition, the team will complete the medical clinic building by enclosing the lower part of the clinic’s exterior walls with cement or block and pouring a concrete floor.  This will enable the locals to begin utilizing the clinic once staff have been hired and trained. In addition, Interchurch Medical Assistance (IMA), an organization that has assisted Samaritans Purse with training of medical staff in South Sudan, has agreed to train the Jalle staff and provide medical supplies to make the clinic operational.  This is such a praise for the Jalleans since the only clinic currently operational is too far to walk to from Jalle.  The people are very excited about this development and are grateful to Grace Chapel Church for making this clinic a reality.

I’d like to mention one other amazing thing about this trip. It has always been our vision that Jalle become a center for Christian outreach by starting some type of pastor training program in the area. After months of discussions and coordination, we have just finalized a meeting in mid-March between the Bishop of Bor, South Sudan and a representative from International Christian Ministries’ (ICM) Kenyan office to meet 35 miles south of Jalle to perform a pastor training assessment (ICM’s primary mission is to disciple and equip church leaders in Africa and is represented at Grace Chapel by Myron and Carol Goodwin). It is one thing to help the people of Jalle with a church, school and clinic, but how much more awesome it will be to leave them with an eternal legacy of Christ’s teachings and to witness its proliferation to all Muslims, Animists and even uniformed Christians in this part of the world. Please pray that this meeting will be fruitful and be the beginning of a long term, Christ-centered training program for our South Sudanese brothers and sisters.

The Phase 2 team will include David Green, Del Hardin, William Majok and Caleb Chandler. They will be in Jalle for 30-plus days. William left on February 8^th to buy and ship the supplies needed from Kampala, Uganda to Jalle.  David, Del and Caleb will be leaving Nashville on February 17^th to join William in Kampala and then on to Jalle, Sudan.  Please begin praying for the team’s safety and for the accomplishment of God’s will while serving alongside the people of South Sudan. May they see the Son in all that Del,  David and Caleb say and do while in the presence of these people. Most of all, pray that God will be glorified and people’s lives changed eternally due to this mission work.

Stay tuned!