August, 2008
Dear Friends!
Little Daud stands by the path every day: Same dirty shirt, same bare bottom and toes curling in the mud, same snotty nose, same bright eyes and blazing smile. We pass his humble little village along our path to the clinic, and he lifts our spirits. Robert’s camera captured Daud in action one morning. The images are priceless. ‘Allow the little children to come to Me… for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’ It’s no mistake that these words of Jesus were noted by each of the Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark and Luke.
The busy, wet months of June and July came and went like a Sudan-style rainstorm: Tremendous blowing gusts of activity and challenging circumstances, bringing all activity to a sudden stand-still and surrounding our efforts with tenacious mud. Fortunately, the Doro mud dries fairly quickly. Robert and Stephen, who have been to Doro, tell me that driving the 4-wheelers is a lot more fun in the mud! The verdant green of Doro, the thriving fields of corn and millet, the utterly-transformed look of southern Sudan from what those of you who’ve visited us during the brown, barren months of the year might envision – this is the wonderful benefit of the storms over southern Sudan. As I think over the difficult storms we’ve faced this year, I have no doubt God is in the process of using these to bring glory to Himself in Sudan. He’s doing the same in our lives, as well.
Robert’s visit to Doro was one adventure after another. We cared for the sick, nailed a corrugated tin roof in place, squashed the occasional scorpion into oblivion, shared meals and fellowship with our team, and visited the distant Mabaan village of Khortoumbak. Along the way we encouraged fathers and mothers to follow Jesus, to trust Him, to cast their burdens on Him. “He cares for you, and so do we.” It was great to see the Lord raise up desperately-ill children, as we prayed and provided medical treatment. There were sad moments. At dusk one memorable evening we followed a critically-ill child out to the home village where her family had taken her, crying out in desperation as they watched the small, unconscious body struggle against cerebral malaria. All they have known in such situations is the inevitability of death. We found them wailing over her lifeless body there in the gloom. It was a tragic, moving sight. On another day we cleaned bat droppings from one end of the old ruined hospital building and fashioned a crude operating table. We used 50-gallon drums for foot rests, ketamine for anesthesia, and managed to surgically debride an awful infected wound of which I will spare you further description. Robert’s pictures show that behind me, in military graffiti on the rough plaster wall, is an old drawing of an Antonov bomber coming overhead and an SPLA soldier taking aim from the ground with a shoulder-mounted missile launcher!
July’s adventures were closer to home. Timothy completed his high school years in style, graduated from Rift Valley Academy, and begins his college career at Wheaton this month. He will join Robert who is now in his final year. By the way, thank you for your encouragement and support of Robert this summer, as he went on from Sudan to Togo and had a wonderful pre-med and missions experience there as well. (Please ask, if you’d like us to send a copy of his excellent pdf newsletter). We’re excited to see how the Lord will lead and use him as he completes the medical school application process.
Then two storms blew over us, back to back. Nancy became quite ill and we discovered she was ‘thyro-toxic’ with Grave’s disease, a fairly-common malady of the thyroid gland. She received excellent care in the States where she was already headed with Timothy, and we thank the Lord for her steady progress toward recovery to full health. Then tragedy struck a missionary family close to us – dad’s a doctor, Wheaton grad, kids same ages as ours, and so on. Their son had graduated with Thomas two years ago. Returning to RVA for the alumni celebration in July, he scored the winning goal in the alumni soccer game then within days fell ill and to our disbelief died from an overwhelming cardiac infection. The final weeks of July were as painful a time as we can remember. Ben’s home-going was a jolting reminder that Christ Himself is our anchor in life here, and in the Life to come. He felt the pain of human suffering and loss, and His promise to the disciples in John 16 was, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”
After Nancy’s much-anticipated return to Kenya this weekend, I will return to Doro 8 September. The clinic is busy these days; pray for strength and encouragement for Angelina, Sarah, and doctor Shermeen from Canada helping this month. We have partnered with a Christian group called Medair to help build our nutrition center, and Grace is our nurse heading up the ministry to families of children affected by severe malnutrition. This is a tremendous work, with great rewards as the physical and spiritual ministry to these mothers and children go hand in hand. Grace is a special person, brought to Sudan by the Lord when others her age are relaxing in retirement. She will be returning to the US for two months, come November, and at this point I believe we will have to close the ‘nutrition village’ during that time. Pray the Lord may touch the heart of someone to take her place and continue this wonderful ministry. Required skill? Teachability, and a heart of compassion.
The Community Health Worker training school program is making great progress. We’ll have our first graduation ceremony the last week of November. And the Adult Literacy Program with 30 students is looking to complete the full course of education and discipleship in December. The commitment to evangelistic outreach by Sebsibe and Abebe, our Ethiopian missionary partners, continues to bear fruit. On two village visits last month, 21 men and women heard the Good News and trusted Christ. Pray for Ray and Anne Lee, our team members at Doro who are working with church leaders to encourage spiritual growth and leadership in the Church and development of an effective Sunday School ministry.
I hope you can see that despite the rain in Sudan, there is much cause for excitement in Doro! You can be involved…
- Pray for health workers. Already, we are critically short of staff to meet the pressing needs. Pray the Lord would mobilize a short-term medical team from your church. A dentist has offered to come for a couple of weeks in November. Pray for me as I travel to the largest medical mission conference in the world, held in Louisville this November. We’re trusting for many contacts with men and women prepared to serve in Sudan.
- Pray for a PARTNER to assist Grace at the Nutrition Village, and to continue the work while she visits with children and grandchildren in Texas at year-end.
- Pray for our Community Health Worker trainees, who will become key health workers throughout the region. Pray for Vicki as she directs their training.
- Also you may remember that Vicki is a TB/leprosy expert who worked with us in Zambia. Her desire is to see this important and very-needed ministry take shape at Doro, despite many administrative hurdles with South Sudan’s Ministry of Health. Pray for her as she seeks the way forward, making the necessary contacts and gaining approval for the medications required to treat tuberculosis and leprosy.
- Pray for peace in Upper Nile State, where we work. Because of our proximity to Northern Sudan and to the Adar Oil Field, we are well aware of the challenges which face South Sudan as the Peace Agreement enters its final two years. Pray for our commissioner, John Ibo, who continues to be a strong encouragement.
- Pray for a BUILDER! Yes, we still need a builder to take up the clinic development project. A Christian engineering firm has agreed to visit mid-2009 and develop plans for development of the site, but we believe the time is now to move forward with our first building: A maternity ward and delivery facility to care for this critical need. Work teams will certainly be a significant part of this effort, and we’re praying for more excellent teams like those who came to Doro last year.
- Speaking of maternity needs: The Lord has sent Vivian Henderson, a nurse midwife, to be with us until May of next year. After the Training School course is completed in November, her primary task will be development of maternity services for the health center. Let’s pray that she has a building to work from!
- Communications. This is an area of great concern not only because of the isolation of Doro, but because it is now apparent that our satellite and cell phone conversations are monitored. We have purchased a VSAT system this week, and I will be in Doro with the technician next month at the installation. We may have a US telephone number!
- Finally, pray for a pastor named John Maya whom I’ve mentioned in the past, and for the thousands of people who live in his area 20 miles from Doro. We are praying about the possibility of supporting a small health clinic in Khortoumbak, placing one of our CHW health workers there, and finding ways to strengthen the churches and Christian leaders in this critical border area. John and four village elders met me at Doro recently, pleading for our help to organize a church leaders’ conference in that place later this year.
Your encouragement and support and prayer make all the difference to Nancy and me, the family, and to our Sudan team. If you feel that the Lord might have you come for 3-4 weeks or even longer, to join a building team or a medical team at Doro, please write and I’ll do my best to make it happen. If you want to be involved in any other way, please let us know.
This final thought. Sudan’s torrential rains and violent thunderstorms are not without their purpose. What of the storms which seem to shake our world with such regularity? What is God doing? In the words of a favorite pastor, speaking from Hebrews 12:26-29: “God is in the process of removing those things which can be shaken, in order that the things that can not be shaken may remain.” No matter the uncertainty in society, in the economy, in the political realm, God is in the process of shaking our world in order that the things which are permanent may remain. What will remain, when He shakes your world?
Be encouraged today, abiding in His faithful, unshakeable Presence.
In Christ’s love, Rob and Nancy
Dr. Rob and Nancy Congdon
SIM Sudan Medical Director
