Together with my dear friend Harry Wake of Incare, and my new friend Dean Chollar, we have been working in the village of Adoor since 2005. It is in the Aweil district of the Bahr-el-Ghazal province.

My heart is that every church in AoG – and every man, woman and child in our churches – is inspired by our missionary God to play a part in His work in nations. This extends to my own kids. I want them to grow up knowing God loves the world, not just Watford!
 

During the trip I wrote a series of notes to Bethany (10), Hannah (4) and David (3). With their permission I have included some extracts:

2/02.08 – On the plane to Kenya

Dear Bethany,

I’m on the plane to Nairobi. I just wrote out some fresh sermon notes as in just a few hours I will be preaching in a church somewhere. It seems right to be on this trip even though Kenya has been in the news a lot recently. I guess if we were always afraid of being hurt we would never leave home or even walk up stairs!

3/02/08 – On the plane to Sudan

Dear Hannah,

It is now Monday morning and I am on a smaller aeroplane flying to the north of Kenya. We will then take a very small plane into Sudan. Where we land is called Lokichoggio – what a funny name! I am looking out of the window and I can see mountains and some roads. By the time we are over Sudan there will be no proper roads at all.

Dear David

When we arrived at the airport the other day – I mean yesterday – we looked over the road at the big park and we saw a giraffe just walking along!

Dear Bethany,

We keep getting messages from the village where we’re going. The leaders are arguing about where to put the well we have paid for. I am praying that God will help us when we get there to be what Jesus called, ‘peacemakers.’ I am sure He will help.

5/02/08

Dear David

It is late at night and I am writing this journal under a special net over my bed. It is very hot. I hope the net will stop the flies biting me when I sleep. Today it has been very hot. We gave the children some colourful balloons. They had fun. We also gave them those footballs to play with, they were very happy.

Dear Hannie,

Today I thought of you and thanked God that you are so healthy. A young girl about your age, called Amia, was brought to us by her mother. Amia is very sick. She has problems breathing and sore skin. Dean Chollar (remember the blind American man who visited  our church) and I prayed for her. We have also given some medicines to the clinic where she can get help if she is still sick tomorrow. There are many poorly people here – they have no doctor and the water they have been drinking makes them sick. But, good news! Because of the money we have raised we have been able to arrange for 3 wells to be drilled.

6/02/08 – After a tiring day

Parts of this trip have already been difficult, we have been trying to help the villagers make good decisions for their future. It is easy for me to think I know what is best for the village, but because of Dean Chollar’s humility I have been reminded of the need to be humble before God. I pray tonight that God will make me more like Jesus.

7/2/08

Dear son,

We had a great day today playing football with the Sudanese boys. We brought with us those footballs. They enjoyed it very much. It was 6-2 to the other side (we lost!) but it was fun. They do not have shoes so they played with bare feet. There is no grass on the ground, so it was very dusty. The boys were fast at running and good at passing the ball. Maybe one day they could play for Sudan!

Dear Hannah

Next time you take a drink of water (or squash!) I want you to say thank you to God. It took people a lot of time and hard work to get clean water to the tap. Water that will not make you sick.

Today we saw a whole team of men work for two days in the sun with a big drilling machine. Whoosh! The water came up from the ground. It is very dry and hot here, so a new pump with clean water will help stop diseases and plant crops even when there is no rain for months.

8/02/08 – on the flight back to civilisation

Dear Bethany,

I don’t know why but I always cry at this point in the trip – the flight on a small plane leaving Sudan and bringing us home… eventually.

I think I cry because I am so glad God loves me – he has kept us safe and answered so many prayers.

I think I cry because I miss mummy, you kids and all I love about home – like clean cold water, a hot shower and clean clothes.

I think I cry because I leave behind a people in desperate need who we can only do a small amount to help. Part of me wishes we could do more, but the other part knows we have done our best… we leave behind us three wells, half a school, some oxen, ploughs, seed, medicines and prayers for God’s peace in southern Sudan. 

Dear Hannah

Maybe you wonder why I come to Africa? Why leave Watford and fly to other countries. It is not because I want to be away from home, but it is because God has sent me to help people in other lands. To pray with them. To teach them the Bible. To tell them about Jesus. To help them grow food and have clean water to drink.

I come to Africa because I love God, I love you and I love these people. I want to show you what it means be a follower of Jesus… to share his love and to help the poor. One day you can come with me and I’ll show you.

To read the report from 2007, click here

To read the report from 2006, click here