Back on US soil from South Sudan. The most amazing thing about all this is that the Lord did it all!

Shalom! By Gods' grace, we returned to our beautiful Berkshire home on Monday, May 1 ! Interestingly enough, May 1, 2016 was the very day last year that we embarked on our three month trip to South Sudan! Little did we know what the Lord had in store for us on that trip and how it would not only change us as a family but change our ministry and those who work with us entirely as well, for His glory. The Lord has drawn us nearer to Himself through the outbreak of war in South Sudan and taught us to lean more on Him... For myself, I have been slowly but surely learning what it means to surrender and to put my whole trust in the only one who knows the future, to give up the things that I hold most dear to my heart and let the Lord take control. Oh, it is so easy to get so wound up in the circumstances and problems in a situation, to be afraid, to listen to the doom and groomers foretelling your "uncertain future", and to completely miss what God is trying to teach you in the process! He is in control and all things work together for good to those who love the Lord! We have definitely learned that when the going gets hard, the only way we can go on in this ministry is to sit back, take a deep breath, be still and know that He is God!

Now, fast forward to mission trip 2017! We were in South Sudan for two months and witnessed how the Lord works in the most impossible circumstances. We left the states on March 10th, knowing full well that we could lose our lives. With two of our compounds in disarray, we had no idea where we would even sleep, but we knew that we were following the Lord's call. Upon arrival in Uganda, we were warned by many people, "Don't go to South Sudan, you'll all die", or “You are going to that terrible place as a family? You're crazy!" But my parents remained steadfast and we went in to South Sudan. We lived in tents and on sleeping mats (yea... that was an experience in itself :)), on Gordon Mountain where our radio station is located! Once we settled in our mountain home, the question was, What's next?

On March 18th, we held the national day of prayer in Nimule! God brought the whole thing together for us in a miraculous way and through it we met the Pastor's forum of Nimule! For the entire time we were there, we worked with them to spread the gospel in Nimule… we have really realized the need to focus our work in Nimule…The field is white for harvest! Our mission compounds in Borongole and the Farmland were reopened and twelve men were sent to work in them from the small village where Papa grew up. The Lord raised a godly older man named Stewart to lead the congregation in Borongole! Water was drilled on Gordon Mt., the Military continues to be witnessed to, the Radio now has pastors who preach the gospel in Dinka and Acholi, and cash crops have been planted in the farm! The door has opened for us to restart more sustainable living opportunities (which has been the primary focus of the mission), etc.

The most amazing thing about all this is that the Lord did it all! The opposition is so thick against our work…Without the Lord, we literally would have shriveled into raisins because of it. We were so grieved and discouraged by the way even our own family over there has been tempted to reject the Lord, and at the same time we were overjoyed to see all the ways that the Lord was working and protecting us!

Anyway, there are a million things I still wish to write, but this piece is getting way to long! In summary, South Sudan is not a lost cause! The Lord is changing South Sudan from the inside out… there has never been a time where the people of South Sudan have been so open to the Gospel, so hungry for a lasting change in the cycle of war that has gone on for almost five generations. Little by little, the many of people of South Sudan are realizing that the only way South Sudan will be peaceful, the only way tribalism, etc. will end is for the light of Christ to shine in their hearts! And our ministry is apart of spreading that light! To God be the Glory!

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His Glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time now and forever. Amen." That's our trip for you!

Prayers:

1- Keep those who are co-laboring with us in the field in your prayers: Our country Director Timothy Levi, Deputy Country directors Isaac Tombe and Abraham Ridii, Project coordinator Benjamin Levi, Radio Broadcasting coordinator Robert Amoko, Agricultural Coordinator Pasquale Pitia, Compound Mangers Bosco Bandas, John Alimu and Pastor in training Steward Orule and Pastors' Forum Chair Abarham Tia.

2. Field financial need for May 2017 stands at $30,000. On Line donors can donate on line below or send your tax deductible support to Operation Nehemiah PO Box 563 Lanesborough, MA 01237.

a- Piping - $4000

b- Sub Solar Pump - $3000

c- Farming seeds - $3000

d- 3 Grinding mills Nimule project - $9000

e- 2 Peanut butter making machine- $2000

f- Solar DC/Ac Transfer switch converter - $3000

g- Electrical wiring - $1000

h- Field Administration - $5000

Love, Abijah Levi, ONMI Editor - Operation Nehemiah Missions