You give them something to eat." "Have them sit down in groups ..." (Luke 9:13-14)
Dear Co-laborers in the Great Commission,
Shalom to you and family. From the depth of our hearts, on behalf of of my family and ONMI, we want to thank you so much for supporting us and praying for us for the successful and productive mission trip to the South Sudan. My sons and our two missionaries from MN have safely returned safely to the USA to the comfort and joy of our respective families.
On September 9, our two sons, Nechemyah and Yehudah and I said good bye to the rest of our family who did not accompany us on this last Mission trip to the South Sudan due to the short duration of the trip . It was bitter sweet departure from my wife and our 5 daughters for two weeks.
Entebbe, Uganda: On September 11, we safely touched down at Entebbe International Airport, Uganda where the rest of our team were waiting for us to head out to South Sudan the next day. We met our missionary team from USA, John and Joel and our South Sudan Country director Timothy Levi who came to receive us at the airport. On the September 12, we prayed together and headed to the South Sudan by road transportation. The Lord gave us a message from John 17: "Jesus Prayed for us that we may be one just as He and the father an Holy Spirit are one. I'm asking on their behalf. I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you gave me, because they are yours."
Kampala, Uganda September 12, leaving Kampala, late afternoon, driving the whole day northward, towards South Sudan, we decided to spend a night in Gulu, Uganda.
On September 13th, still on our way to the South Sudan, through the beautiful villages and towns of Uganda, we briefly stopped in Bibia close to the border of Uganda to visit my brother Pastor Michael, his family and the church . We were warmly received by the community of believers., had refreshment and finally checked out of Uganda and proceeded to South Sudan.
Yerushalayim ONMI mission center, Mt. Gordon, South Sudan: On September 13, we finally arrived at ONMI 's Yerushalayim mission center on Gordon Mountain, Nimule South Sudan. There we met with ONMI Radio staff and briefly with Isaac and Katherine who were preparing to leave for Kenya the next day to work on their visa the USA.
Our missionary medical team, John and Joel got right to work sorting out medicine we brought with us to treat various diseases in Pageri County. We targeted 4 remote villages of Opari, Pageri, Moli and Mugali.
Very remarkable date, South Sudan signed a final peace deal: On September 13, 2018, the date we arrived in South Sudan, was the same day, South Sudan signed comprehensive historic agreement to end the war that has devastated the country for 5 years. The significance of this moment for us was very big. Because when the war broke out in this part of the the country in July of 2016, my entire family was here on the ground. We witnessed the horrible desertion of the entire region in matter of days. Yet we never gave up coming here, maintaining our commitment to serve God's people under a difficult and uncertain time in South Sudan's history.
ONMI Broadcasting studio under construction: From September 14th In the early morning hours, I went around the compound inspecting the construction work of of the Broadcasting studio. ONMI broadcasting Building work is going on very well. It was beautiful sight to see the studio building going up to the roof level. God has been and continue to be faithful. Please pray that this project is brought to a successful completion. Our heart desire is to see the Gospel is preached and people hearts and minds are transformed for the Glory of God. This is our prayers for South Sudanese. While on the ground, our US mission team took turns and spent several hours every other morning to get on the radio to share the word of God with the tens and thousands of people over the airwaves of South Sudan and northern Uganda.
Medical & Evangelistic outreach September 14-19 to the people of Opari, Pageri , Moli Tokuro and Mugali of Pageri County: from the September 14th - September 19th , our medical and evangelistic teams set off from ONMI mission compound at Yerushalayim center on Gordon MT targeting four villages of Opari, Pageri, Moli Tokuro and Mugali. We Were joined by Pastor Benjamin, Pastor Jeremiah, Pastor Tom, Pastor Simon, Elder Mar and Pastor Paul, Pastor and CD Timothy , agriculture coordinator Steward, RN John and Joel and several Evangelist. we were simultaneously conducting outdoor medical and evangelistic outreaches. Before the medical out reach started, we prayed. Our medical and evangelistic team converged in Opari, Pageri, Moli Tokuro and Mugali. John and Joel, with the help of our ground staff and local health workers had seen over 145 people in Mugali, 220 in Moli Tokuro, 120 in Pageri and 70 in Opari. September 19 was our last medical and evangelistic team out reach with John and Joel in South Sudan. It was one of the best in Medical and evangelistic outreaches in ONMI's history in 25 years. We had seen combined total of 555 people and combine total of 1300 people were reached through the Evangelistic out reaches in five days. Two days in a row, God did answer our prayers and He stopped rain that was going to disrupt the entire out reach both in Mugali and Moli, each time we prayed and the Lord answered our prayers, the rain stopped. We finished the out reaches on dry ground. Thank you for all of our prayers. The medical evangelistic outreach is on going activities of Operation Nehemiah. Our ground leadership team wants to keep it going to have maximum impact on the lives of people here. However, to main this, it takes, $ 2500 monthly.
Joel and John headed back to the US on September 20th . My sons and I left on September 23rd.
At the Beth Israel Farm plantation: From September 14-22. We witnessed one of the bountiful productivity and harvesting going on . What we saw was inspiration of hope in the area of creating food security for the people of the South Sudan which came at the heel of agreement signed to end the circle of violence and civil war that has claimed thousands of lives. We are producing banana plantation, guavas and oranges, cassava, sorghum and sim-sim. These are nutritious tropical fruits and crops essential needed to stamp out hunger from the land. We toured and visited the Beth Israel farmland to see for ourselves, the progress in the farm. As far as the progress this year goes, our field staff who are working in the the farm have done a lot of work. They expanded the cultivation area this year far larger than last year's effort. The tractors is repaired and back working. Cassava stocks planted last year are now ready for consumption. We are going to harvest them, this week using it as work for food initiative and incentive for those who want to work and get food for their families. Weeding for sim sim and sorghum is coming right up. We will use the cassava stocks in exchange for their labor. People who come for weeding in the field of sorghum will in exchange get cassava stocks for food. The Beth Israel farmland is bustling with tropical fruits such as oranges, papayas, passion fruits, guavas, bananas etc. We will use the same method to hire people to work in exchange for this food supplies to feed their families and have confidence in their abilities to earn a living by working with their own hands. This will help us make use of the fund coming from the US to address other keys needs in the farm. Even fruit trees planted just last year's are bearing fruits. Peanuts are under way and sorghum will be ready for harvest. The initiative we want to put in place right now before the end of this rain season ending in November is the plantation of fruit trees in 5 acres. We want to plant 1 acre of mango trees, one acres of oranges, one acre of guavas, one acre of banana trees and one acre timber trees.
Prayer needs:
1- My family need your prayers right now for various issues including our upcoming mission trip within the USA in October to raise support for the ministry and our future desire to return to South Sudan as a whole early Spring 2019.
2- A number of our key staff are now returning to South Sudan from Ugandan exile after 2 years of displacement due the impact of the war. The Most and final peace agreement signed in the South Sudan recently has given a hope for many people to return home. Pray that God will remove their worries and prepare their family to go home.
3- Pray for our on going work in the field for 2018 to come to a complete success.
Financial needs: Fourth Quarter's budget 2018 Oct - December : $40,000
1- Medical outreach - $7500
2- Agriculture - $8000
3- NTC. 97.3 FM management and operation - $7500
4- Mission activities and staff support : USA and South Sudan - $17,000
Our online tax deductible contribution can be made at www.operationsnehemiah.org or mail your check to the address below.
In His Grace,
William Levi,
Founder and Overseer,
Operation Nehemiah Missions
PO Box 563
Lanesborough MA 01237
www.operationsnehemiah.org
Phone:
413-770-4711