Lessons of the Journey: God's Great Work in the Heart of South Sudan

     O that I could live always as under His eye, and feel the sense of His immediate presence, this is Life and all besides this is death to my Soul"- William Carey

Live. When I think of my time in South Sudan and the amazing journey that the Savior has led me on thus far, this is the one word that comes to mind. Live. Live freely, vibrantly, and purposefully. Live with boldness, wisdom, discernment, and in loving obedience to our great God because as Carey once said, life is continually living under the eye of our Savior and feeling the sense of His immediate presence.

While in South Sudan I continually felt the sense of His presence. Before leaving, my pastor, Larry, told me that sometimes God uses short term mission trips to teach us dependence on Him because everything else is stripped away. Oh, how sweet and satisfying it is to depend completely on Christ and stripped of all dependency on this world.

Our team partnered with local pastors of various areas and met with many South Sudanese families, sharing the gospel and encouraging them in their faith. I loved sitting outside many huts with the warm African sun beaming down and talking of the gospel for hours, sharing the hope within me, and answering many thought provoking questions about God and His Word. I also had the privilege of working at a women’s conference, praying over the needs of many and teaching others in discipleship and also loving on many orphaned children at the local orphanage.

God is doing amazing things in this part of Africa. He is worthy of all praise and glory! During our short few weeks our team saw many surrender their lives to Christ, follow in believer’s baptism, and begin walking in newness of life! How sweet it is to watch new brothers and sisters taste the freedom of forgiveness and new life in Christ.

     We encountered many false teachings and spiritual warfare, but our fight is not against flesh and blood. Satan is active in South Sudan, but our God is so much greater. He has raised up many strong and vibrant men of God as pastors, elders, and teachers in South Sudan. He has gifted several women to serve other women and teach them of raising Godly families as Christ teaches throughout scripture.

I could share 2 million of my favorite parts of this journey, but I will suffice to share one story with you, a story that is not my own. Her name is Harriet. My sweet friend, Harriet, was the first believer I met at our church site at Remadeyoung. Each day she followed our team, hearing our stories and worshipping with us. This is her testimony.

Harriet grew up brewing alcohol, which is a practice highly frowned upon in South Sudan. While an easy way to make money for women, brewing alcohol in this culture associates with drunk husbands who refuse to care for their families and occult practices. As a woman with little ways to make money, alcohol brewing seemed an easy solution.  Much like myself and others, Harriet depended on things of the world rather than running to her Savior and depending on Him. Harriet battled sickness for a long time. She visited witch doctors who left her with scars on her skin and sickness still in her body. One day Harriet heard the gospel message and gave her life to Christ. She immediately gave up brewing alcohol and abandoned the witchcraft and Satanic worship of the witch doctors. Harriet is alive! She attended the women’s conference with me and continues to learn more about her Savior.Throughout our days together I watched as she watched sheepishly on the sidelines as my team and I shared the gospel to speaking up, sharing her own story with others for the first time and encouraging them to be born again. Harriet’s sweet growth in discipleship, her hunger and love for her Savior, and her obedience to Christ both inspire and challenge me.

 

I ask that you pray for Harriet and for the many Harriet’s of the world. Pray that she would continue to grow in her faith, that she would always love and treasure Christ above anything else, and that she would strive to follow Christ with total abandon. 

Our God is good! He is a missional God and He is alive and working in the lives of so many around the world. Worship Him today in whatever language you speak, whatever your background. He is a God worthy of our worship, of our total devotion, and our complete surrender. Surrender to His call to live missionally wherever you may be. Share the gospel, the love and hope within you and when you do, remember my friend Harriet and how God uses the least of these, the poor, the broken, the orphaned to build His kingdom. Join me as we celebrate life, abundant life always under the eye of our Great God and reveling in His presence always.

Praying for South Sudan

It’s really almost here!! I can’t believe that in only one week from today I will be somewhere over the Atlantic headed to South Sudan. After months of training, planning, and preparation, the time is almost come for me to meet Africa for the first time and find my heart changed forever.

It seems like only last week when the Lord continued to press this trip and these people on my heart. I remember asking myself last fall as I walked into a chapel service at SEBTS one morning if I would ever walk in and not see the trip info to South Sudan flash across the screen and immediately feel conviction.  I needed to be on that plane when it left. After much prayer and realizing that conviction wasn’t going anywhere, knew not only would I be on that plane bound for Kajo Keji, but that my God would provide every need and somehow give me the resources to travel to South Sudan to share the only Story worth telling. Did He ever. He has provided every financial need in big ways and in times where no other explanation existed. Praise be to our Great King who provides for all needs even before we begin asking.

I am beyond excited to see how God uses our team in Kajo Keji to strengthen and encourage believers as well as reach the lost. Many of you have asked specifically how to pray for our team as we are working in South Sudan, so I thought I’d give you a few specific ways.

1. Pray for the hearts of the people we will engage with the gospel that their eyes may be opened to the Truth and they would come to know lasting and eternal joy with the Father

2. Pray for the transparency of our team, that others may clearly see the gospel in our lives and that we may articulate the Story well despite cultural and language barriers

3. Pray for clarity of mind and heart, that our lives be focused on Christ and not be distracted by lesser things that pull us away from honoring God through worshipful obedience to the Great Commission

“Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way” 2 Cor 6:2b-4a

I cannot thank you enough for your prayers and sweet encouragement in the days ahead. Our team covets your prayers and interceding for us before the God of the nations. Now is the favorable time. Now is the day of salvation! May our great and glorious Savior receive all honor and praise as the nations cry out in worship to Him.  

Encouragement: Who Are You Celebrating?

Encouragement. It sounds like such a simple word, full of promise and possibilities. This word often floats into our minds as one of those happy words when someone points out the rainbow above our storm cloud or brings a small smile to our faces amidst chaos and confusion. Rarely do I meet a person who hates to be encouraged or lifted up, reminded that someone besides themselves was thinking of them that day.

Yet, for all of the wonderful feelings that come when others encourage us, we must also ask ourselves who it is we encourage on a daily basis. Who is it that I go out of my way to lift up, to bring a smile to his or her face? Who is it that I take the time to write a thoughtful note to or send a simple text message that I was thinking of her that day? Who is it I fall on my knees before the Father in intercessory prayer for God’s mercy, wisdom, and direction in his life during a difficult trial?

Today, I began celebrating my birthday week. Yes, birthday WEEK. One fun fact about me is I absolutely love birthdays. I try and take every chance I get to celebrate people, their lives, and remind myself how grateful I am they are part of my life. Each day of the week leading up to my birthday I try to do something a little different out of my usual day, to stop and simply celebrate where God has me in my life with amazing people He has put there. This week is filled with fun adventures and a few little splurges, but most of all it is spent in celebration of the wonderful circle of friends and family around me who “do life” with me in honesty, transparency, and godliness. These are the people I love remembering and celebrating as I look back over the last year. And, they are the very ones I want to encourage.

Encouragement is more than a happy thought or a smiley emoticon. It is a powerful means of celebration of one’s life, an empowering and sometimes vulnerable move of support, action, and genuine love. Be an encourager this week. Don’t wait. Go out of your way to lift up someone else. Celebrate others around you and praise our God and Father for the influence of that person in your life. Christ compels us to encourage others. May we live in worship of our great God and celebration and encouragement of those around us.

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Philippians 2:1-3

The Greatest News

Can two weeks really change a life? Fourteen days. It seems like such an insignificant time compared to the span of one’s life. Can such a short time really make any difference in the world?

In a few short weeks from now a rag tag team collected from all over the US, including several students from Southeastern Seminary in quiet North Carolina will join local believers in the newly developed country of South Sudan to share the gospel with men, women, and children who have never heard of our glorious Savior. We will board a plane and fly literally half way across the world to a politically unstable country full of confused peoples scarred by the wounds of war for years upon end.

“The war is finally over,” many will say. “Our freedom is returned to us.” Unfortunately, our team as well as most of you know that a far greater war is taking place in the heart of South Sudan. This spiritual war brings destruction, anguish, and slavery for all who reject the gospel of Christ. While South Sudan has broken away from the oppression of their northern brothers, the Father of lies and destruction continues to seek them out, polluting their worship and blinding their eyes to the One True Liberator.

Two weeks. Fourteen days.  Three hundred and thirty six hours. This is the time God has provided for us in South Sudan to proclaim the truth of the gospel, to share a greater purpose of the Creator for their lives, and to partner with the few local Christians to teach, proclaim the gospel, plant churches, make disciples, and baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

How can you help? I’m so glad you asked!

One- PRAY! Pray hard. Pray purposefully. Pray with intention for the people we will come in contact with as well as our team members. Satan is active and at work to quench the Spirit, but our God is greater! He has already defeated Satan through the work of the cross and will not thwart the purposes of God to see His own come to salvation. The following link will lead you to a prayer calendar for the time our team is in South Sudan. I encourage you to take it and pray for us as we take the gospel to the nations. Prayer Calendar

Two- Share! If God so leads you, I pray that you would share this blog with others you know who will also pray for our team. Secondly, share Christ! What better time than this Easter season to share with others the greatness, glory, and power of the One True God and the salvation for all who believe? Share the gospel with others this week. Live the gospel. Proclaim to others the Good News of Christ and share the hope within you!  Also, I ask that you would consider sharing your support for me and my team as we raise support for this journey to South Sudan. While the journey is long and the way expensive, our God is greater than any material need we may have. I ask that you, along with your family or church family consider giving to this great journey of sending the gospel to the ends of the earth. If you’d like more information you can visit this link Give to South Sudan Team Here or contact me directly at kayla.stevens@live.com.

Can two weeks really change a life? I pray that it changes many for the gospel of Christ and the furtherance of His kingdom. I know it will change mine as I see the glory of God upon the hearts and lives of South Sudanese brothers and sisters as they trust Christ alone as Lord and Savior and experience true and eternal freedom. God is working in South Sudan and I cannot wait to join what He is already accomplishing there for His kingdom and glory.

“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a Shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land.” Ezekiel 34:11-13

Glory and honor and praise be to our great God who seeks out those who are His from among the nations, rescues them, and brings them into the land where He dwells!

How do you say, "I love you?"

How do you say “I love you?” I know it may sound super sappy or cliché with Valentine’s Day around the corner, but just bare with me for a moment. This week I was talking to a friend of mine who hates Valentine’s Day, completely despises the holiday, and no its not because she’s single and bitter. She’s married to a wonderful Godly man and it’s so sweet to watch their love for one another grow. The pure motivation behind her dislike stems from a day when people feel obligated to tell one another in different ways how much they mean to one another.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on Valentine’s Day. I actually love setting aside a day to tell the people who matter most in your life how much you love and appreciate them. However, her comment has been rolling around in my head lately, and I can’t help but wonder why we wait for one day a year to be super thoughtful, romantic, and just love others. Shouldn’t that be our mantra every day? Especially for a disciple of Christ?

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

So I ask again, how do you say, "I love you?" Is it with a romantic dinner and flowers one night a year, or graciously forgiving one another when words are not as flowery as a dozen red roses? Is it with a card or phone call to a loved one on February 14 or falling on your face before God in the middle of the night for that lost loved one? Do you say I love you with a compassionate heart for orphans or do you take the gospel to those orphans and introduce them to the same Father you have, adopted by grace? Love deeply, dear friends. Love when it is costly. Love often. Love because you have first been loved! 

A Fig Tree Experience

I’m walking through the book of John right now, constantly be refreshed and reminded of the goodness of our Lord. As usual, I’m having difficulty making it out of the first chapter, reading and re-reading and meditating on what God is teaching me. One of the events that sticks out to me in this chapter seems very small and insignificant. If it were a billboard, people would pass by without so much as a second glance, but I’d like to take a moment and stare into this glaring sign and glean from its wisdom.

In the last part of chapter one, Jesus is calling disciples unto Himself. In verse 43, He calls Phillip. Overjoyed at realizing who Jesus is, Philip goes to Nathanael, explaining how they found the Messiah, the promised one of the Old Testament. Skeptical, Nathanael asks if any good can come from Nazareth and upon seeing Jesus questions how He knows him. While most of us have heard this recount before, the interesting section comes in Jesus next few words. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Under the fig tree.

It seems so small, something that most would only glance at on their way to chapter two, but part of me simply wonders what happened under the fig tree. A man who was only a few verses before questioning if Jesus was indeed the Messiah is now following after Christ in total abandon; all because He mentioned how He was with Nathanael under the fig tree. While scholars speculate what this means, a few things can be easily seen.

One, Nathanael was alone. Had anyone else been with Him, they could have told this stranger from Nazareth about him, but only the Messiah knew what happened to Nathanael under that fig tree. Two, Nathanael kept this part of his life private. He didn’t walk through the village sharing openly what happened under the fig tree. Perhaps it was a prayer, a communion with God, a confession of sin or a secret longing that he dared not share with anyone. Nevertheless, only Nathanael and the One True God knew what happened under that tree, and only God could have spoken to Nathanael in such a way so that He knew that this Nazarene was the Son of God.

What then, would you describe your own fig tree experience to be? What is it that you keep so private and secret that even those closest to you may not recognize? Perhaps, it is something shameful, too painful to speak of publicly. Perhaps, it is a particular fear that you dare not share with others; or, perhaps it is simply a time of prayer and communion with God, that inner worship and sweet meditation upon God’s Word.

I pray that you take comfort that even under your own fig tree, Christ knows and loves you deeply. Nathanael’s response to realizing Jesus’ knowledge of him was to follow in total abandon. Will you do the same today? When this Christ calls you to forsake everything else for the sake of following after Him, will you obey? Will you run after Christ with glad delight to obey Him no matter the cost? Remember today that Christ is Lord of your fig tree experience and He is worthy of your worship and obedience.

“Whom have I in Heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”  Psalm 73:25-26