John Paul Vicory

Crunch Time… With a Smile

With the YWAM HIV/AIDS Global Gathering starting in two weeks from today, everything and everyone is going crazy. Rightly so, we have a lot to do and a lot more to plan.

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[Alex and his hedgehog friend... they aren't as fast as Sonic]

Sunday started off great with the blog update, it was good to get everything off of my chest. Thank you to those who responded with your encouraging words and feedback, it is always good to hear.

In the afternoon, Jessie’s dad, Robin, held a men’s self-defense class. I think that I mentioned it last week, but her dad is on the SWAT team back in Indiana. Since we have been stepping up security on the base, it was a great lesson for us. It was also fun to see the muscular and intimidating Tongan men writhing in pain when Robin would pull a seemingly insignificant move on their pressure points. It also made me feel a little bit safer around them knowing that I have at least a little bit of a chance… probably not.

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[Some of us getting pwn3d (owned) during the self-defense training]

We were able to spend some more time with Kim (Jessie’s Aunt, but also one of our DTS staff) as well. Most of us have had a bit of a rough time the last couple weeks feeling overwhelmed with the task. We have also put our focus on the goal of the conference and lost sight of the overall lessons that God is trying to teach us in the meantime. It was great to hear input from Kim and process through with her what we are thinking and feeling. Jessie’s parents and Kim left this morning, but it was such a blessing to have them with us for this time.

This week, Jonathan came back from a week with his parents in Kampala and the surrounding areas. His parents are with the Orphan Justice Mission and were on assignment this last week in Uganda. Jonathan had a great time with them in all of their ministry opportunities. He had some great stories of God’s Grace and Love as well.

When he came back he found out that the three remaining men on the team were moving to a different room. It was a bit of a surprise to us, and honestly, we didn’t handle it very well at first. We were already stressing out and then we had to move from a comfortable cooler room to one that is not as comfortable and definitely not as cool. We even had to make our own screens out of duct tape and an old mosquito net in order to open the windows. We are closer in proximity to the Tongan men, so it has been nice to get to know them better. We are afraid that they will want to use their newly acquired self-defense techniques on us though… Just kidding, they are great guys, very passionate about the Lord.

Thursday night we had a team dinner again. Since our team has enlarged due to the Tongan team joining us, we had resorted to getting our meals in the dining room and then coming back to the meeting room to eat together. So Thursday because Robin and Pam were cooking, we had hamburgers, sausages, and fries… It was absolutely amazing. I could only eat one burger and one sausage, but some of the other members of our team had 3 or 4. There was so much food, it was great. I don’t think I had felt full since being in Uganda until that night.

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[Yum Yums]

Friday morning, we had another sports day with the staff and students on base. The DTS team is leaving on outreach tomorrow, so it was their last Friday on base. The SBS (School of Biblical Studies) students joined them in some competition against the staff on base. Everyone involved had a great time of fun and fellowship, but at the end of the day, I am pretty sure that the staff (of which we are included) came out on top!

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[Tara probably got the ball...maybe...maybe she was getting past... oh well, we won]

All day yesterday was spent up at the office. The prayer room is located on the second floor of the administration building, and it needs to be finished by Tuesday morning, so Ruth, Tara, and Sarah took over and whoever else was left (Alex, and I) pitched in a bit to help as well. It looks more than a hundred percent better now, but there is still a bit of work to be done on it yet. Next week I will show the finished product of the prayer room and also the common room which was also finished this week.

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[Everyone hard at work in the prayer room]

Earlier I mentioned the SBS students. The last couple of weeks, I have been getting to know a few of the men a little bit more. There are 3 from Sudan, 1 from Kenya, and 1 from Tanzania. I have been getting to know the 3 from Sudan, and their stories are great, but sometimes sad at the same time. They are from Southern Sudan. Their country is constantly being torn apart North and South. Muslim Arabs reside in the North of the country, and the dark tribes reside in the south where the land looks much like Uganda, rich and green. I have been learning how The north has been taking the resources of the south (including gold and oil) and leaving hardly anything to the people in the south. Then, they bribe them to be able to stay in power in the government. And then there was the genocide at Darfur. There are northern groups hired to take out the southerners. There is hope on the horizon though. In 2011 there will be a vote throughout Sudan to see whether or now there will be a new country formed called New Sudan. The Arabs don’t want this, of course, because they gain so much from the relationship, but it is bad for the southerners. If you are Muslim in northern Sudan, you get paid much more than a non-Muslim would, but a Christian gets paid even less that a non-religious person. Its an evangelistic tactic that is used as well.

Look into everything that happens in Sudan. There has been fighting for more than these men can remember. Everyone is affected. Some northerners are already trying to bribe the southerners for hearts in the 2011 vote. Please do research and be praying as well.

I also found out something about Southern Sudan that I didn’t know before as well. George Bush has done a lot for Southern Sudanese and so has Condoleezza Rice. Since they have done so much for them, the Sudanese have been honoring them by naming their children “George Bush” and “Condoleezza Rice”.

I hope to be able to see my new friends in Sudan at some point in my life. It has been so interesting and moving to get to know them and their heart for the Lord and for their people. I can see the desperation as well as the hope in their eyes.

There actually hasn’t been a whole lot else going on this week.

As far as the benefit photography tour goes, please keep your eyes and ears open for some venues, and start telling people about it. I think by next week, I am going to have the dates nailed down, some cities don’t have places yet though! Ah, crazy!

Please continue praying for us here, we really appreciate it. I especially want to thank those from the First Baptist Church where Robin (Jessie’s dad) is the pastor. We were thoroughly blessed by having him this week and were blessed as well with the gifts that you sent with him. They helped us immensely! God Bless you!

And for everyone else, if you know a missionary, drop them a line or a letter if you can. It is so much more than words to them I am sure.

May God richly bless you! Until next week…

Luke 10:2-3
In Christ,
John Paul

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This entry was posted on Sunday, May 13th, 2007 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.