Thursday, April 30, 2015

April 29, 2015

April 29, 2015

In just a few weeks we will have been back in South Sudan for a year and a half. It seems like most of our time back so far has been spent learning: Learning language (Amy is making huge strides, me not so much), learning how to fix the car, build a house, cook/bake meals in a completely new way, Learning how to drive again on roads that aren’t really roads, Learning how to free a car that is hopelessly stuck in the mud, Learning how to treat a sick little boy with malaria, learning how to
get to new places, learning how to get along with other missionaries, learning how to build a drain and trap for the kitchen sink, learning how NOT to install a shower, learning about who we are as a bunch of sinners trying to live in the same house together…lots and lots of learning.  Since we arrived here, Amy has been begging me to teach her to drive a car with a manual transmission, that’s
something she never learned. Finally, a few months ago, I started letting her drive so she could learn (I had to get a new clutch first!) and she caught on quickly. I turned her loose to drive out and visit people, and she was really excited.

Well, learning to drive here is more than just a stick-shift, it’s also learning to dodge constant potholes and mud pits, knowing when to speed up and slow down, and how to avoid getting stuck. When Amy came home the first day, the shock absorber on the pickup was broken. I immediately knew which spot in the road she had hit…it’s impossible to see that large pothole until you’re almost on top of it, and the road is smooth there so it’s tempting to go fast. You just have to know it’s there.
I’m sure there’s a great spiritual application to that story and maybe someday on furlough you’ll hear me use it as a sermon illustration, but I want to finish the story. I called a company in Nairobi to order new shock absorbers.

They told me that they would take a credit card, but at the last minute said they couldn’t over the phone. So, I arranged for $1200 to be wired from my US bank account to their account to pay for the shocks. They then delivered the parts to the airport, where they were flown to another part of Kenya to be delivered to us. The flight comes through twice a month so we knew it would be only a week or so before we got the box, but then that flight was cancelled because there wasn’t enough volume to justify the flight…then the next one got cancelled too! I was making plans to take a bus to Kenya and get the parts, but that didn’t happen. The busses weren’t going that way because people were shooting at cars on part of that road.

I tried to make a plan to fly to Kenya and get them, but the only flight out I could have taken was full. By this time the shocks on the other car were completely worn out and it was becoming an emergency, but there wasn’t much I could do! Finally, after a week of emails and phone calls, we were able to get the shocks on a flight to Torit. I drove to Torit (the 3 hour trip took 5 because of the shocks) and when I got there, I found an email from the pilot saying that they were going to deliver the shocks to Lohutok after all! I spent another night on the phone getting it changed to Torit, got my shocks the next day and put the new ones on the LandCruiser…six weeks later! Never
ask a missionary in the bush, “What do you do with all of your time?

Please continue to pray for us as we are learning language and culture and sharing the gospel with these villages. Pray that we would  be quick, humble learners and pray that the cars would hold up.

Thanks!

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

April 1, 2015

April 1, 2015

This month I’ve been working with men and women in Loming, Lalonga and Lacharok to try and teach them Bible stories from memory. Since all of these guys have heard the gospel numerous times from Chuck and me, we’re able to commit a “no-no” in normal storying settings, we connect each story to the story of Christ and the gospel. Last week I taught the story of Cain and Abel to Paul. Paul Learns the stories quickly, there are many Old Testament stories that he’s just never heard or read, so he’s excited to hear them. As we were discussing the Cain and Abel story, Paul started asking me questions like, “What application do we make from this story?” He wanted to know how to teach the story to the people in his church and in the other villages where he is leading most of the teaching.

After discussing the story for a while, I asked Paul, “What was the cause of Cain’s anger?” Many animist people who hear this story for the first time immediately assume that God was displeased with Cain’s offering because it did not involve blood, and I wanted Paul to see the sin in Cain’s heart. Finally I asked him, “Imagine you are standing in front of Jesus right now, and giving Him the best of everything you have: children, crops, livestock, money, whatever it might be. Now, imagine that Jesus looks at your offering with disgust and walks away. What is your response? Do you get angry because you are expecting something different? Do you get bitter because you think your offering deserves a better response? Or is your heart broken because you realize there is something wrong with your relationship? Your answer will tell you a lot about your soul, and your motivation for serving Jesus.”

Please pray for the men and women in these three villages. Pray that they will serve and follow Jesus out of love for Him and not because of some material expectation (from God, from the missionaries, etc.).

Thanks!

Justin and Amy Culp