September 30 Newsletter

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely.  And may your spirit, soul and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.  Brothers, pray for us also.  1 Thessalonians 5:23-25

We are leaving.  We are leaving, and we are a leaving soon!  A month ago I wrote to you about the exciting survey trip I took in August.  The loose ends hadn’t been tied up, but it looked like things were coming together . . . well now they have!

When I wrote to you last month we were $16,000 short of what we need for all of our startup costs.  After I sent that update, I realized that there was another $3,000 in travel that I didn’t factor into that total, so our need was actually around $19,000.  As I sit here and write this letter, our remaining need is just under $12,000.  That means in the last 31 days God has provided over $7,000 towards our need! 

Some of you have been faithfully downloading and praying through the prayer calendars that we send out every month.  On those prayer guides, I always ask people to pray that God would not only provide the money that we need for a vehicle, but that He would also provide a vehicle for us to buy.  Well, we know you  have been praying because God has definitely provided.

It is hard to find a good used vehicle in South Sudan because having the vehicle in South Sudan means excessive wear.  When I was in Lohutok last month I met someone from Diguna, a German organization that is working nearby, and they were extremely helpful with this.  We couldn’t afford a new LandCruiser, which costs around $50,000, but through these new connections we were able to find a used LandCruiser in Johannesburg.  Since the vehicle is from the city it is in much better condition, and it can be flown to Kenya and driven up to Lohutok all for about $14,000.  That’s 1/3 the cost of a brand new vehicle in South Sudan!  Since we still need about $12,000 for our startup costs, that means we have enough to pay for our travel, the house, and all of our other startup needs, but we still need to raise most of the money we need for the vehicle.  Will you pray with us for this?  We have a few more weekends of churches to visit and then we are done, which is exciting, but we really need a vehicle.

Speaking of “a few more weeks,” we bought our tickets!  We got the final approval from Pioneers to buy our plane tickets, so we are leaving for South Sudan on November 13^th.  Thank you all so much for your continued prayer and support!

Support can be sent to:

                Pioneers

                c/o Justin and Amy Culp – 111886

                10123 William Carey Dr.

                Orlando, FL  32832

Email us at:  justinamyculp@gmail.com
Justin’s cell phone (for now): 785-760-7146

October Prayer Calendar...and baby pictures

Click Here to Download Our Latest Prayer Calendar

I'm also putting up more pictures since people keep asking for them.  We'll have a newsletter out soon, hopefully by the end of the week!

August 30, 2013 Newsletter

Chuck preparing for Bible Study in Ohilong

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen – Philippians 4:19-20

At the beginning of August I (Justin) went to South Sudan for a survey trip. I spent five days in Lohutok with Chuck and Shelly (our team leaders) and I don’t know how the trip could have gone any better.

My first day in Lohutok, Chuck and I sat down and talked about my role on this team, how he saw us fitting with the work in Lohutok. Anyone who knows me, or has heard me speak, knows that I love doing administrative and logistical work. Chuck’s vision for our future involves us helping with the evangelism and discipleship ministries in the surrounding unreached villages, but it also involves me helping with recruiting, strategizing and organizing for our team. There are about ten unreached people groups within close proximity to Lohutok, and it will be a good area to base out of as we work to help start church planting movements in this part of the country.

I also got to look around at the various options for where our family will live when we return to Lohutok. There were a few options, but one stood out from the rest. Many of you know that we have been trying to raise a huge sum of money for house construction, but in Lohutok there was a house that is already almost finished. The man who owns the house lives in Juba. He built the house for himself, but for some reason decided not to stay in the village, and he’s excited to have someone come use the house and build the church! The amount we agreed on for rent is super low, and the money we will spend finishing the house is about 25% of what we were planning to spend.

We also got a good lead on getting a vehicle for our family. Like everything else, the cost is going to be somewhere around one-third of what we had estimated. Basically, when I left for Sudan I thought we were nowhere close to our startup needs, and now we have about $21,000 of the $37,000 that we need! Thank you all so much for giving and praying. We are planning to go as a family in November after Ezekiel gets the last of his vaccinations. Until then, please pray that God would provide the last of what we need to finish the house, travel back to the field, and get a vehicle for our family.

Girls grinding grain into flour

September Prayer Calendar and Pictures

A few days ago I sent out the September prayer calendar.  Click here if you would like to download the calendar!  Here are the pictures that I sent out with that calendar.

"Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out laborers into His field... for the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Amy and Ezekiel getting ready to go up in the St. Louis Arch.

August 1, 2013 by Justin and Amy Culp Click Here to download our Prayer Calendar. I (Amy) thought it would be helpful for all of you to have some more information on the Lopit people, the people group with whom we will be working now that we are with Pioneers.  As we communicate with Chuck and Shelly, our team leaders, we are getting more insight into the area where we will work. The Lopit people live in the Lopa Mountains near Lohutok, which is straight north of Torit (a major town east of Juba.  According to some of our online research there are about 76,000 people in the Lopit tribe.  The major religion in the area is a tribal religion, there are a few believers and Bible study groups that have been started by Chuck and Shelly. Ever since the long civil war in South Sudan ended, one major problem has been a widespread sense of entitlement. This is partially because they have been given many things by the UN and other aid organizations, things which were genuine needs like food , water and education.  Areas close to the Lopit have had Norwegian missionaries in the past, and those missionaries became involved in paying salaries to the Lopit pastors.  Those missionaries have since then turned the churches over to the South Sudanese government (and therefore are no longer paying the pastors), and many pastors have protested by refusing to continue their ministries, so the churches have just closed.  Furthermore, the Lopit often chose not to attend the semi-functioning church because it is not within their clan.  Many of us are working to find ways to start a Lopit Church that is self-supporting and therefore sustainable, especially since so many will tell missionaries what we want to hear if it means that they will get something from us (ie. Salaries). In regards to the coming challenges, including this recent information, we are asking for a team of prayer warriors who will pray vehemently, and sometimes constantly for us and for the ministry.  Many of you have responded to our newsletters and told us that you pray for us daily and specifically - THANK YOU!  Amy is prayerfully considering how we can have an organized core-group with whom she can communicate regularly, if you feel led to be a part of this team, please let us know at the email address below.  We are still figuring out the logistics as to how this would work.  Other friends on the mission field have told us their church has a weekly prayer meeting specifically for them and their ministry, this may be something to consider.  If you don't think you can commit to the extra time this might take, we still want you to pray for us and will keep sending out calendars, thank you all for your commitment! Justin and Ezekiel on the claustrophobic elevator, going up in the Arch.  Daddy, that's mine! Email: justinamyculp@gmail.com Our Blog: www.culpsudan.blogspot.com Send Donations to: Pioneers c/o Justin and Amy Culp #111886 10123 William Carey Dr. Orlando, FL  32832

July 2, 2013

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. – Isaiah 53:4-5

            

Last weekend we went to Louisville to attend a training put on by the Trauma Healing Institute and learned some new tools for doing Trauma Healing with refugees.  There were approximately fifteen South Sudanese refugees at the training, and it was a valuable experience to hear their stories.  We also gained some great insight on the trauma that the long war in Sudan has caused in the lives of the people, and how God can bring healing to their lives.

            

In 2 Samuel 13, when Tamar was assaulted by her step-brother Amnon, Absalom, her brother responded by saying “But now keep silent, my sister, he is your brother; do not take this matter to heart.”  The Bible then says that Tamar remained and was desolate in her brother’s house.  Later, when Absalom killed his brother, the disgrace against Tamar was avenged, and Scripture says that David was angry about the situation, but there is little response to Tamar and the pain she was experiencing.

            

In most South Sudanese cultures, the response is the same.  Whether it is a woman being assaulted, a child who watched his family be killed, a village being attacked and burned by rival tribes or even the military, personal trauma is a reality for many of the people in South Sudan.  In many cases, people are encouraged by their culture to just “toughen up” or “get over it and move on” but we know that those approaches don’t usually work in the long-term.

           

As a counselor, Amy is passionate about reaching out to hurting people and showing them the path to healing that the Gospel can bring in their lives.  We are anxious to get back to South Sudan and see lives changed through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

May 1, 2013

by

Justin and Amy Culp

Hey everyone,  not much new is happening with us these days.  With the switch to Pioneers, we've been working hard to get our donors switched over and trying to raise the remainder of our support.  We've been doing lots of travelling!  Amy wrote this month to share what God has been laying on her heart lately, we hope to hear from you!

The concept of taking our baby to South Sudan has been a stretch of faith for me, to say the least.  Any parent with common sense would say that it’s risky.  We’ve had people get angry at us, tell us we’re being irresponsible, Justin has even had people walk out of the room during his presentation because they thought our vision was reckless.

As we were hearing all of this and looking for a new organization, we couldn’t help but wonder… “Are they right?  Is God really calling us to a nation with no real medical care for our child?”  And yet, God has never let us question our calling for long – just as we are agonizing over these questions, He has provided new supporters, reminded us of the need, and even provided a doctor as our team leader – something I have been praying vehemently for!

We have continued to walk, day by day, trusting that He will provide every need.
Finally, it hit me the other day – if we were to stay in the U.S. for our baby as many people have argued, God could just as easily discipline us by taking Ezekiel from us as He could protect Ezekiel in South Sudan.  He has called us to go.  Suddenly, the idea of staying was scarier to me than going.  Since I came to know Jesus 14 years ago, the dominating message He has given to me is that He is faithful, and He hears me when I call.  This is not to say nothing bad can happen to him, just that we trust the sovereignty and faithfulness of our God.

During the past two months we have attended a week of training with Pioneers, visited my parents and were able to give them lots of time with Ezekiel, and visited the rest of my family in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  Taking time to say goodbye to our family has been an encouraging reminder that our time is drawing near, and we will be in South Sudan soon.