September 29, 2018

The boys and I were walking down the road, looking for cows when a crowd of women came walking toward us with spears and cow bells, ringing them in our faces and dancing wildly with their spears.  Thoroughly confused, I asked them to explain more.  “The garden is crying,” they explained.  For the next two hours, masses of women walked by us doing the same, some dancing wildly in circles around us.  Between the information I gathered from multiple ladies and our watchman, we learned a considerable amount about the culture that day. 

“The garden is crying” when the crops have been destroyed by insects.  When this happens, they bring their spears and cow bells and have a funeral for the garden.  Each woman who has had crops eaten will cut it at the stalk.  They tie multiple strands together and place them in the middle of the road, as a sign to show what has occurred.  Here is one that we found while driving through another village:

Anyone who lives in the village of the destroyed crop can drive or walk through undisturbed, but those from other villages must pay to cross the barrier. 

After cutting the crops they continue the funeral with dancing and singing.  I have been told they also sacrifice a goat to appease the land.  They carry the garden up to the fuara, which is the community meeting place where funerals are held.  They continue the funeral for the garden there.  The mind blowing thing about this is that at some point, the women get on their hands and knees, crawling a good portion of the way to the funeral.  The path is rocky, unsteady, full of dung (from animals and humans) and often has thorns. 

When they arrive, they beat the drums and dance, just as they would at a normal funeral for a loved one. 

Please pray for us as we attempt to learn the language and culture here, and look for culturally appropriate ways to share the Gospel.  Please pray that we abide well, teach our boys to do the same, and for physical emotional protection for us. 

Justin continues to meet with Paul, and I continue to meet with Teresa.  Please pray for abundant grace for them to abide in Jesus, stand firm, find joy and stay the course.  Paul and his wife would like to have another baby (for the amazing story of their infertility and miraculous pregnancy, ask for one of our earlier newsletters).  They have been unable to conceive, however, and her family has stated that they “have cursed her” because Paul’s family failed to pay all of the cows when they were married.  Cows are used as a dowry, and the husband’s family will often “make a down payment” at the time of the wedding, intending to pay the rest later.  Please pray that in spite of this, she is able to get pregnant, and that the confusion regarding the cows will be resolved. 

Teresa has sent her family to the refugee camp while she remains here, having a house built for them.  Her maturity is beyond her years.  She is also going to school and working for us.

 Please continue to pray for healing for her mother (she has paranoid schizophrenia), and that her family – especially her uncle and grandfather – will repent and follow Jesus.  I have been told that the UN wants to take her mother to the hospital.  I have been trying to track down someone to find out more – about the hospital and for someone in the refugee camp to advocate for them.  We would appreciate prayer for connecti
ons and wisdom to know how to handle this situation – we are still praying for healing for her, and that her children would be able to live and grow in a safe environment. 

We are both studying language and culture, and I am homeschooling Ezekiel while Justin maintains the cars and updates things around the house as needed.  The boys are very slowly learning language (it’s not as easy as it sounds for littles). 

Thanks for praying for us and standing with us, we are truly grateful for all of you!

In Christ,

The Culps

Justin, Amy, Caleb and Ezekiel 

August 31, 2018

This is what the cab of the pickup currently looks like…

This has been quite a month.  Last month I wrote the newsletter from Uganda while we were taking some family time and getting our shopping done and vehicle repaired.  As I was writing that newsletter there were two things impressed on my heart.  First, I thought about how writing the September newsletter was going to be boring and hard because “all we were going to do” for the month was study language.  Second, I was thinking about some of the strategic relationships that God has given us in Lohutok and how, as we start trying to learn how to communicate the gospel to these people, we would be facing some opposition and spiritual warfare.

               Well, now that August is over I can say that I was right about the second thought, but wrong about the first!

               We got back from Uganda at the beginning of the month on a Wednesday, and as is usual, we spent Thursday and Friday getting the kids back into a routine and unpacking from the trip, and then started on language study Monday morning.  That week I realized that we needed groceries from Torit and planned to go on Saturday, so Friday I checked out the pickup to get ready for the trip.  When I got in the truck, it wouldn’t go anywhere!  After a bit of tinkering, I realized that one of the brake drums was locked up with mud, which is an easy thing to fix.  I jacked up the vehicle, and before I could even try to get the brake drum off, the bumper bent and the jack slipped, and the truck almost fell over.  I managed to stack some timbers (as you can see in the bottom picture) and get a jack under it, and finish freeing up the wheel, and I was set to go to town the next day.

               I took Caleb with me to Torit to have some daddy time.  On the way I noticed that the steering wheel was doing something funny.  It would turn randomly and “slip” so when I turned the steering wheel, the car didn’t respond.  By the time we got to Torit it was completely broken, with the car parked I could spin the wheel around with no effect.  I managed to get the vehicle to a compound where I found some friends staying, and the problem we found seemed to be easy and we fixed it within 30 minutes.  The vehicle worked fine most of the way home, but the steering which I thought was fixed broke again about 10 miles from our house.  That portion of the trip usually takes about 30 minutes, but that night it took four hours.  I would stop, adjust the broken spline shaft, drive until it broke again, adjust again, and repeat.  Finally, about 4 miles from our house, the thing broke and I couldn’t get it to work again.

               So, I’m on the road at 9pm with Caleb (our 2 year old) with me in a truck that won’t steer.  I got back in the truck and said, “Caleb, I can’t fix the truck anymore so we might have to walk home, but first let’s pray.  I can’t fix the truck, but Jesus can, and Jesus wants you to know that he is powerful so let’s pray that He helps us get home.  My sweet little boy immediately closed his eyes and said “Jesus please fix our truck amen.”  I started the truck, tried the steering, and it worked.  And it worked for the rest of the trip home.  As soon as I pulled into our home it broke again, but we were home and didn’t have to walk or leave our truck full of groceries on the side of the road.  I might admit that I cried for most of that trip home.

Amy’s malaria test.  I thought it would be funny to post on Facebook to see if people would think it was…something else!

               During the week between getting home and going to Torit, I took our LandCruiser down to the airstrip to meet a plane.  On the way back I noticed a rattling sound, and upon inspection I found that one of the rear shock absorbers had come completely loose.  Someone who installed the shocks before we bought the vehicle had used the wrong-sized washer, and it just came out of the bushing completely (I know some of you won’t understand what I’m talking about, but just know that it was broken).  Since it was loose, probably for part of our trip home from Uganda, the bolt that holds the shock to the frame had bent, and as I was trying to get the nut off, that bolt broke off completely…a problem that requires some serious welding which is a skill I don’t possess.

               So now we’re here in Lohutok with two vehicles that are down.  A friend has let me use his 4-wheeler for a little bit while he is gone, but that doesn’t get us very far as a family!  The spare parts we need are all purchased, but are in Uganda on a truck with a local shopkeeper from Torit who is bringing them to us.  Those trucks usually get stuck in the mud this time of year, but we’re praying that they make it safely and quickly, and that we’re then able to get the parts from Torit to here…somehow!

               In the midst of all of that stuff, Amy got malaria that didn’t quickly cure with the usual treatment and had to go into secondary measures.  Caleb has managed to climb OVER our gate in an attempt to escape the compound, and then climb on the roof of a friend’s house when he found an unattended ladder.  I was trying to finish making a brick oven that was Amy’s birthday present this year (Her birthday is in January…) and while I was drilling a hole in an angle-iron, the drill bit broke and went into the palm of my hand (I learned the Lopit words for “Bleeding” and “Spurting” and I learned that arteries spurt, veins don’t).  Add to that numerous other little concerns with kids’ behavior, school and isolation, and the daily struggles with Satan’s lies (“What are you doing here?”  “This is all a waste of time.”  “You’re not cut out for this”) and this month’s newsletter which I thought would be a struggle to write could actually turn into a book with multiple chapters!

               It’s a bit easier to go through each day when there’s a busy to-do list full of building projects and logistical tasks.  Now most days are filled with hours of language study, preparation for those studies, and review of yesterday’s study, and although we’re making big strides in speaking the language already, the results are less tangible and discouragement comes much faster.

               Will you keep praying with us against Satan’s attacks on our emotions and bodies?  Pray that our kids stay safe and healthy, that our marriage relationship is sweet and free from jealousy and pride, that we have the courage and energy to press on when the days get tedious.  Thank you all so much for your encouragement and prayer, we couldn’t be doing this without you!

                                                                                                             Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb 

Trying to break loose a frozen brake drum, the rear bumper came loose on the truck and the high-lift jack almost fell over!  I had to run fast to get something to stack under the bottle jack to keep the truck from falling.  It’s a good thing the spare tire was there to catch it!

July 27, 2018

Going to Uganda to take our visitors back to the airport…we made it to Lalonga and our rear axle wanted to fall off!  I walked 10 miles back to Lohutok and brought Scott to help me fix it.

So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21

     You’ve probably gathered from our last few newsletters and prayer calendars that the past few months have been crazy with visitors and travel.  For years we have been praying for team mates for Lohutok, in the past six months we have had six visitors and three of them are now going through the long application and fundraising process to join our team!  That is exciting news, but entertaining visitors is a lot of work, even for the low-maintenance visitors we’ve had. 

     Normally we go to Uganda every three to four months for shopping, car repairs, medical care and rest.  With the extra visitors and an extra trip to get a car running Justin has actually made six trips to Uganda so far this year.  Add in a required unit retreat in Kenya, a week in Juba to get our two year residency permits, and supply runs to Torit every couple of weeks and this half-year has been pretty insane, but mostly in a good way. 

     Justin recently drove to Uganda to take back some visitors from our sending church so they could get their flights home, then drove back to Lohutok three days later to pack up Amy and the kids to come back down…although Justin has had to travel quite a bit, it was time for Amy to have a break!  The two day drive is not leisurely, and both times there was some kind of catastrophic mechanical issue with the vehicle (as you can see from the pictures) but the past week in Uganda has been one of incredible rest and refreshment and we are ready to go home and hit the ground running. 

This was two weeks of car trouble!  On our way back to Uganda with the family we got stuck once, had to be dug out by some guys who were there to help, and then when we hit the fast road in Uganda our radiator exploded!  Thankfully we have a mechanic who spent 8 hours on a bus to come and help us fix it! 

     We have been doing language study in the midst of the busyness, but we are looking forward to our next time “in” to really get into a good routine with our tutors, visiting people in the village to practice, and finding new friends and relationships that way.  Please keep praying that we would be able to focus on learning to speak Lopit (we can already see our progress when we go to funerals and homes in the village to talk to people!) and not be distracted by the “urgent.” 

     Last month you read about Teresa and some of the difficulties she is having.  She has made some progress in finding care for her mother and Paul has actually called some of her family members to a meeting to discuss their mistreatment of her.  As I have been talking to people about this whole issue, I’ve discovered some close links between Michael (who is the watchman at our compound and my language helper), Teresa’s uncle, and the village landlord.  We are praying that God will use a few people of peace, people with whom I’ve become friends through the building process, etc., to give me some access to the uncle and landlord and share the gospel with them.  It is a little scary and humbling, but the more I pray about the connections, the more I experience the temptation, self-doubt and discouragement that can only be from the enemy. 

     The past few days I have been struck by 2 Timothy 2:21 as Paul uses it in the context of instructing opponents, and spiritual warfare.  I’m praying for the Spirit to reveal to me things in my life that need to be purified and help me be “useful to the Master.”  Please keep praying for us, Teresa, her family and the spiritual strongholds that exist in Lohutok to keep the church down after so many decades of missionary history. 

Thank you for your support and prayer!

Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb Culp

Amy and Caleb having fun on their night out together! 

July 3, 2018

“Will you teach me about God?”  She walked to my house specifically to ask me this question.  She was a 14 year old girl.  I had seen her in the village before, but we had never talked.  I later learned that her mother lived in Torit (the nearest town), and her father lived in a village several hours away.  At the time she had not heard from him for 3 years.

She and her younger siblings were staying in Lohutok with their grandparents, but her grandfather had recently threatened to burn all of her clothes if she continued going to church.  For a few Sundays, she stayed away in fear – and then returned, determined to obey God.  Since then he had forced the entire family, including his wife, to move out of the house and told them never to return.  This is Teresa Ihuro, 3 years ago.  Her mother’s name is Cecilia Okwa.

I began teaching Teresa a Bible story weekly, and reviewing it daily.  It was a humbling, sobering time as I saw first-hand that she, along with most other people in South Sudan, knew only a few Bible stories – and the few that they knew, they had only heard bits and pieces of instead of the full story.  Eventually, she began working in our house, helping me with the extensive household chores that don’t exist in the U.S.  I was so grateful to have someone I could finally invest in, I had been praying that God would send the right person to me! 

She was also thrilled to have the work as she now had a way to feed her family, as well as spend time together and be discipled more.  Throughout the following months and years as I discipled Teresa, I learned more about her family.  Teresa’s uncle, Cecelia’s ½ brother, had killed a woman, and as the culture demands, he was required to give one of his daughters to the family of the woman he killed.  Since he didn’t want to give up one of his daughters, he came to Teresa’s mother and demanded that she give them one of her daughters instead. 

She flatly told him “No, you are the one who has killed this woman, give them your daughter.”  Teresa’s maternal grandfather, with whom she was living, became enraged at this and set out to impale Cecelia with a spear.  But God had other plans, and as he was approaching her with the spear, it broke in two.  She ran to the bush and entered into a psychotic episode, something she already had a history of. 

Cecilia spent the next few years in Torit, which is when I met Teresa.  Her mother returned to the village a little over a year ago and has been living with her children since then.  Over the past month she has entered into another psychotic episode (I was previously unaware that this is what she was experiencing before, as Teresa was unable to verbalize what was happening).  It has become apparent that she most likely has paranoid schizophrenia.  Teresa has, for the most part, raised her sisters as her mother has been unable to do it much of the time. 

They do have more family in the village, but the only one who helps provide for them and is Cecelia’s mother.  The uncle has continued to abuse the family in multiple ways.
I am thankful to testify, by God’s grace and in spite of my sin as I disciple her, that Teresa is now able to confidently and courageously proclaim the Gospel to her family and friends.  She is full of God’s Word and it flows from her being.  She has become a big sister to our boys, and they adore her.  We are grateful for her and are praying for a godly husband, and for God’s will to be done in her life.

Please pray for Teresa and her family, and for us, as we discern the best way to ensure that they are getting the care that they need.  On Tuesday, July 3, there will be a community meeting with her uncle, to discuss his abuse towards them.  Please pray that God will raise up people in the community to protect and defend them, and to provide for the children as they need to be separated from their mother as she is experiencing psychosis.  And of course, pray for deliverance for Cecilia, and that any and all demonic influences would be cast away. 

For those of you who are interested, you can go to our Facebook page (Justin and Amy in Sudan) and see a video of Teresa sharing her testimony!

Thank you for your prayers and support, we are truly grateful for you.

Amy (for all of us)

May 31, 2018

My name is Ezekiel, I like Superheroes, I am 5 ½ years old.

Kindergarten!

           Last month I wrote about our language studies.  That is going to be our full-time job for the foreseeable future!  We have been asking for prayer regarding the regular busyness and distractions that take over and this month has been no exception.

           Three weeks ago, we all got on an airplane and went to Lokichoggio, in Kenya, to join the Africa Inland Mission’s South Sudan Unit Retreat.  The other people at the retreat are all missionaries doing church planting in our general area, so it was a good time of fellowship, training and encouragement.  We spent the week learning about what it means to “abide.”  The kids had a program where they learned some Bible stories and memory verses, and the women got to do some specialized things for them.  It was a busy, but fun week to rub shoulders with other people who do what we do!

           The week after Kenya, I (Justin) had to fly to Juba to get the residency permits for our family.  I missed my flight on Monday because the clouds were too low for them to land, twice, so at 3pm we jumped in the truck and rushed to Torit (the 4 hour drive that’s only 50 miles!) in the rain and mud so I could be there to get a flight the next day.  Tuesday a MAF charter came and picked me up from Torit to take me to Juba, and when I got there I had to rush to immigration to start working on the fingerprints and paperwork required.  Since I rushed straight from the flight, I hadn’t put much thought into clothes.  Everyone here dresses up to do things like go to the bank, travel, and yes, immigration.  I showed up in my shorts and muddy shirt, and the General at the immigration office asked me why I was naked!  That was a fun experience, it was hectic but by the time I flew home on Friday we had 2 year residency permits for our family!

           Thirty-Six hours after I got home from Juba, I left again for Uganda.  We are excited to have some visitors from our sending church come to stay with us for the next month.  I came down a few days early to do all of the normal shopping and car repairs…We got a great deal from a friend on another LandCruiser (that needed lots of repairs) before our other one has had a chance to sell, so it’s been a tight squeeze, but the car is definitely an upgrade.  Amy can drive it because it has an automatic transmission, and it runs on diesel which is better than the gas engine we had before that died every time we drove through a puddle (the puddles on the road here get up to the windows sometimes…).  As I’m writing this, I’m waiting for the mechanic to finish some of the work so I can start figuring out how to get two vehicles back on this trip!  Pray for us this month that our other vehicle would sell, That the logistics of getting the new one back would work out, and that our visitors would have a good visit and clear vision about their future in ministry or missions.

Thanks!

Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb Culp

Caleb going full-on redneck.  He insisted on wearing this thing and wouldn’t let us change him!

April 25, 2018

Caleb helping lead worship.

               Language Study.  That’s the story of our life right now!  Everyone knows that learning a new language is hard work, but what about learning how to learn a new language?  In the USA we take French, German or Spanish classes in middle and high school, and maybe college, where we learn using printed materials and classroom lessons.  In Lohutok, learning Lopit, there are no printed materials, no classroom lectures, and with a language like this one which is learned and passed on orally, those things wouldn’t even be helpful!  Everybody pronounces things differently, phrases things differently, uses different words for the same object…and when you learn something from one person, everybody you talk to wants to tell you that it’s wrong and you should say it their way! 

               We have a set of material that we’ve decided to use, and are just sticking to that one for now, there are a lot of options out there.  I spend the first half of every day just pointing to things and listening to Michael say the Lopit word, and then switching to him saying things like “Where is the frog?” or “Put the comb under the bench.”  I then respond by pointing to the object he’s asking for or doing the command he’s giving me.  We’re a few weeks into the process and it is working, but sometimes it’s stressful trying to decide what to do each day!

               We had a visitor this month from the USA.  We met a single girl at the Pioneers headquarters who is interested in moving to the village, learning the local language, and doing discipleship/church-planting.  That’s perfect for our team, but we are not using her name or any specific information until we know for sure that she is deciding to come and join us.

               Ezekiel and Caleb have also been working a bit on learning Lopit.  They run around the house and point to things and Teresa or Susanna will say the Lopit word.  Caleb will listen to us doing our language lessons and try repeating what we say.  Keep praying that God would free us from distractions and help us learn to speak the local language well so that we can effectively communicate the gospel!

Thanks!

Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb

Caleb was mad that we wouldn't let him play the drum!

March 29, 2018

 Our visitors from Mississippi went to Lalonga one day and showed the Jesus film.  Most of the people who came were from the church but there were a few new folks there as well.

              We’ve had a busy month!  Many of you who get our emails saw the updates about the pickup.  I was leaving the house one day to go to Torit, and the alternator in our truck was bad, so we tried to pull-start it and somehow ended up with a seized engine!  After a trip to Uganda to get the mechanic and three days breaking in my new shiny workshop, the truck was fixed and we were able to make our scheduled trip to Uganda.  If you didn’t get the details and want them, write me an email and I’ll send them to you.

                Last month I wrote about a visitor we had who helped get a motorbike and grinding mill for Paul and the church in Lalonga.  A week after those visitors left I flew to Juba to meet and escort another team from a church in Mississippi who wanted to come and see what we were doing, help us with some work on our house, and encourage our family.  It was a great week with the team and we even went and showed the Jesus film to the church in Lalonga.

                The week after the team left, I was in the office with Paul working through the last weeks of his first term of Bible School.  I have been going through a Theological Education by Extension course with him, and he just finished the books “Following Jesus” and “New Testament Survey 1.”  At the end of Following Jesus there are a few lessons about evangelism, ways to do it, who should be doing it, and where it can be done.  This went well with the final lessons in New Testament 1 which were about the book of Acts.

                Paul started expressing to me his wish to be doing more outreach, evangelism and discipleship than he is already doing.  He is already as busy as he can be with his family obligations and the work he’s doing through the church, but he sees more needs and feels bad for not meeting them.  I encouraged him that we should be praying that the Lord of the harvest would raise up more workers, and then I told him a story.  In my story, I came to South Sudan at a time when there was a lot of activity going on to try and start churches.  Over the first couple of years most of that work just fell apart.  I came back last year and did mostly building, but there was this one guy (it’s Paul) who was growing and even starting churches, and asked me to teach him Bible and Theology.  I spend every week preparing lessons that are meant for a group, but I’m preparing them for that one guy.  Sometimes we meet and I’m not completely prepared or he hasn’t finished his homework, but we just keep doing it anyways.  The last few weeks my thoughts have been filled with “What are you doing here?” and “You’re wasting your time and not accomplishing anything” but we’re continuing on because God is working through this one guy.  Then, last week we went to that one guy’s church and showed a Jesus film, and even then I was wondering why we were there, why this team had come to visit, and if I was really doing enough.  Then, at the end of that film, when the team got up to greet the church (as people always expect them to do), something happened.  After the team shared their names and greetings, some of the women from the church stood up to speak.  The first woman said “It is good for you to come here and encourage the missionaries.  There are two ways that we can follow in this life, the Way of Jesus and the Way of Satan, and we need to be repenting, following Jesus, and sharing the gospel while staying on the Way of Jesus.”  A second woman stood up and said “We all have to be sorry for our sin, confess our sin and turn away from it, and the missionaries are here helping us learn how to do this.”

Another thing the team did while they were here was helping us with some work at our house.  This is a picture of the bars we built for our kids that week.  Danny said he knew how to weld, but I’m pretty sure Scott did most of it! 

             
                Both of those things are great to hear from members of the church, but for me there was something special about it.  You see, all of that stuff that those ladies said to the team were word-for-word quotes from the material that I have been going through with that one guy.  That means that, even though sometimes it feels like we’re working harder than we should for something so small, that one guy is going back and teaching what he is learning to his wife (the first woman to stand up), who three years ago was too timid to say anything to the group, and to the other people in his church.  We want to see big results and numbers from our hard work, but lots of times God starts movements with these seemingly small-scale things, so let’s be faithful to what He’s given us to do for now and make sure we’re doing it well.

               I had asked Paul a few weeks before that if Lopit people every cry when they’re happy and he told me no.  We had asked a few other people the same question and they were surprised at it…crying is for sadness and shouting is for joy.  But, at the end of that story Paul had tears…then we laughed about it.

                Will you keep praying for us?  As we enter into our language learning season I will continue doing classes with Paul, but there’s always the danger that the “tyranny of the urgent” will take over and our time will be consumed by things like visitors, car trouble, sickness and the endless list of needs with which we are constantly approached.  Pray that God would give us clear vision to stay the course, press on with the handful of disciples He’s given us, and learn to communicate well in the local language so that new people can start hearing the gospel through Bible stories.

Thanks as always!

Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb

Ezekiel and Caleb on a boat at the Source of the Nile in Jinja.