Congo, South Sudan, and Rwanda…in 10 days. Why there, why this trip, what are you doing, how can we pray? These are all the right questions, and Canon Nancy Norton of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund (ARDF) answers the first three very well:
“On Friday, September 28, The Rev. Bill Haley and Mr. Bill Deiss, two members of our ARDF-US Trustees will be leaving for 10 days in Sudan, Congo and Rwanda on behalf of ARDF. They will be flying first to Juba, meeting with Archbishop Deng and his staff and spending 4 days in the Province of Sudan visiting potential ARDF project sites in South Sudan. On Wednesday, October 3, they will travel to eastern Congo and meet with Archbishop Isingoma. In the Congo they will be visiting ARDF completed projects. The Bishop of Bukavu, Sylvestre Bahati, has scheduled the inauguration of the Multipurpose Center funded by ARDF on October 7. I am sure it will be a wonderful blessing for all present. On Monday, October 8 they will fly to Kigali and meet with Archbishop Rwaji and his staff. They are flying back to the US on Wednesday, October 10. While in Africa, they will be joined by some members of the American Bible Society. I am requesting your prayers for their safety and health while they are traveling in this difficult and dangerous part of the world.”
As for the fourth question, how can we pray? I sent this to our prayer team yesterday, and would appreciate your prayers joined to theirs.
1. For safety for me our small team. I could elaborate on why this feels like a deep deep prayer request, but suffice it to say that safety is actually a real concern on this trip. Please pray for our safety and that God will protect us.
2. We will be seeing some of the world’s worst suffering, and I want to FEEL it, again, like I have as a younger man. I want to grieve with those who grieve, and once again be angry at Evil in the marrow of my bones. And frankly, I’m concerned that, having seen so much hardship in the world already, that my coping mechanisms to deal with how broken the world actually is are too good. No, I want my heart to be broken again. And I want to see God’s goodness and response and gospel again. I want to be reminded that “God’s love is deeper than this evil” (Betsy Ten Boom). Basically, I want to see and feel Reality again, the reality of Evil and the reality of Jesus. So, to boil this down, please pray that God will enlarge my heart, and also break it.
3. And lastly, that somehow, in any and many ways, please pray that God would minister through our little team HIS grace, HIS love, HIS power, HIS glory, for HIS people.