PART 1: Our reflections on our Spring 2015 Trip to Borongole, South Sudan - June 2015

 First, we want to thank all of you for holding the ropes for us with your prayers & support, helping us to go. What a miracle!!
 As we drove north to South Sudan we faced potentially difficult situations, horrendous road conditions, antagonistic officials, & absolutely chaotic traffic, but we had great peace & even enjoyed the adventure!  Our safety was not in our circumstances, but in the care of the One you had asked to keep us safe. He truly kept us in His care.   

“In peace I will both lie down & sleep. 
For YOU alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.” Ps 4:8

           The sign when turning on Borongole Rd. nearing  the village, I thought, “This is Jon’s home!”  & started to cry

The Lord intervened on our behalf when we arrived at the border & they refused to give us,  Lueken’s,  visas  & would not  return our passports. William Levi (a native of South Sudan & head of Operation Nehemiah) gathered us to pray & after saying ‘Amen’, a man stood there to talk with him.  After much discussion, the man left & came back with our passports stamped and even returned all our visa fees!!!... a total miraculous intervention!

The roads continued to be an adventure in & around Borongole, but His peace reigned in this place that just a number of years ago was stark and desolate.  

William Levi declared the good news that children now out number adults 4 to 1!

"One thing that's almost hard to comprehend is what has taken place on the very ground I've traveled and am sitting on. I passed over the hill that the SPLA (freedom fighters) made their last ditch effort and successfully held off the Muslim north. There's a burned out military truck there. Also, the village I'm at now was totally wiped out or chased off by the Muslims. The LRA (abducted children's army) was also really active here. Now the area is a peaceful village with children running around playing happily. The Lord is good!." 

                                               

The welcome & the generous hospitality we received from the people of Borongole, was awesome!  It was so great to get to know the leadership & the families there on the ground. Working beside them, sharing meals & times of fellowship, have really knit our hearts to theirs.  The challenges in this country are great, but God is equipping these dear people in incredible ways. The deep work in the hearts of many by the Holy Spirit was evident. Yes, there remains sin and complicated relational challenges as in any clan/family or tribal culture, but GOD is indeed working there as well. 

<Pastor Michael Levi to us:
“While he is here in Africa, I am the father of Jonathan & his mother is my wife…

Because of the love of Jonathan & also the love that he has together with William and Hannah,

Today, God says, that you come.  They will come & 

then the time will be reached for you all to meet in one place.
So you are most welcome!”

God is blessing the families that work with Operation Nehemiah in Borongole, South Sudan. This nation has little infrastructure & is hoping to become a 3^rd world nation. The evidence of God’s generosity to families connected with Operation Nehemiah is clear, as is the evidence of His working in their hearts. They remember returning from the refugee camps being so destitute, that they could only think of their own needs. 

Their generosity, now, is born out of God’s faithful answers to their prayers.  Just in the past couple years,  God provided a well in the village & opportunities for the men to work in either brick production, farming, or setting up a family store (as two families have done, etc). These opportunities & blessings from God have caused them to reach out to others in the surrounding area who have greater needs.  We brought some 200 lbs. of clothes to share with them & we witnessed one of the heads of households gathering up a bag of clothes for a family nearby, whom he  said were “almost naked”.  They see that they are being blessed to be a blessing.

He is also at work in our own hearts…  (Keep in mind that Emma did not want to go to Africa): Emma’s Journal summary - May 2, 2015

I’m home!  I flew into Boston with a heavy heart, 1/2 of which has been stolen by a little village called Borongole. The children stole it, the hilarious, fun couples pulled at it, & my new friends captured it. One of those is Joyce, the niece of William Levi & my friend, whom I cooked with every day.
I miss all of it.  The living conditions, the work load, the nature, the food, the people, and the Freedom. You can ride in the back of a dump truck with 20 other people and have a grand time of fellowship and fun. You can share a meal with your neighbor uninvited, then sit and hang out for as long as you want with no pressure to go anywhere or do anything. You could become very fit and strong as you perform the necessary domestic chores of cooking, washing, hauling water and carrying fire wood.  I miss it and I want to live in it…. possibly forever.   True story.

Operation Nehemiah Missions,

 Rebuilding the Family, the Church & Community In the Republic of South Sudan.

P.O. Box 2401 Plainville MA 02762 USA  Phone: 774-254-4336 

E-mail: plueken55@gmail.com PayPal onlighthouse@gmail.com

www.operationsnehemiah.org

Emma's take on South Sudan

Africa from the eyes of an American girl

Skepticism and trepidation

A little over a month ago, if you were to ask me what I thought about Africa (South Sudan in particular) my answer may have gone something like this...

“Jon’s called there, it’s his home.

Me? I’m an American girl through and through. I don’t have to go there to prove that I don’t belong. I may go for one trip, just to say I’ve been there, but that’s all.”

At any rate, I was determined to enjoy my time. You know, forced positivity.

I had no expectations, then if anything nice happened, it would be a pleasant surprise.

And so our journey began.

The excitement never ends

From the start, the trip to South Sudan proved to be more of an adventure than I anticipated. From city traffic, to goat stew, to scary border towns; I enjoyed every minute of it, sometimes to the point of laughter.

Arrival

The eighteen hour drive was exhausting and we arrived at Borongole village quite over whelmed by the singing, whooping welcome we received. I had no idea that those new faces that I greeted in a tired daze would soon be familiar and comforting. These would become my friends, who loved us like long lost family.

The more the merrier

One week passed, and we began to become acquainted with the people in each household. One pleasant Thursday morning William and Hannah decided to take advantage of the empty day and bring us to Nimule (the big city 45 minutes away), and the beautiful country side surrounding the Nile. Who would complain about that?

As delay upon delay prevented an early start (something that you had better get used to in Africa), a small contingency of our South Sudanese friends (thirteen to be exact) showed up at the vehicle wanting to join us, dressed in their Sunday best, all ready to go out on the town. So we had a very jolly party of twenty one people sitting in the back of the dump truck plus 4 in the cab.

The Nile was amazing and the mountains were beautiful, but the fellowship made the day. That morning, I still couldn’t keep straight who was who, but as we drove home after sunset and ate dried fish that was being sold on the roadside, I could look at each one, and call them family.

                                                               MEET JOYCE

When you cook with a person for three hours each day, friendship is inevitable.

    Allow me to introduce my new friend Joyce.

 She is William Levi’s direct niece,  living in the household of Pastor Michael (William’s brother). 

She is chief cook and bottle washer with the task of feeding the 20+ young people (more than half of whom are hungry and growing boys) who also living with Michael and Katherine. 

Since the majority of the girls are still in school during the day,  Joyce holds down the fort. 

I had the blessing of helping her wash dishes and do laundry (outside on the ground), cooking, and just visiting everyday for two wonderful weeks. 

She speaks english very well,  has a quiet but fun sense of humor, and is a very patient teacher of all things African. 

Joyce is constantly battling malaria or typhoid, but never fully recovers, so she is often weak.  

She works  slow and steady, and never complains.  

I’m proud to call her my friend.

In short, I left my heart in a little village

called Borongole.

THANK YOU for HOLDING THE ROPE!

April 2, 2015 ~ We can't tell you how awed we are at the miracle of God's provision in all sorts of ways to make this trip to Africa possible. We had nothing that we could SEE a few months ago to cause us to think that this would be possible, but GOD…

Neither the Levi’s nor we have credit cards or savings to draw from. We can only look to the Lord in PRAYER. It's been like stepping out on the water & many times He has reached out & grabbed our hands when we were consumed by the wind & the waves & sinking. He has led us step by step, giving us just what we need to do the next thing. 

One things for sure, when you do not have the means to do something, you cannot run ahead of Him. You are forced to WAIT ON THE LORD to provide what you need, which is a good place to be, though it is hard on our flesh. We want to see everything in place before we decide to do something, but He calls us to walk by faith and not by sight. 

Don't be afraid if you find yourself in circumstances beyond your capacity, ability or means. Even if you are anxious, as you look to Him, He will prove Himself so very FAITHFUL. Hard things & trials are the place where we are forced to wait on Him & where we SEE Him best. We are weak but He is strong. His light is best seen when He lights up the darkness and there we see His wondrous character more clearly.               

Thank you for your prayers & support.  

Together we have asked our Father and He has been beautifully supplying our daily bread. 

Tues. evening April 7 we fly from Boston & after 18 hours in the air, we land in Entebbe (next to the capitol Kampala) on Lake Victoria in southern Uganda (right at the equator). Then after a day or so there, we will travel by vehicle 12 hours north to the South Sudan border, where we will negotiate for our visas (which can take some time). Then we travel an hour or so to Borongole for our reunion with Jon & to meet his South Sudanese family! We will have 19 days in the village & return to Boston on April 30th with adventures to share.

Please do not pray for us only. 
The difficulties we may encounter are things the people of South Sudan face every day of their lives... 

"Missions’ is very simple. 

There are only two ministries in missions. 

You’re either called to go down into the well or you’re called to hold the rope for those that go down." ~ Paul Washer

Thank you for holding the rope!!!

Thanks for your prayers for these last minute outstanding needs
~ fees to recover a shipment that was sent to Uganda
~ equipping a couple more projects on the ground
~ covering bills while we’re gone.
~ last minute purchases of needs for our brothers & sisters in South Sudan,

As we pray together we can rejoice together as He moves to meet these last  needs. 

It’s never too late to give as God leads!
Our personal prayer need when we return is for increased Monthly Support!

>>>>>> We will be available this summer/fall to come to your church or home with new pictures & tales to tell of our first hand experiences & the needs in South Sudan<<<<<<<<<<

Oh, the wonder & reality of His love, mercy, grace & caring for us…        Thank you,     Roger, Patty & Emma Lueken

DONATE at www.operationsnehemiah.org 

 Levi’s Main office Choose Option #1 - Lueken’s Plainville office Choose Option #2

PAYPAL onlighthouse@gmail.com

MAIL checks to the address PO BOX 2401 Plainville, MA 02762

PO BOX 563 Lanesboro, MA 01237

*Jonathan recorded an audio book of William Levi’s story,

THE BIBLE or the AXE: One Man’s Dramatic Escape from Persecution in Sudan.

For a DONATION, we’ll send you a homemade copy (9 Cd’s) 

OR the actual hard copy book. 

JUST LET US KNOW if you want the BOOK or CD. 

(please allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery after we get back).

www.operationsnehemiah.org