Dear Friends,
Oh God!
We praise and glorify you
For your grace on South Sudan
Land of great abundance
Uphold us united in peace and harmony
- From the national anthem of South Sudan
It has finally happened – after decades years of war and persecution, the people of South Sudan have gained religious freedom and independence! You may have seen the news broadcasts of the celebrations last July, as South Sudan won its sovereignty and was accepted as the world’s newest nation. The task of bringing home refugees displaced by 25 years of war, and rebuilding a land that was ravished and exploited by the Islamist regime, has begun in earnest.
This is a critical time for the South Sudanese. African churches and families are threatened on many fronts. Militant Islam continues to encroach from the north with the goal of eventually subduing all of Africa. Age-old ethnic and tribal conflicts are reemerging. Investments from the international business community are spawning a spirit of materialism and greed so evident in first world societies. The United Nations, U.S. AID, and the World Bank are pressuring government officials by wedding offers of economic assistance to compliance with their global social agenda. More than ever, the hope, encouragement and exhortation found in the Gospel of Christ needs to reach these people, who are standing in the path of this spiritual onslaught.
“For years we had to defend our faith and our way of life in the face of our enemies. Now we find ourselves defending it the face of our friends” – a Sudanese pastor.
Earlier this month I attended the International Development Conference for South Sudan in Washington, D.C. Hillary Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, the Director of the World Bank, and Sen. John Kerry, Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, all spoke at length directly to President Salva Kiir and his Cabinet Ministers of their vision for their nation. Sen. Kerry summed it up for all of them when he referred to the future of South Sudan as a “Secular City on a Hill”. We had opportunity to meet with the founding fathers and church leaders of South Sudan. They are charged with the daunting task of nation building. These men are veterans of a long struggle that has provided them with tenacious character and moral clarity in the face of overwhelming odds. They have seen the face of evil in Sharia law, and they have seen how secularism lures their people away from their Christian heritage. Their nation may be least developed in the world. But, they have the Gospel and are not ashamed to speak boldly about the authority of Christ. Contrary to Senator Kerry’s vision, their pronouncements of the new government reflect the words and promises of Christ. This time in the history of South Sudan serves as a real opportunity for the South Sudanese people to serve as a witness before the world community. “I believe the rest of us will be surprised by how much we will be learning from South Sudan,” observes Dr. Cham Dallas, a leading analyst of international developments.
I have been involved in mission work with in South Sudan with Operation Nehemiah for the past 10 years, serving primarily in the medical clinic. During this time I have also had opportunities to promote and teach the principles of Biblical Peacemaking to mission teams and church leaders. There is a real hunger among Sudanese Christians to learn and apply these principles in the context of the family, church and civic affairs. I have decided to make a fulltime commitment to the people of South Sudan through the ministry of Operation Nehemiah. The demands and the opportunities are great. So is the call to serve.
For the months of February and March I will be joining our ministry team in South Sudan. Of course, I will continue to help in our medical clinic. I will also have opportunity to promote the principles of Biblical peacemaking & reconciliation on our radio station, “Nehemiah Trumpet Call 97.3”, and in seminars with church leaders and government officials. My wife, Ruth, will remain stateside to manage the daily operations of the ministry office.
Our prayer is that “Having given us peace with God, Jesus enables us to mirror his peace to others by inspiring us to love, worship, glorify, obey, and serve God with all our hearts, uniting us in spirit and purpose with other believers in his body, the Church, empowering us to lovingly restore and forgive others, even our enemies, enabling us to put off sinful ways and be renewed in his likeness, and making us ambassadors of his life-giving, reconciling power.” (From the “Gospel of Peace Mirrored Through Peacemaking”. www.Peacemaker.net)
I am developing a blog, "Plumblines" - providing testimonies of our South Sudanese brothers and sisters that reflect principles of Biblical Peacemaking. I hope that you will be interested in following their stories.
We covet your prayers and support as we “put out into the deep” in seeking to be ambassadors for Christ in this new and exciting way. Thank you!.
In the grip of God’s grace,
Bob Kirkman
