Thoughts before entering Sudan

Surprise! I have internet access in Arua Uganda, and time to write out a post before my 10 day sojourn in Southern Sudan. By way of keeping up with things, I've had a great first week in Uganda. The Lord was really at work and present in the pastor's training this past week. I learned a lot, and got almost 5 hours of tape as well. The two days of bus rides up here were mostly smooth. You can see pictures at my facebook page if you're interested. There was one 2 kilometer section of the road where there were speed humps every ten meters. We're talking around 200 humps in a row. It was so bizarre al you could really do was laugh. Imagine a bus full of people who all have a serious case of the hiccups and they're in sync with each other.

Tomorrow morning I will fly with the Mango Ministries (aka WGM South Sudan) team from Arua Uganda to Akot South Sudan. I'm not sure I can put into words the reasons why I am excited about this trip. Everything I've ever heard indicates that Sudan is not really an ideal vacation destination. There's no big tourist industry, food and water are often scarce, and there are signs posted to keep you out of fields by saying "Danger Land Mines!"

So what on earth would posses me to want to visit such a place? One, I would say that I have had friends who have spent time working in Sudan and it has changed their lives. Bearing witness to the struggles present in such a country has made them challenge their lives and priorities.

Two, I think there's something in me that wants to experience an East Africa that is more similar to the one my Great-grandparents found when the Adkins family first came to Kenya in the 1930s. I'm probably way off base with it, but i've got this idea in my head that in many ways Southern Sudan has reverted back to the state it would have been in back when the white man first came to East Africa. I've always wanted to see what the region was like back in those days, though I don't think I could survive it too long.

Three, I've been hearing about so many exciting ministries happening in Sudan over the past years that I'll be really happy and privileged to be involved in some small way.

Four, I feel like God's planted a desire in my heart to see what's happening in Southern Sudan. I don't know how else to describe it. The best example I can give is from a couple months ago when I was at Tenwek and got to hear the Mango Ministries team speaking to the medical staff at the hospital. There was a stirring and excitement in my heart that I could find no words for other than a desire to see Southern Sudan.

I'm so thankful to God for blessing me with this privilege and opportunity, and I can't wait to see what happens. I will appreciate your prayers during our ten day trip. I'm sure I'll have many things to say when I return to Uganda. Until then...

God Bless,

Jonny

For lack of a better blog...

I promised a post this weekend and here it is at the last minute. I've been trying so hard to think of something really interesting to write, but nothing's come to mind. So basically here's just a little wassup on my life.

About a week and a half ago I was asked if I could go to Northern Uganda to film a video for Billy and Joanna Coppedge while they conduct a training seminar with several pastors from the area. From the seminar we are all planned to go to Sudan where Billy and some others will lead another seminar while I will go around and shoot a video for Mango Ministries, the name of WGM's growing work in Sudan.

There are a couple reasons this should be interesting to you, my readers.

First, some of you may know Billy and Joanna who were at Asbury while I was there and are generally all around awesome people.

Second, this will quite probably mean a drastic reduction in the number of posts I'll be making on the blog as I will probably not have a free of access to this World Wide Web.

Third, while I'm very excited about both these video projects, I have to confess that I am a bit nervous as well. I've never shot 2 projects at the same time on my own before. While I'm trying to prepare as well as I can it still is a daunting task from this end. I will greatly appreciate your prayers as I travel around and try to shoot these projects.

I'll be leaving Kericho on Sunday the 11th of October. Sorry this doesn't have a lot of insight or anything, but I did write more in depth on the subject in my prayer letter which I plan to have going out before I leave Kericho. Look for it...

apologies

I'm sorry for no post this weekend, I got busy with other things. I will have something to put up this coming weekend so look for it.

Also, in leu of a blog post I have written a new prayer letter and I hope to be sending that out soon. If you're interested in receiving it, and are not on my mailing list already, feel free to post a reply here or send me an email with your email or physical address. (Please only physical addresses in the USA.) You can email me at adkins01@gmail.com

See you this weekend.

Jonny

Reflections on Friendship

I've been thinking a lot about friendships this week. I took some time away from the office to meet up with some friends from high school. We've been staying in Nairobi, mostly just hanging out and catching up on each other's lives.

As we've discussed what we've each experienced over the past 8 years I must confess there's been a tinge of guilt that's come to me. Each of us have been through times when we needed a friend to lean on and there seemed to be none around. Hearing such stories I was reminded of the kinds of heartfelt friendship promises I made around our graduation. Promises like, "Just let me know what you need and I'm there."

Looking back on the years since high school I now realize that with the exception of a few phone calls, several emails, and prayer, I've never really been able to keep those promises. I've never heard that a friend was sick or hurt and been on the first plane across the country or around the world.

For a few moments I really felt I'd let my friends down, but then God reminded me that I'm human. (It's a good thing to keep in mind) As humans it is in our nature to let others down. Being human is not an excuse to disappoint others, but it's something we all do because of our nature and our limitations.

I took little comfort in knowing I wasn't the only one to let others down.

Next God reminded me of the most significant point. I am, and all other people are, human and we will all fail our friends, but He is NOT and He won't. Now, as I listened to my friend's stories, I heard that when they felt lonely God was there with them! In scripture He promises that "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you," (Hebrews 13:5 NIV). Thank God HE is true to HIS word when WE are not true to OURS. I realize now that I cannot be the perfect friend to anyone, but I also rejoice that I do have a perfect friend.

Looking back a couple weeks

In the first week of September my co-worker John and I were privileged to join the AGC missions department for a trip to one of their fields. We went to the Silango church in Marigat district. This area of Kenya has been among those stricken by drought throughout this year. The missions department was going there to distribute food to the people living in the area. John and I went along to see the distribution and film for a short video on famine relief.

The area was so barren it had a strange beauty to it, they had bushes not much taller than myself which must have grown up in a time when there was rain and they were now waiting for the rains to return, but there was no grass, the ground was all just dust and rocks. Though the sun was bright and hot, you didn't feel sweaty. My theory on this phenomenon is that the air was so dry it would soak up and absorb your sweat as soon as it was available. One of the men who greeted us told me that the only good thing about this place was that building materials are readily available. At first I didn't know what he meant, but when I looked at their houses they are formed out of sticks, rocks, and mud, and that's about all there is in the landscape.

One of the most striking events of the day was when David Mutai, the mission’s director, was giving food to the first couple people. They started with some of the oldest women in the community and when David had measured out 5 large cans of maize (corn) for the very first woman he shook her hand and said thank you. This old woman very enthusiastically shook his hand and said "Asante kwa Mungu! (Thanks be to God!)" Then she surprised everyone by giving David a hug and I was told later that in that moment she told him that if it had not been for the last gift of food that was sent by AGC missions through the church here in Kericho (Immanuel AGC) back in March, she would be dead today. She was so thankful for the past donation and this one she could not contain herself, and it really touched David to see some direct fruit of his labor.

The gift of maize that we took to these people in Silango came through various donors. The maize did not magically appear in David's office but people in other AGC churches and even some in the US who are connected to WGM provided funds to buy 50 bags of Maize and bring it out to this very rural community and those gifts are saving lives. Remember that next time there's a food drive at your church.

A philosophy of Christian Films;

From the time I began feeling that I wanted to make Christian films I have believed that I ddin’t want to create films where the action and plot stop suddenly so one character can actually lead another to Christ and they end up sitting on the steps quoting scripture verses. I just feel that so often those scenes are very heavy handed and a complete interruption of the story. I’ve never felt like my conviction on this matter was a complete disregard for putting Christ in my “Christian Films” but at the same time I’ve always felt a little torn about how you can make a film that teaches a moral message or encourages the viewer to give their life to Christ and yet not have the “scripture and prayer” scene. About a week ago I felt the Lord telling me it can be done.

Recently I had the great privelage and opportunity of seeing some old friends, Billy and Joanna Coppege, who today work as missionaries with WGM in Northern Uganda and are key players in the strategy to enter Sudan. It was quite a surprise to see them at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet, Kenya, but I was very happy to spend a few minutes with them while we were each “randomly” at Tenwek at the same time. I was there to get some extra footage for the video I’ve been working on lately, and they were there with a group of people sharing their burden for Sudan with members of the Tenwek Medical staff.

Much of Billy’s work in Uganda and Sudan involves “storying” or the telling of stories to groups as just a fascinating story and then separately telling how that story can be applied to every day life or a dramatic change in the spiritual life in order to bring the listener closer to Christ. The day that I saw Billy and Jo at Tenwek he told the story of the paralytic who was brought to Jesus and lowered through the ceiling. Though I had heard the story many times before, I found myself riveted during Billy’s telling and excited to see what he had to say about it. Those who know Billy will recognize that he has a very magnetic personality which helps draw you in no matter what he says, but there was more to it. Billy simply let the power of the story carry itself out and did not interrupt to explain it. As this particular story-telling was a demonstration for the medical staff he was pretending to be a doctor in Sudan using the story to witness to a patient, played by Joanna, and so he continued by explaining his purpose for the story, to show her that Jesus has the power to forgive sins.

Billy then addressed all in attendance and explained how he uses storying in ministry. Considering myself a story teller, with video as my medium, I was really excited to hear Billy ask the crowd if they agreed that stories are one of the best ways to teach people things and have them all agree with him. The thing that stuck out to me most though was when Billy said that he believes that the Bible has the BEST stories and again everyone agreed. I thought on that fact for just a moment, because to me it was obvious that the Bible has the best stories from a Christian stance, as in the stories in the Bible point to Christ, but it had been a long time since I’d really considered the power of the stories in the Bible as pieces of great story-telling and drama.

After the meeting I didn’t have a lot of time to think about how Billy had used the story as I ran off to do some more shooting and then editing on my video. However, a few days later I was back in Kericho and getting ready for bed. I do my devotions each night before I go to sleep and on this particular evening I was reading another very familiar story in scripture. In Genesis, Abraham, following God’s instructions, nearly sacrifices his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering to God. At the last minute God intervenes and provides a wild ram for the sacrifice. As I read the story that night I thought of how that story is a metaphore for the grace God provided for all of us in His Son Jesus. We were all doomed to pay the greatest price for our sins but the God sent His Son to take our place as the one lain on the altar.

Suddenly I realized something that came to me as quite a surprise, no where in the story is it mentioned that several hundred years later Jesus would be for us all like that ram for isaac. In fact, it leads one to question why the story was even kept in the Hebraic tradition long enough for Christians to come along and realize the great value of the story. My guess is that the Hebrews saw in this story the kind of devotion to God which they, and we, should strive to emulate and they decided that it was an important story for that reason, and I agree. But even that message is only communicated in the reader seing and understanding the great sacrifice Abraham was willing to make for his God. Then I thought quickly of other stories in both the Old and New Testaments where various heros of the faith are truly celebrated, to my recollection none of them stop to say anything along the lines of, "If you've read this and want to become a Christian here's what you do." Even Jesus when asked directly what one must do to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven doesn't respond with "Okay come over here and we'll say this prayer together." He advises the person who asked to change the aspects of his character which are not in-line with God's character.

So now I feel more encouraged and inspired to try to craft and tell unique and compelling stories which can be used to encourage others to live a Godly life, but don't require hitting the audience over the head with it. It's encouraging to know that I can concentrate on what I actually think my characters would do in their circumstances and not worry about stopping the action to teach a sunday school lesson.

The Longest Walk

Thursday night, August 20th I premiereed the Tenwek video at Tenwek, and it was very warmly recieved. Having a large weight lifted off my shoulders on friday and being at y childhood home I decided it was a good time to take a walk. I knew right where to head, the waterfall at Tenwek is one of my favorite places in the world. I took a nice leasurely walk down, down down the road and came upon the tranquil familiar sight of the water cascading over the falls and pummeling the pools below. I took a deep breath and began to relish the sound of the falling water, when i happened to look down stream and see a teenage boy standing akwardly behind a large rock, covering himself and looking at me as though trying to figure out what I was doing. Realizing he was taking a bath over there, I decided it would be rather less comfortable for both of us if I stuck around even if I decided not to look his direction.

As I headed back up the hill, a little disappointed in my venture to the falls I noticed a path just off from the road that led on up the hill. Feeling my disappointment replaced with a sense of adventure I set off on this rough steep path, not really sure if it would take me out to the road or not, but I knew I wouldn't get lost so it was merely a matter of trying and if I failed I could just turn back. It was clear the path was not used frequently and it was very overgrown, but it was quite fun trying to pick my way through the bushes and see where I would come out. That is, it was fun until I got a few feet off the path and planted my foot squarely into the gewiest, thickest, mud I've ever encountered. At this point it is worth telling you that I was wearing sandals. One of my favorite pair of shoes, they are "tiva" style sandals featuring the South African flag repeated on the straps. I've had these sandals since my parents made their first trip to SA in about 1996/7. Now, those shoes did spend several years in storage in that time, but still, they have carried my feet for many many miles.

With my feet caked in mud, I pressed on squishing grimey goowie mud out from between my feet and the sandal and also from in between my toes, and only a minute later I was back on the road to my next destination, the bridge across the dam. Each step of my journey saw my feet squishing and sliding around on my sandal, and as I turned and headed down the steep hill toward the dam I took one step that was extra steep and my foot slid right out of my shoe. After a brief awkward dance I regained my balance and tried to secure my foot back in the sandal. That's when I realized my foot had actually broken the sandal. Apparently in the slip and near fall my foot had pushed right through the strap and dislodged it from the sole of the shoe, I removed the upper strap and decided there was nothing that could be done except to continue without that shoe. So I continued on my way down the hill and stood at the dam for a few moments enjoying the peaceful sound of the falls and laughing to myself about how this had been one of my most eventful journeys to the river ever.

I debated weather or not i should just drop both my shoes from the bridge and watch them float away over the dam and off the falls. I felt this would be a very poetic end to their journey, but my new found "green-conscience" wouldn't let me throw a bunch of nylon and rubber into a river. I tried to see if my poetic side could outweigh the green side when suddenly my visual arts side piped up and said "well if you're gonna do it you should at least take some pictures of them going over the falls and such, and you forgot your camera." That decided things for the time being, there was no way I could pollute the river in the name of poetry and not have something to show for it. So I had to carry one shoe and wear the other back up the hill, and if I felt like it later, return to pitch my shoes in the river.

WIth my mind made up I set out back up the hill taking what was probably the slightly longer route, but the one that had more sidewalk. Thankfully the mud on my feet dried up by this time so I could concentrate all my walking focus on not stepping on sharp rocks. The rest of the way up the hill was mostly uneventful, but I was greatly looking forward to getting back to my room for a nice shower to clean my feet off.

Upon reaching the room I headed straight to the shower and cranked on the hot water. Stepping in I found the water exceedingly hot! I turned the cold tap and waited, nothing happened. I turned the hot down a bit, still no cooler. I decided to turn the hot all the way down and see just how much cold i had coming. When the hot was off there was no water! I turned up the cold, but nothing came. I spun the handle till I thought it was about to come off, not a drop. I turned everything back off and tried the sink, no cold. The water had been cut off temporarily. I think i only had hot because of what was sitting in the water heater. I was disappointed in not being able to take a full on shower, but knew I would survive, the big problem now became, how to clean the mud off my feet without burning them. After a moment the solution came to me to wet my wash cloth with water from the sink's hot tap, and wipe my feet off. It was a little less satisfying, but got the job done so I could go through the rest of the day without feeling like a jerk for tracking mud everywhere.

So that's my story, I guess if were a preacher I could come up with a sermon from it or something, but I feel like it's just an interesting story of a days walk and that's good enough. What I can say is that I praise God that He gave me a joyful spirit that could laugh at each unique beat on this path.