George Clooney on Sudan

I'll be back soon with more from our trip to Sudan but in the meantime I wanted to share this interview with you:

Sudan - Part One

There is almost so much, I don't know where to start. Forgive me if I struggle to make sense. The beginning of a story seems the most natural place, so I will do just that.

Matt's first few rounds of the current chemotherapy protocol was tough. It laid him out for a couple of days. This reaction prompted him to cancel all but two previous engagements on his fall schedule. There were some huge opportunities and events that he had to unfortunately decline. This all happened in the spring. At the end of June, we found out there were some openings on a Village Church team trip to Sudan. With an historical referendum coming up in January, we knew this would be our best shot at visiting this country. We accepted the positions only three months away from the departure date.

There was a part of me that wasn't sure it would pan out for me. Maybe it was that subconscious piece that protects my heart from pain. I really wanted to go.

As the trip details starting to take shape, I realized I would be among three women who would be teaching a women's conference--a first for our sister church in Sudan. I would not consider myself a teacher. Honestly, I just don't know if I am or not. I've had very few opportunities to exercise that gift. I am much more comfortable singing or leading worship. However, even that comfort has come with a decade of using that gift. Either way, I was needing to prepare to teach biblical womanhood to a group of women with whom I had little in common culturally. I knew I could get by with sharing thoughts about biblical womanhood with women whose lives looked like mine but what on earth would I have to offer these women??

I felt the Lord saying to me (often through others) that He had prepared me in advance and would give me everything I would need. He delivered.

My friend Dawntoya Thomason and I (the third woman was unable to make the trip) taught 20 Sudanese women biblical womanhood 5 hours a day for 5 days. Teaching stretched and challenged me more than anything I'd ever experienced in such a short amount of time. I have never felt the Lord nearer. In the States, I can start off with time in the Word and quickly go on with my life, "leaving" Him at my dining room table. In Sudan, I had to depend on Him for every word, every breath, every step. I felt Him upholding me constantly. I am grateful for your prayers because I KNOW they were working something amazing! In our first session, two women came to faith. Praise the Lord!

Though we had to communicate via interpreter, the Lord communicated His truth to the hearts of our hearers. They were so grateful to receive instruction. It was life to them. Simple truths that we who've grown up in the church take for granted were treasured gems to these women. Knowing they were created in the image of God brought new meaning to their life. Knowing they were created for the glory of God brought greater purpose to their everyday. Knowing they were created for fellowship with God brought a profound peace.

I want to share with you a few of these faces. Will you pray that the Word taught to them will have found fertile soil in their hearts?

There's still much more to share. Stay tuned...

Sudan Sneak Peek

I'll be posting thoughts and more pictures from Sudan but I wanted to just give you a peek for now. These sweet girls live in an orphanage close to where we stayed. They are precious.

300 Days.

Exactly 300 days ago, life as we knew it was forever changed.

300 days ago, I wasn't sure how many more days I would have with my husband.

300 days ago, I wasn't sure of the quality of those remaining days.

300 days later, my healthy, whole husband and I are boarding a plane for the other side of the world.

300 days later, we are preparing our hearts to refresh the saints and shine the light of the gospel in Sudan.

300 days ago, God was good and did good.

300 days later, God is good and does good.

May He be forever praised!

Sudan

A week from today, Matt and I will be heading out for 12 days of teaching, loving on and learning from the people of south Sudan. Our church, The Village Church, has become a partner in spreading the gospel in Sudan with a local church there. We will spend our time encouraging and refreshing the saints. Matt will be teaching the pastors theology and pastoral care. My dear friend Dawntoya and I will be teaching a women's conference on biblical womanhood and visiting a nearby orphanage.

On a more personal note, just before Matt's surgery in December last year, we received a humbling picture of the church in Sudan literally on their knees interceding on his behalf. If we can offer anything to these sweet brothers and sisters, it will not compare to what they have already given us! We are grateful and I can't wait to express my gratitude personally to them.

I share this news with you for two reasons: (1) that you would commit to pray for us before and during our trip (September 22 through October 3) and (2) if the Holy Spirit leads, that you would contribute financially to our team. There are ten of us making the trip. One of our team members is recording artist LeCrae. He has posted a link to make financial contributions through the web. If you feel led, please follow this link and scroll down to the bottom of the blog entry (which I highly recommend reading!) until you see "DONATE HERE". Remember that no matter what you are able to contribute (constant prayers to $1 to $1000), each "gift" will be equally accepted joyfully and gratefully.

Thank you in advance!

He is Able

Grateful.

That word pretty much sums it up.

Thank you for your prayers and your words. We feel carried by the Holy Spirit through the prayers of the saints!

I am grateful to know there is no evidence of recurrent tumor in my husband's brain.

He, the Lord our God, is able!

The Superfluous Shoot

The gardener's sharp-edged knife promotes the fruitfulness of the tree, by thinning the clusters, and by cutting off superfluous shoots. So is it, Christian, with that pruning which the Lord gives to thee. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15:1 - 2

As Matt's fourth (? I've lost count!) post-surgery MRI is only hours away, I've been hit with a curve-ball of anxiety. Until now, I've gone into each scan, appointment, or meeting with little fear. I'm not sure what's different this time aside from two things:

1. With the exception of the first MRI (in the ER after his seizure) and diagnosis, we've gotten nothing but good, hopeful news. I am so grateful for this and am asking and wanting to believe Matt's complete healing. However, it's as if there is a part of me that is waiting for the other shoe to drop. There's a little whisper saying, it really is too good to be true.

2. The Lord is wanting to expose the lie, however small, that I am believing. Let me tell you what the lie is NOT first.

The lie is not: God will not heal Matt. I believe the Lord can and will heal Matt but even if He doesn't heal him on earth, he will be perfectly healed in heaven.

The lie is this: God is not good and He does not want my good.

This is the lie that tripped up Eve in the garden. This is the lie that has plagued humankind ever since. This is the lie the Father exposed through His Son on the cross. "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay his life down for his friends." How can we not see through this lie? "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will he not also with Him graciously give us all things?"

So, the Lord reveals the lie that a small part of me still believes. He uses the anxiety to remind me to be rooted in Him and His truth: if He is for me, what can be against me? He prunes the branches. He gets rid of the "superfluous shoot."