Empower Sudan Mission Trip--Report from Deirdre LaNoue

I had the awesome privilege of being in South Sudan again this July! I went to teach for two weeks at a small seminary in Kajo Keji called Northeast African Theological Seminary -- a big name for a one room school. Yett their vision and their mission is gigantic! These guys are training as pastors to reach the 20+ million people in Sudan and South Sudan with God’s love. Their intent is to MAKE DISCIPLES, not converts. They are committed to training 3 disciples every year who will, in turn, go train 3 of their own. Simple. Biblical. Why don’t we do that??

And these are men who face all of the challenges of living in a land ravaged by civil war. The infrastructure is poor to non-existent. All they have is a study Bible and a call from God to GO! It is amazing what you can do with so little when God is empowering you. So our classroom time is milked for all it is worth and then they leave after two weeks to go put to work what they have learned. They face dangers we will never know but they go with JOY and a commitment to a vision that is much greater than themselves.

Do you have even one person that you are training to be a follower of Jesus who will then train someone else? That is our mission -- GO MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS. Simple. Biblical.

Deirdre LaNoue 
July 2014 

e3 Mission Trip to Malawi--Report from Linda Hayes

My trip to Malawi was amazing, God’s presence was everywhere.  Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

We had 21 people on our team including 2 vets and one other RN from the US.  We met up with 100 local pastors and interpreters and one local physician.  The medical team saw over 900 patients during the week.  We saw alot of Malaria and general illnesses. The people were so gracious and appreciative of our care.  I have been going on medical Mission trips since 1998 and most of the trips were to Venezuela, but I have never seen such abject poverty.

There are thousands of orphans due to Aids and War.  We went to one orphanage with 52 kids ages 3-17.  The girl’s room has 39 girls sleeping on the mud floor of a 12x13 room (shown below).  We pooled our cash and bought them blankets.  There need is so great, yet they had smiling faces.  They have only one meal a day of a corn mush, no running water, soap, etc.

Our ministries allowed us to presence the gospel to about 9,000 and distribute 2,000 bibles.  We are also training up more local pastors. Twenty nine new churches were started.

This trip was a challenge for me as I am very claustrophobic and I had 5 plane rides each way, one coming back was 18 hours long.  God’s presence really helped me stay calm and focused to endure that flight.

I plan to return next year and continue the work. Thank you again for your prayers and support.  It feels so good to see others accepting God’s grace and knowing I had a small part in it.

e3 Mission Trip to Urubamba, Peru - Report from Nicole Capdevila

From July 19^th to July 26^th, Claudia Adame and I went to Urubamba, which is an area in the Andes Mountains, for both an evangelical and medical trip. We arrived in Urubamba on July 20^th, where we met up with about 25 Alabama nurses and doctors.

Our first day of service officially started on Monday. I had the privilege of going door to door and sharing the gospel through the streets of Urubamba. The first day was a bit of a hard day, but God answered all prayers, and there was rejoicing in heaven as people accepted Christ.

For the next two days, I worked at the medical clinic, where I did spiritual counseling. After each patient received their treatment, they were offered to go to spiritual counseling, where we would pray for them and share the gospel with them. It was such a moving experience to see people be healed both physically and spiritually.

On Thursday, I returned to going door to door and had an amazing day. My team worked in the area of Yuanahara, and the people there just captivated my heart. They were all so open and loving and they were genuinely seeking the love and grace of Christ. I met this woman named Irene during our door to door visits on Thursday. She was such a sweet woman, and you could tell that she was eager to learn more and more about God. After we shared the gospel with her, and she accepted Christ, we did an I am Second bible story with her. The story was from John, and it was the passage where Jesus talks about leaving his peace with us. After we finished discussing the story, Irene bursted into tears. She eventually began to tell us about how her son had just passed away in a motorcycle accident, and how hard waking up each morning was for her. She kept asking herself when it would get better, and then she told us that she finally felt peace when we read the I am Second passage to her. Irene told us that as we read the story she felt a burden being lifted off her shoulders. That story really touched me, and Irene was such an amazing woman. There were stories like that from all teams, from throughout all the week.

 

Friday was another good day, filled with seeds being planted and God’s name being spread. After our week in Urubamba, there were all sorts of teams going different ways. Some people went back to the states, while some went to Machu Picchu. I ended up getting the opportunity to go back to Lima and visit some old friends. I got to stay with the Bejar family, which is a family our church sponsors, for a couple of days. It was awesome to attend their church and see how God was working in their house and in their church! I also got to see some old translators and see how they were doing. I even saw some old nationals that I worked with from my first year!

Nicole with Ammi Bejar, daughter of VRBC-supported missionaries Katty & Juvenal Bejar

One thing that I really took away from this trip is that God gives us peace. I leave for college in two weeks, and to say I’m super stressed and emotional is a huge understatement; but after seeing how God changed lives in Peru, and seeing how faithful he is, I know that he is in control of my life and in control of my future. Although I am still filled with nervous excitement and all sorts of emotions, I am ready for God to guide me into this next chapter of life. I am so thankful to have gotten to go on this trip, and as always, I hope to return to Peru soon!

God Bless,

Nicole Capdevila