I have many stories to share but let me share this short story from my trip in August.  We were there to empower the local church and community based organizations.  We spent much of our time developing in the social economic sector as well as we brought 'Theology of Work - workshops / and introduced leaders to peace and reconciliation"

One pastor a Dinka man has been struggling these past months with that very issue, 'peace and reconciliation'.  Before the war started in Dec / 2013 though he was a pastor he had revenge on his heart.  Another major tribe the Nuer had killed his family and he was seeking revenge.  Over and over in his mind he thought how he could 'knife' one of them, or 'poison' one of them, or another way to kill in cold blood revenge.  As the war was now taking place, he meditated that this was a great opportunity to do this and in a way, 'in his eye's' legitimately.  But God had other plans.

We had been introducing peace and reconciliation for a number of months and he was wrestling with the whole thing of forgiving.  Like many of us who read the scriptures we read over things and they don't have much meaning, until that point in which they hit us on the head like a 2 X 4. Well, that is what happened as this man was reading how Jesus was forgiving those who were crucifying him 'Father forgive them for they know not what they do".  As we was struggling through these words from the Lord Jesus Christ, war is raging around him, what does peace and reconciliation mean in his own life, a group of people come into his compound.  They are all Nuer - and they want perfection from the outside violence, and they want his (Dinka) help.  

His spirit and heart are crushed and he submits to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and offers them protection.  His wife immediately complains "if we protect those people we are in danger of being killed ourselves".  He quickly responded to his wife "we need to do this - God is asking me for forgive and provide an atmosphere of peace", and so he did - and God did a miracle, not only in his life but the lives of those Nuer that we was protecting.  

I would love to share with you the many other things God is doing, but these are just some of the things God is doing in South Sudan, so once again.  Thank you for your prayers.