Remembering Bazi

Yesterday as we drove by this small but unique village called Bazi on my way to Yei, I recalled my very first missions trip. Support for that trip and confirmation to
go arrived on the same day. I recall my joy and excitement that season.

 

Food meant nothing to me for days. I was too happy to relish any meal. It was clearGod was leading me into something greater than my dreams and prayers but I
couldn’t put my finger on it.

 

Though I didn’t know what to expect or even what to do when I arrive at the mission field; I just knew I had to go. My destiny was wrapped up somewhere out there and I was going to engage it with all my heart. Thankfully, my enthusiasm has not waned since then.

 

In the company of Pastor Stanley of Sudan for Christ Ministries (our host), Greg Ford, Gunter and Ellen ( from Victory Christian Center Tulsa), George Gregory from Kings Park Int’l Church USA and Stefan Radlich of Le Sea Feed the Hungry USA, we flew from Entebbe in Uganda to a small air strip in Aura north of Uganda and drove to Bazi in Southern Sudan.

 

The 40km ride took a little over 3hours. It was late June and the rains had just arrived. The road was in an excellent mess. But I noticed on-going construction works as we drove by
yesterday, thanks to God.

 

Bazi is beautifully set on a hillside. One part lies in Sudan and the other in Democratic Republic of Congo. The settlers are from these two different countries have plenty in common. The landscape was awesome. It still is. I was surprised to see how well the crops grew. The stories I heard of Sudan always included hunger and starvation. “If this is Sudan, there shouldn’t be hunger here.

This land is fertile!!” I thought.

 

On arrival, we were welcomed like war heroes.  Men, women and children danced with fresh leaves and ran after our vehicle till we stopped at a location where we eventually camped in the open field for five days. 

 

As we alighted, one of the local pastors lifted his hands and thanked God for journey mercies for us. It was a very passionate prayer. I wish I had it recorded. But you rarely plan for such moments. The joy in their faces brought tears to my eyes. It seemed they’d waited for so long.

 

We came with 50tons of food supplies which included corn flour, beans, salt and even washing soap, courtesy Le Sea Feed the Hungry USA. We packed them in 10kg weights for distribution to the people. 

 

The following day the pastors’ conference kicked off with over 80 pastors from Sudan and Congo. We began planning on how to distribute the food items and gather the people for the evening crusade. News about the food distribution traveled fast and further than we imagined. Before mid day, a long queue was formed and the 10kg bags of food items were handed out to almost 5000 people within 3days.  

 

The evening crusades didn’t witness more than 400 people each day. That was
discouraging to me. I can never forget the young boys that were amused at the
sight of Jesus’ sufferings when we showed the Passion of the Christ movie on one of the evenings. It appeared the food was more important to them than the message of hope and deliverance we came with. They could not connect the
sufferings of Jesus to their immediate needs.

 

In retrospect, I would say we did the conventional thing; which is- help needy
people, provide for their immediate needs so that they could accept our
kindness with the gospel we come to preach. “Social action and evangelism must work together in the third world for the gospel to thrive…” someone said recently.

 

I agree that when helps and the gospel travel together; a holistic ministry
could be birthed. I think that if Christian community development efforts
don’t integrate social action with deliberate church planting thrusts; mere
evangelism and open air crusades could amount to wastage of Kingdom resources.

 

We didn’t plant a church in Bazi. But we preached and served food. New communities of obedient disciples capable of multiplying themselves
must be our target if sustainable change and lasting transformation will occur.
Be it in a small village like Bazi or in a city of over 2million people.

 

This, I think should be the goal of all cross cultural missions and evangelism
efforts. What’s your view?