Heading to South Sudan with our kids

Sola and I are 9days away from taking our kids on their first missions trip to Yei, South Sudan. Our transition to
settling there is underway. This 3weeks trip is crucial beyond words.

The excitement is off the roof for
the kids. I don’t blame them. It’s a long holiday for them and with a trip like
this on the agenda, what could be better?

But do I feel the same way?

The anxiety racing through me in
anticipation of this trip is intense.

How are the kids going to deal with
the change they’ll experience? Someone said children handle culture shock
better than adults. I hope so.

Ed is 11yrs and Othniel is 5. Both
have never seen or used a squatty potty, needless to say a pit latrine, which is
what we use in Yei.

What of safety? Shouldn’t we be
concerned about sicknesses and diseases? Will they enjoy that “barbecued
water” for their baths?

They will spend days with the 100 orphan
kids at Dreamland, how will they cope with the meals, the bathroom,  the sanitation, bed space and other things within the dormitory
structure of the place?

As far as temperaments go, Ed is an
extrovert like his mum and seems to handle himself well amidst kids his age and
even older. But Othniel is daddy’s boy, introverted and happy to run his own show.
I can’t wait to see how they connect with other kids in Yei.

Will it be love on arrival or will
homesickness hit them when they see the dirt roads and taste the dust that
charge the air in the absence of rain?

Will they be a nuisance and
hindrance of some sort to the ministry there or bring a measure of grace we
never imagined existed within them?

Sola and I have thought through
most of these concerns and we came to a conclusion that what they stand to gain
by going and engaging, far outweighs whatever risks could be involved.

We want our boys to value relationships
and we are convinced that exposing them to cross cultural missions is one good way
of helping them meet and love people who are different from them; and learn to
appreciate the divergent beauties and also life challenges many kids are living
with.

We’d have achieved our family goals
for this trip if the boys see their time with their peers as an opportunity to
be a blessing, discover and display their gifts, appreciate Abba for the privileges they
enjoy and also see how and why they should take their place in prayers with us
for this call.

It will be a joy to see them
serving, praying for other kids, leading some to Jesus, sharing their stories and learning the language. 

It will be so worth
it if they begin to understand that God is not just willing but able to
manifest signs and wonders through them, though they are young.

Sola and I feel we won’t have the
moral right to ask other parents to release their kids to us to make these
trips in the future, as a way of discipling them and helping them discover
their place in the kingdom, if we don’t lead ours along the same path and watch them benefit from it.

We’ll be making long road trips
from Uganda to South Sudan and we beseech Abba for safety.

The funding we need is yet to
arrive. We don’t have a third of what’s budgeted, but we believe.

We covet your prayers and your
support as we plan and pray to make our first launch out.