True church planting is most needed in “the fields” and not in “the barns” !
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The Gospel in the Sudan
Brothers from the Republic of (North) Sudan in our home
These three Sudanese brothers pictured above are a testament to God’s grace and mercy as well as an inspiration to Carol and me to press on in proclaiming the sovereign gospel of grace! We have known them now for about three years. Absallah’s (on the left) and Salah’s (center) tribes are in the Nuba Mountains. Joshua’s (on the right) is in Darfur. They state that their tribes are 99% and 99.5% Muslim. We all are full of hope as these percentages are changing. Currently, they live in the camps but make ministry trips north. Absallah has just returned from spending 4 months in the Nuba Mountains. The three came for the purpose of strategizing; in addition, we had a good time of fellowship. I love learning more about Sudan especially when it comes from those who call it “home“. The news is that the political climate has improved and a civilian government is being put in place. This has not only improved the lives and safety of Sudan’s citizens but it has been opening doors for the gospel. We are grateful to be able to host friends in our side of the new “mission house” duplex.
We ate together, prayed, talked, laughed, and anguished over the great need of shepherds for the people that God is saving in big numbers. We laid down strategies for how we can be part of what God is doing in the Republic of (North) Sudan.
We made two videos which highlight God’s grace in the Sudan, testimonies from these brothers, and our desire to be a part of the work of God’s grace in Sudan which centers around the theme verses of Reaching Africa’s Unreached, 2 Timothy 2:2 and Acts 19:10.
Testimonies
We would like to help send these three men for two months to a region in the Nuba Mountains for them to do a training of leaders (2 Timothy 2:2) in October and November. It is exactly the reason for which we have been adding our efforts in training them. We have been blessed to have them here at RAU for a number of trainings these past three years. Pray with us for the day they can move out of the nearby refugee settlements with their families back to their homes permanently, proclaiming and discipling others in God’s grace found in Christ Jesus. With the political changes, there might be an opportunity for me, hopefully in the near future, to also go for a couple weeks at a time for training up of shepherds to lead the new churches. I would go via MAF from Arua to Juba and get a visa there to enter the Nuba Mountains. Then, I would fly from Juba to Yida and cross overland to a training site picked out by Absallah. If you would like to help send these three brothers in October and November to walk out 2 Timothy 2:2, you can go to our donation page (see below) and designate your gift, “Nuba Training.” I would like to raise at least $3500 to be used specifically for this Oct./Nov. ministry trip.
This past week we also had visits from five representatives (a Kenyan,Ethiopian, and three Ugandans) from the UNHCR who are looking to bring investors to our Moyo District as well as the newly formed Obongi District (which was previously part of Moyo District). After spending a couple of hours talking and touring RAU, they were encouraged that there is much potential for investors in Moyo District. It is true! We were also visited by three people with Uganda’s National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO) . They (two Ugandans and one from Ghana ) are traveling the country to locate and study a specific Yam (several varieties) which they want to promote for it’s nutritional and medicinal value. The gentleman from Ghana is doing his PhD research on this plant. We are growing them on the RAU demo farm and doing it well, according them. It was a good time of fellowship with both these teams. I sent them all off with Bibles and gospel tracts which they all seemed very grateful to receive.
On the 26th we will welcome from High Pointe Baptist Church (Austin Texas) team for ten days of training with local pastors from the Metu Mountains, Moyo, Obongi, Yumbe and Koboko. Many of these are shepherding new churches. Please pray for this training taking place here at RAU. It will be Leader’s Retreat # 34 for us. As the saying goes, “Hindsight is 20/20“. When we look back over the just over six years we have lived here and even back to my first ministry here in 2007, we see more and more clearly why the Lord has set us here in our twilight years. Carol and I are so very grateful for you who have been graciously standing with us in prayer and financial support. Together with you, God has set us here for His glory. Pray with us that the Lord will give us many more years to serve him in the Sub-Sahara and that the mission of RAU will bring glory and honor to Jesus until his return.
God Bless You and keep you!
Jacob (Carol) Lee
Tax deductible charitable donations may be made via PayPal or check. PayPal also has a way to make reoccurring monthly gifts. Reoccurring monthly gifts are very helpful to the ministry. To do so, please click on the PayPal link below. PayPal deducts a small amount from each gift as a processing fee. All gifts given through PayPal and by check are tax deductible as Reaching Africa’s Unreached has 501c3 tax exempt status as a charitable organization. If you wish to write a check you may write it out to R.A.U.and mail it to Lifegate Missions, 395 Lifegate Ln., Seguin Texas 78155.
Go to RAU’s Facebook page for up to date reports, pictures, musings, and exhortations:
RAU was recently registered with Amazon as a non-profit organization to which a percentage may be donated for every dollar you spend there. Here is the link if you are interested:
For those who have asked, small packages and letters may safely be sent to:
Jacob & Carol Lee, PO. 55, Moyo Uganda, East Africa
The greatest evil is having the gospel and not doing everything within our power to get it to those who do not have it!———–When at least 35% of the world, “the unoccupied fields”, have no access to the gospel, we (believers) must all do all we can to reach them. We who are saved owe the gospel to every lost person, most especially the 2.4 billion who will not hear unless someone breaks into their “unoccupied field” with no thought of their own life!—————-Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!—————-I am sure that none of us will say when in heaven that we prayed too much, we sacrificed too much, proclaimed the gospel too much, and were too passionate to get the gospel to those who have little to no access to this gospel of grace. Let us together press on to make it our ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named!—————Our goal in our gospel witness is to take our eyes off the “risk” and place them on the cause for the risk. When God compels us like this he often will not tell us the risks…after all there are no risks for the all-knowing, all-powerful God. So let us be AMBITIOUS (Romans 15:20) to see that ALL are reached with the gospel of grace (Romans 1:16) in ALL places…there are no closed doors to the gospel, just some which are more difficult to go through!Jacob Lee
Lost Versus Unreached
Friends, I hope you are well and are seeking to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Carol and I as well as all of us at Reaching Africa’s Unreached will forever be grateful for all your prayers and support. Thank you so very much! God bless you!
Now that we have come through 3 modules of training for our North and South Sudanese brothers we are looking at a different group: local pastors from Metu, Moyo, Yumbe and Koboko coming at the end of this month for Modules 6 &7; we’ll be partnering with High Pointe Baptist Church (Austin, Texas) and Reaching and Teaching International.
A group photo outside the Hall of Tyrannus.
A few days ago, 3 reps from World Vision were by for a “check out visit” after hearing about about the Ag side of the ministry. It was a good visit and on the Aug 15th they are bringing 105 lead farmers from the nearby refugee encampments for a one day training in vegetable growing. We will also have time to engage the farmers with the gospel. The agricultural side of the ministry has really opened up doors of ministry among the Refugee settlements and in our local community, most importantly, giving us an opportunity to aid in economically empowering church leaders and their congregations. Please continue to pray for us!
The Kampala carpenters are back to complete the finishing work on the mission house. We are putting in some more box gardens as we have found they are a great help in demonstrating vegetable and herb production.
The harvest of RAU’s g-nuts (peanuts) begins Monday with immediate planting of second season crops when g-nuts are harvested. They have done well. A sample I pulled with Henery showed 52 pods for 1 g-nut planted. I am okay with that! This is the Serenut 14R g-nut variety which is resistant to the Rosette virus which has been stunting the productivity of the local g-nuts. Our hope is to get this new variety out in our West Nile area for the benefit and blessing of all.
My heart longs to be spending more time in discipleship…we keep telling ourselves that the construction things will be done soon and the building work will be able to increase ministry opportunities for generations of gospel work….I pray so! Carol and I see ourselves like “road builders” for future generations of gospel work through RAU.
Ponder this: What is meant in missionary circles when the term “unreached” is used?
Below is a very helpful short video from Pioneers which expresses well what we believe at Reaching Africa’s Unreached.
If you run in Christian circles you’ve probably heard people talk about the lost as well as the unreached. These are two common terms Christians may use to describe people who aren’t followers of Jesus. But where do these two terms come from?
Lostness sounds a bit judgmental, we know. But the point is not to condemn. Jesus said He came to seek and save the lost. It’s our opportunity—really, a privilege—to be part of that. Our hearts are moved by knowing some people have no one who cares enough to seek them out and invite them in.
What’s the difference between lost and unreached?
In a word: access.
Watch the video to learn more.
Tax deductible charitable donations may be made via PayPal or check. PayPal also has a way to make reoccurring monthly gifts. Reoccurring monthly gifts are very helpful to the ministry. To do so, please click on the PayPal link below. PayPal deducts a small amount from each gift as a processing fee. All gifts given through PayPal and by check are tax deductible as Reaching Africa’s Unreached has 501c3 tax exempt status as a charitable organization. If you wish to write a check you may write it out to R.A.U.and mail it to Lifegate Missions, 395 Lifegate Ln., Seguin Texas 78155.
Go to RAU’s Facebook page for up to date reports, pictures, musings, and exhortations:
RAU was recently registered with Amazon as a non-profit organization to which a percentage may be donated for every dollar you spend there. Here is the link if you are interested:
The greatest evil is having the gospel and not doing everything within our power to get it to those who do not have it!———–When at least 35% of the world, “the unoccupied fields”, have no access to the gospel, we (believers) must all do all we can to reach them. We who are saved owe the gospel to every lost person, most especially the 2.4 billion who will not hear unless someone breaks into their “unoccupied field” with no thought of their own life!—————-Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!—————-I am sure that none of us will say when in heaven that we prayed too much, we sacrificed too much, proclaimed the gospel too much, and were too passionate to get the gospel to those who have little to no access to this gospel of grace. Let us together press on to make it our ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named!—————Our goal in our gospel witness is to take our eyes off the “risk” and place them on the cause for the risk. When God compels us like this he often will not tell us the risks…after all there are no risks for the all-knowing, all-powerful God. So let us be AMBITIOUS (Romans 15:20) to see that ALL are reached with the gospel of grace (Romans 1:16) in ALL places…there are no closed doors to the gospel, just some which are more difficult to go through!Jacob Lee
Leaving the 99 for the 1…
“If I asked you to watch my flock of 100 sheep for the weekend and one wandered off, I would want you to stay with the flock. Don’t risk losing the whole flock for one lost sheep. I would be sad that one got lost, but I would be very thankful that 99% of my flock was still safe and sound. But Jesus doesn’t see it this way. In the Lord’s economy, seeking and finding one dying sheep, lost and ensnared in the far reaches of the frontier, produces more joy than protecting the 99 who are living safely in the sheepfold. Valuation in the Kingdom of God can be confounding. So let me say again: seeking one lost sheep ultimately produces more heavenly joy than protecting 99 sheep who are not lost. (For what it’s worth, I believe the 99 sheep are safe and sound in the sheep pen.)
Here’s where it gets really challenging. If you apply this same line of reasoning to UPG (Unreached People group) statistics, it becomes a gut-punch. How much more should we feel the burden when we realize that not one, but billions are lost in the frontier of unreached people groups? But only a single penny out of every missions dollar is spent to reach these lost sheep. Only a handful of shepherds are searching for them.Yet we spend untold billions of dollars building bigger and better sheep pens for people who are bored with the Gospel. We want to be the ones who live like Jesus and make costly decisions to do holy things. But these cold, hard statistics are a cold, hard betrayal of our perverted priorities. If we’re honest, we are the ones He is so lovingly chastising in Luke 15. For us to faithfully live into the mandate to make disciples of all nations, we have to actually spend our time, money, and manpower going to these places that are completely unreached. We have to go to the frontier. We have to care. We have to prioritize these unreached people with our intercession, time, and money. So we must go to them. To them, it’s just home. To us…it’s the frontier.”
Jeff Henderson
PILGRIM VOL. II
Revival in Western Nuba Mountains
In the YouTube video below I interview three brothers from the Republic of (North) Sudan about the Lord’s work in their homeland. I do believe the country is in the beginning stages of many coming to Christ alone for salvation …please pray!
We finished our 10 day training on July 24th with these young men as well as others from both the Republic of (North) Sudan and South Sudan, along one friend from Yumbe District and Pastor Tobious from the Metu Mountains. They stayed with us at RAU and the training was done in the RAU Hall of Tyrannus. Because of generous gifts of God’s people we are able to transport them from and back to their various refugee encampments, as well as feed and house them. Thank you to those who support and pray for Reaching Africa’s Unreached!
Pastor Jason Andrew Van Bemmel and Bob Brown did an excellent job covering both Church History and Systematic Theology, which is Modules 4 & 5 of Reaching and Teaching International’s 9 Module curriculum. We also had one day of training on “Farming As a Business” with practicals in the RAU demo plot with RAU’s Agricultural specialist, Prince Apiku Emma. Carol also gave a lesson on signs of Ebola as well as practical instructions of prevention.
It is a joy to partner with Reaching and Teaching as well as Forest Hill Presbyterian (PCA) Church and Rocky Point Baptist Church in walking out 2 Timothy 2:2. Rocky Point Baptist was with us in June with Module 3: Hermeneutics.
It is also a joy to be able to give out biblically sound Arabic books given through the Gospel Coalition International Outreach and the specific books related to Church History and Systematic Theology from Jason and Bob.
Jason and Bob left for Maryland on the 25th. Carol and I miss them and are very grateful for their coming as well as for their families ,Forest Hill Presbyterian Church, and New Covenant Presbyterian Church , who sacrificially sent them off!
Thank you to the MANY who through prayer, financial partnership, encouragement, physical presence and loving gifts are very much a part of RAU. We could not do what we do without your action. We are, as we have often said, a conduit of the grace of God flowing through you to the precious ones He means to bless and strengthen and equip for great and mighty things.
Pray for safety and strength and endurance and health. Pray the fruit that lasts would be produced in our lives and in the lives of those we love and serve.
Thank you and God Bless you,
Carol (Jacob) Lee
Tax deductible charitable donations may be made via PayPal or check. PayPal also has a way to make reoccurring monthly gifts. Reoccurring monthly gifts are very helpful to the ministry. To do so, please click on the PayPal link below. PayPal deducts a small amount from each gift as a processing fee. All gifts given through PayPal and by check are tax deductible as Reaching Africa’s Unreached has 501c3 tax exempt status as a charitable organization. If you wish to write a check you may write it out to R.A.U.and mail it to Lifegate Missions, 395 Lifegate Ln., Seguin Texas 78155.
Go to RAU’s Facebook page for up to date reports, pictures, musings, and exhortations:
RAU was recently registered with Amazon as a non-profit organization to which a percentage may be donated for every dollar you spend there. Here is the link if you are interested:
For those who have asked, small packages and letters may safely be sent to:
Jacob & Carol Lee, PO. 55, Moyo Uganda, East Africa
The greatest evil is having the gospel and not doing everything within our power to get it to those who do not have it!———–When at least 35% of the world, “the unoccupied fields”, have no access to the gospel, we (believers) must all do all we can to reach them. We who are saved owe the gospel to every lost person, most especially the 2.4 billion who will not hear unless someone breaks into their “unoccupied field” with no thought of their own life!—————-Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!—————-I am sure that none of us will say when in heaven that we prayed too much, we sacrificed too much, proclaimed the gospel too much, and were too passionate to get the gospel to those who have little to no access to this gospel of grace. Let us together press on to make it our ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named!—————Our goal in our gospel witness is to take our eyes off the “risk” and place them on the cause for the risk. When God compels us like this he often will not tell us the risks…after all there are no risks for the all-knowing, all-powerful God. So let us be AMBITIOUS (Romans 15:20) to see that ALL are reached with the gospel of grace (Romans 1:16) in ALL places…there are no closed doors to the gospel, just some which are more difficult to go through!Jacob Lee
Reaching Africa's Unreached 