By Carol Lee

“Purpose to be a plodder. A plodder keeps moving. A plodder perseveres. A plodder presses on. A plodder knows the disappointment of unrealized ideals, feels the fear of failure and exposed deficiencies, and the ambiguity of too many demands, options, and tasks. But a plodder isn’t immobilized by them. He or she presses on in the faith that God will supply the needed strength (1 Peter 4:11), wisdom (James 1:5), and direction (Proverbs 3:6).“

Jon Bloom, Desiring God

“I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.“

Philippians 3:12-14, (The Message)

A plodding attitude is as necessary when circumstances are anything but mundane as when there is a daily, predictable routine. Plodding is purposeful perseverance,–regardless of circumstance– pursuing a good which is not always visible to the naked eye, but is ever before us by faith, known and remembered through God’s written words to us and pressed specifically upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Whether we are back on furlough, crisscrossing the United States, or stationed here in Fodia Village we are mobilized in hope by steadfastly keeping our “eyes on the goal, where God is beckoning us“. Otherwise, we’d be in the ditch. Otherwise, it could be drudgery–busyness for the sake of busyness ends in burnout. We have, from time to time, felt those things, for sure. BUT!! Keeping our eyes on the prize has motivated us with the reminder that, ultimately, God is at the helm and God’s glory is the goal. I love Elisabeth Elliot’s words that “Fear arises when we imagine that everything depends on us.” God is the end and God is the means–and that’s why we are keeping our stride!

After arriving at RAU campus there was no time to lollygag or dilly dally. Our upcoming schedule dictated the need to unpack, organize and prepare for a visiting team of 7 with For His Glory Ministries led by Larry Nail (who has the biggest heart of compassion) which involved 2 days of travel–to the Metu Mountains and to one of the Refugee Resettlement camps–and then a group led by Greg and Kilby Helms with Let Me Introduce You and their crew for a one-day outing into the remote villages on the Gbari/Arapi side of the Metu Mountains. We so appreciate Greg and Kilby who are doing faithful work in the Arua area as well as in South Sudan. Additionally, they continue to invite other young folks to be mentored in evangelism and discipleship, putting faith into action.

Most pressing, because it was a huge undertaking, we were anticipating our first ever Dental Clinic. As far as we know, the Moyo area has never had one of these before. It is apparent that thorough dental care is a scarce opportunity and a vital need. In partnership with Hope Smiles out of Jinja, Uganda, RAU held a 5-day clinic on the campus in the Hall of Tyrannus, which was perfectly suited for set up. Three out of five days were open to the nearby communities and the other two days were set aside for folks from the Metu Mountains and Yumbe. A bus and other vehicles were hired to help the ones from those far away places to come and participate in the clinic. 

Jacob and I were thoroughly impressed with the Hope Smiles team of 12 who arrived timely, had everything set up the day before (Sunday) and were ready to go bright and early on Monday morning. The first few hours of Monday morning were designated for the RAU staff after which the “gate was open” to the public (though it had to be monitored closely as only 80-100 could be seen in a typical day). It was amazing to watch the team in action. Of course, there were many needed extractions due to overall lack of dental hygiene and care in the area, but some smiles were greatly brightened by the skillful hands of the dentists and some major issues were addressed. In those 5 days, the team saw 487 patients, did 243 Deep cleanings, 56 Simple cleanings, 323 Restorations and 425 Extractions. Each person received Madi-English or Aringa-English dual language gospel tracts which they could read while waiting to be seen. Some received bibles as well as books in Arabic (Sudanese who came from across the South Sudan border which is 2 kilometers away). Interestingly, two patients who were seen were army generals from South Sudan.

RAU’s hope is that Hope Smiles will make 3-4 visits a year and, eventually, have a more permanent branch in the region. There is land awaiting a formal land title which would allow us to progress to a permanent structure, housing a dental and ophthalmology clinic. Both of these specialties would serve the people of this region well. Each Dental Outreach costs RAU $5,000, so we ask you to pray about participating in future clinics through gifts to RAU.

 The end of the dental clinic was the beginning of more mundane activities which don’t make for an exciting newsletter–financial reports, roof and vehicle repairs, harvesting and processing maize, pruning RAU’s grafted mangoes, and the constant upkeep of the 26-acre Demo Farm. Such things, however, are the gears and sprockets whose hidden movements are also important aspects of RAU’s ministry.

The focal activity of RAU, though, has been and always will be discipleship and training of pastors and leaders in the churches. As Jacob has often said, “We are not here to ‘start something new’ but to come alongside what God is already doing–to strengthen and equip the ones whom God is using to do His work.” Jacob and I were recently reminded of this afresh through Mack Stiles in his article, “We Never Arrive Before God: Missionary Hope In Hard Places“.

Because the word of God is living and active, we are grateful to have received a container with over 20,000+ ESV Global Study Bibles and to be able to supply the Bibles and other Christian literature to pastors and church leaders. The goal is 2 Timothy 2:2–training faithful leaders who in turn will train their congregations and other up-and-coming leaders so that the Body of Christ is built up in knowledge, faithfulness, obedience and maturity (Ephesians 4: 11-16).

In the book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, by Eugene Peterson (which Jacob and I are reading together), we were both struck by this section:

“One aspect of world that I have been able to identify as harmful to Christians is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once…It is not difficult in such a world to get a person interested in the message of the gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.“

This is the very reason we are called to this area–to a “long obedience in the same direction” with that day after day, year after year plodding–so that the Body of Christ may grow and mature in the faith through the discipline of mentorship, teaching and access to literature which, if taken seriously, will sink the roots of leaders deeper into the soil of God’s word for fruitfulness in following Christ.

It is why we are so encouraged by the plodding steps that Joshua Abraham (a refugee ‘twice-removed’, originally from Darfur, Sudan) is taking in the nearby Resettlement camps among other Refugees. Several times a year, he leads groups of leaders/aspiring leaders through a series of Christian books provided by RAU and received from Christianbook International Outreach , Crossway Global Missions ,and other sources. As each group finishes a list of 14-16 books (see the list included on the certificate below) which they have read and discussed together, they celebrate with a graduation and a certificate from RAU. This is thrilling for us because we know that they are being exposed to wonderful teaching that will strengthen them as leaders and strengthen the church wherever they settle–whether they remain in the camp or return to their home countries. Please be praying for Joshua and the two graduations which will happen on November 18 and December 16 of this year. And please pray for the many leaders who receive this opportunity–that they would be faithful with what has been entrusted to them.

Crossway Books , one of the biggest Christian publishers in the world, recently released a new article entitled, “Want to Make a Difference? It Starts With One Person“. It is an honor to have the light shone on a part of the world where Reaching Africa’s Unreached (RAU) has had an impact and this article gives a gracious nod to some of RAU’s activities in this region of Sub Saharan Africa, e.g. Northwestern Uganda, South Sudan, and the Republic of (North) Sudan. It cannot be stressed enough, though, how much ONE PERSON’s efforts are fueled and supported by the grace of God and the graciousness of His people. Jacob and I are so very grateful to be a pipeline of this grace. Crossway has played a major part in RAU’s ministry and we are grateful to have such a Gospel-focused, church-edifying ministry to partner. 

Additionally, Joshua and our friend, Absalah Kori, have been instrumental in getting Arabic Study Bibles and other Arabic literature into the Republic of Sudan where, for a short period of time, the political climate allowed for great openness to the Gospel and church growth. Many boxes of Bibles and books made it to believers there and we were able to receive updates that the church was growing in number. The outbreak of civil war and ethnic violence has put the “progress” of church growth into a bit of a tailspin–at least from a human standpoint (history has produced evidence that hard times often strengthen the church in ways that prosperity does not). Pray that those who follow Christ would be faithful in the many different countries to which they have fled for safety, that the Lord would provide their daily bread, and that the resources they received would serve them wherever they are. When our plodding on this earth is done, though struggles and tears are real, we will be able to see with clarity what the Lord has done and how every event in history has been orchestrated for His glory and the good of His people.

Faithful, no-exit-strategy, pressing-on-toward-the-goal (Jesus) is not an individual pursuit–and it was never meant to be. I was encouraged by a recent message I listened to by Trevin Wax where he was encouraging believers to be joyful in faithfulness in an age of anxiety. He expressed one cause, among many, for rejoicing–that we are not in this race alone! We have that “great cloud of witnesses“–the universal Church past, present and future–and we have our local churches with whom we run the race set before us. Jacob and I regularly remind ourselves that RAU’s ministry is an “all hands on deck” effort. We joyfully remember you ALL who give, pray, encourage, advise and come alongside in our prayers and conversations. Thank you for plodding with us and prioritizing RAU in the various ways mentioned above.

“It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ. One glimpse of His dear face all sorrows will erase; so bravely run the race til we see Christ!”

By Esther Kerr Rushtoi

Please be in prayer for upcoming retreats in the first 4 months of 2024 along with other important happenings:

• Jason Van Bemmel and team from Forest Hill Presbyterian Church  for a training on Homiletics and Ecclesiology.
• Youth Conference at Pilgrim Church Yumbe town. Ongoing one-on-one evangelism as well as Open Air preaching from a top the Land Cruiser (see sample picture below) to Aringa’s and others in Yumbe District on a market day. Also, ongoing evangelism in the Metu Mountains and encouragement from the Word of God to planted churches in this very remote area of Moyo District as well as in Obongi Town
• Arrival of Micaiah McClymont for a 4-6 week “come and see” visit to RAU
• Roots of Faith: New Testament Survey course with ABWE team mates
• Helping Without Hurting in Africa, Part Two: Lessons 11-20
• Ministry team from Hill Country Fellowship in Burnet, Texas
• Continue to pray for our two ABWE families, Langworthy’s and Pryce’s, who are ready to make the move to RAU as long term missionaries when their support budgets are met!!

We are very grateful for your prayers and support. As we come to a close of 2023 please consider giving as you are able. We need more and more rope holders as the ministry grows and we definitely need more team members to join us long term. We commit to be good stewards, using your God-prompted gifts in the above areas (and others which may come up) for the proclamation of the gospel, being zealous in good works, and doing our God-given part in Jesus building HIS church in the West Nile of Uganda, South Sudan, and the Republic of (North) Sudan. Thank you.

Our love, thanks and blessing to all who read this!

Jacob and Carol Lee, RAU

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