Things have settled down quite a bit since my last post. It turned out to be a pretty quiet week around here. Our water was restored on Thursday evening. My big project for last week was to work with Daniel Lual, a Sudanese man from the Aweil area, to record 8 Bible stories in his native language which is Dinka Rek. Aid Sudan's first completed radio tower is in Aweil. It was finished earlier this year and supports the ministry of an organization called Cush 4 Christ. Cush 4 Christ will begin broadcasting very soon and these stories will be an integral part of their ministry through the use of the tower. Daniel is supported by Aid Sudan and attends Kampala International University here in Kampala.

We began recording last Monday evening and got off to a rocky start (Check out our "recording studio" in the attached pictures). It was the first time for either of us to record these stories. Daniel was struggling with the best way to learn the story and then to retell it in his language, and I was struggling to learn how to operate the recording software and equipment. After a couple of hours we finally had one two-minute story to show for our efforts- "The Creation of the Spirit World". Thursday evening Daniel came by again. This time things went much more smoothly, and we were able to record the second story ("The Creation of the Earth") in about half the time. We also began working on the third story, "The First Sin and Judgment". Daniel returned on Sunday, and we set out to finish the remaining 6 recordings, the last two of which are very long. After about 8 hours, we were finally done. I was very impressed with Daniel. He was extremely diligent about learning the stories and making sure that he was telling them with 100% accuracy. He would listen to the recording and if one small thing was not exactly right, he would ask to record it again. This is crucial because for many people these stories will be the only way for them to learn the Word of God. To my knowledge, there is no complete translation of the Bible in Dinka Rek, and even if there were, 99% of the people wouldn't be able to read it because they are illiterate. Daniel was also in the middle of his finals at school last week, and he is leaving today to return to Aweil where his wife is about to have a baby. His commitment to this project even in the midst of everything else going on in his life was amazing to me. I praise God for Daniel and for the heart he has for his people to know the Bible.

Here are some things you can pray for over the next couple of weeks:

1. Remember Daniel as he travels back to Aweil, a four-day trip by bus on some rough and sometimes dangerous roads. Pray for safe travel and for a wonderful time with his friends and family.
2. Pray for me as I learn how to edit the tracks we recorded and then convert them into MP3 files. Pray that God would use these stories to impact the Aweil area in a powerful way.
3. 3,000 hand-held solar-powered radios will be shipped to me from Aid Sudan in the next couple of weeks. I will be chartering a plane and delivering these radios to Aweil, hopefully before the end of the year. The radios will be distributed by Cush 4 Christ and allow approximately 40,000 people to hear the stories we just recorded. Please pray that the logistics involved with getting these radios to Uganda and then to Sudan go smoothly. Also pray for Cush 4 Christ as they distribute the radios and minister to the people. Pray that these radios will be an incredible tool for them to share the Good News with the people around Aweil and that many will come to know Christ as a result.
4. We have begun looking for a house. Please pray that God would lead us to the right one. We are still praying for a compound with at least 2 houses, one of which will be used as a guest house for Aid Sudan short-term mission teams.
5. My (Bob's) grandmother passed away this past Saturday in New Jersey. Please remember my family, especially my dad and my aunt and uncle as they deal with this loss and make the necessary arrangements. My dad was able to travel to New Jersey on Friday (just before the Houston snow storm hit) and say good-bye to her a few hours before she passed, so we praise the Lord for that opportunity.

As always, we appreciate your prayers and support so much. You are the reason that we are able to do what we are doing, and we are so blessed to have you as our partners in this ministry. Many blessings to all of you!

A not-so-atypical day in Uganda

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was fine- no turkey, but we did have some ham, green beans, and potatoes. Today has been a difficult day, but not all that atypical of some of the things that happen here on a daily basis. But, let me begin by sharing what happened over the weekend with one of the two cats here. Chipiana was a great cat (and I'm not really a cat person). She was fun to watch, and she would endure almost endless abuse from our kids in a very patient way. On Friday afternoon, we arrived home to find her left paw with some very deep cuts on it, and it appeared her leg might have been broken. Most likely she got into a fight with some dogs outside of our compound. I tried to locate the number of a vet on Friday night and finally got two numbers, but neither answered her phone. Saturday morning, Chipiana was getting worse, and I finally did get in touch with a vet, but she said she could not come until Monday to see the cat because she was out of town. Chipiana spent most of the day in hiding and undoubtedly in great pain. About 4 AM Sunday morning I heard a cat crying under my bed. It was Chipiana and she was in very bad shape. I made up a bed for her to try to make her comfortable, but things weren't looking good. Sunday morning when we left for church, she was just lying in the same place I left her and deteriorating quickly. When we returned from church, she had died. This was devastating for our kids as this was their first experience losing something they cared about and loved. We buried her up on the hill and allowed the kids to share some of their favorite Chipiana memories. I have been really troubled by this whole thing ever since she passed away wondering what I could have done differently. I just felt so helpless. I mean in the States I could have had her patched up and she would have been fine, although her leg would probably not have functioned 100%. But here it's just difficult to do even the most basic things one takes for granted in the U.S.

So this morning I got up still troubled by the events of the previous day. Our guard, Grace, informed me that we were not getting water and that we were down to a tank and a half of water remaining. We have city water (we still have to filter or boil it before drinking), but since we live high on a hill, it sometimes doesn't get all the way up here. So I have a number to call to get this fixed. Because this happens pretty much every other week or so, we have 3 large water tanks. One catches rain water from the roof, and the other two store city water when it is coming up to the house. Grace also showed me a leaking water tap that had been "repaired" the week before by a plumber. So I called the plumber to get him to come back out. I had Grace turn off the water from the tanks so that we would not waste the water in the tanks through the leaking pipe. Of course this meant we would have to do without water inside until the leak was fixed, but it was time to conserve. About this time, the power went out; this is an almost daily occurrence here. A few minutes later I got a text message from the internet company saying the internet was down, and to "bear with them" because they were working on the problem. Then I tried to call the water company, but none of the phone numbers for the water company would work. I tried consistently for 3 hours to reach them to no avail. Finally I gave Grace 5000 shillings to take a boda (a motorcycle that carries people on the back) to go to the water company office. He was successful in getting them to commit to sending a tech out tomorrow to fix our water. Whether or not that happens waits to be seen. Finally, about 3 PM the plumber finished repairing the leak, a 4-hour job for him that I don't think should have taken nearly that long. But he had to go buy a part that he needed, so I had to give him money for the part and for taking the boda to go get the part. Plumbers here don't carry a lot of materials with them. At least this one brings his own tools; most others don't.

So we were finally able to turn the water back on to the house. The power, however, is still out as I write this. About 4:30 I cranked up the generator so that we could keep the food in the fridge and freezer from spoiling. Plus I needed to pump the water from the rain water tank up to the other two tanks so that it can get into the house. So we're good to go for now on generator power, we have enough water for at least a couple more days, and the internet is back up so I can send you all this email! Only problem will be tonight when it's bath time. We won't have hot water because the generator isn't powerful enough to run the water heaters. But this is only a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things and may be for the best since we need to conserve our water anyway.

Between all of the events of the day, I actually did manage to get some work done. I pulled together some community development material for our radio programming in Sudan, although with only limited success since I had no internet and limited battery power on my laptop. I also spent some time learning some Bible stories that we share with the Sudanese on our trips. And the kids had a good day of school.

In spite of all the troubles today, we are still much better off than the large majority of people who live here, so we are careful not to complain, although sometimes I feel like letting loose! What's really twisted is that I actually feel good about today and count it as a success. It certainly did not go as I had planned, and it was full of challenges, but God has used them to stretch me and to humble me. I know the things I learned today will help me better minister to people here and in Sudan as well. I believe it was Clark W. Grizwold who said, "Nothing worthwhile is easy!" And on the more spiritual side of things, James reminds us that we should "consider it pure joy" when we "experience trials of many kinds." So we'll keep pushing on with joy in our hearts for the opportunity to serve here, realizing that our small trials pale in comparison to those others here endure, but still coveting your prayers as we continue to adjust to the different aspects of life here in Uganda.

Suzy, by the way, is still working on the write-up from her trip. A lot happened, and it's taking some time for her to process everything and condense it into one email. We'll get that up soon, Lord willing.

Suzy left with her team for Kulu, Sudan this morning, and they arrived shortly after lunch. Praise the Lord, they were able to land at the nearest air strip (a town called Mvolo) which is about 12 miles away from the ministry location. The team was planning to meet with local officials in Mvolo this afternoon to get permission to go into the Kulu area. Please keep this in your prayers- the local officials are from the Dinka tribe, and they may not allow this team to go to Kulu since they are ministering to the Jur Modo people. There has been some insecurity in the area recently. Our contacts on the ground assure us that the area is safe, but the local officials may use this as an excuse to not let them go on to Kulu. The team has been in prayer over this situation for several weeks and still feels that God is leading them to go to Kulu, so pray that things will go well with the officials and that they will be granted permission to go.

I should give you a little background on Kulu and the Jur Modo people who live there. Aid Sudan's Executive Director, Peter Swann, lived among the Jur Modo for over two years. They are a small tribe with their own unique language who have had some exposure to the Gospel, but have never given over their allegiance to God. They still choose to serve the local witch doctors and spirits in the area. There are currently no missionaries working with the Jur Modo. Peter has returned to Kulu with an Aid Sudan team almost every year since he left. Last year when another Aid Sudan team went to Kulu, they were able to lay the groundwork for what we believe will be an incredible harvest among the Jur Modo people. It is going to be a great spiritual battle over the next week, and this team will be on the front lines. They desperately needs your prayers for strength, perseverance, and protection. We know that Satan does not want to see these people come to accept the Truth. He has already tried in many ways to prevent this team from coming (the air strip issues and now the local officials plus a few other things that have come up), and he will continue to work to make things difficult. But our God is greater and more powerful, so please pray that the hands of the enemy will be bound and that the team will be able to share the power of the Gospel with these people who have lived in spiritual bondage for so long. In particular, there are many among this tribe who are demonized. Please pray that God will move with great power through the five people on this team and that as people are healed and delivered that others in the village will see the power of God at work and transfer their allegiance to Him.

Here are the names of the other four team members- Peter Swann, Beverly Swann, Sarah Thompson, and Bobby Lee. I will post additional updates as I receive them from the team.

Through your prayers you are a essential part of what God is going to do in Kulu among the Jur Modo over the next 9 days. Thanks and many blessings,

Bob

We made it to Uganda!

We are happy to report that we made it safely to Kampala. I can't tell you how excited I am to write our first newsletter from Uganda! Thanks so much to all of you who have supported us and made it possible for us to be here. None of this would be possible without you!

Our trip over was smooth, but long. We had 2 flights, both over 8 hours with a 3-hour layover in Amsterdam. God blessed us right at the beginning of our journey. First, the lady who checked us in at the KLM counter had a broken scale so that removed any stress related to bags that might have been overweight. Then, she also allowed us to check our extra bag for free which saved us $200! From there, our flights were on-time and the kids handled the travel stresses very well. We praise the Lord for His provision during our trip!

We are getting settled in here in Kampala. We've spent the last few days getting our things organized. Everyone has adjusted to the time difference and to sleeping under mosquito nets. The weather here is amazing- about 78 degrees every day with a nice breeze and about 68 at night. We've had a few rain showers as this is the heart of the rainy season here.

We've learned our first word in the Luganda langauge- "muzango" which means "white person". I've been out running a couple of times, and I hear it dozens of times- "Hey muzango" or more commonly "Bye muzango". Running here is great, but there are some difficulties. The paved roads are jam-packed with people, motor bikes, and diesel cars and vans, and they don't exactly yield to pedestrians. And when I run on the dirt roads, they are in such bad condition that I have to be very careful not to turn an ankle. Then there are the very steep hills, which is something I certainly didn't have to deal with in The Woodlands. Finally, I get lost very easily. Since there are no street signs and the roads are so windy, it is a challenge to find my way back. Today I ended up running an extra 2 miles because I missed one of my turns. To be honest, I could probably use the extra exercise to work off those extra pounds I added while in the States! I often have kids join me for a short distance, shouting "Muzango, muzango" the whole time, which is a lot of fun.

Suzy leaves on Thursday for her first trip to Sudan. I will forward updates from her trip as I receive them over the next couple of weeks.

Here are a few things to be praying for:

1. Pray for Suzy's team traveling to Kulu. We just found out that they have cleared the nearest air strip which is a tremendous blessing because now they will only have to walk 12 miles from the air strip instead of 18. Pray for safety and protection for this team and that the Lord will give them many opportunities to share the love of Christ with the Jur people.
2. Continue to pray for us as we transition to life here in Africa. There are many challenges here. In particular, pray for us as we learn to drive (big challenge!) and for the kids to make friends.
3. Pray that we will be able to find a house. Specifically what we would like to find is a compound that has 3 or 4 houses on it. We would then be able to have 2 or 3 Aid Sudan families living on the compound and have a guest house for the short-term teams that come in. We have 16 teams coming in next year, so it would be a real blessing to have plenty of space to house them. And it would be great for our team to be together in one place instead of spread out around the city.

Thanks again for your prayers and support! Hope you all have a blessed week!

Bob, Suzy, Elise, Brody, and Milenia

Dear Friends, September 23, 2009

The big news is that we have set a date for our move to Uganda! We will be leaving Houston on the afternoon of November 3. We had our Aid Sudan retreat last week, and it was an intense time of prayer and team-bonding. As the retreat drew to a close, God really challenged me to step out in faith and to set our departure for early November.

Although we are not fully funded yet, (we currently have 2/3 of our monthly commitments) we believe that God will provide the additional funds that we need between now and the time we leave or shortly thereafter. Because He has so clearly called us to do this, we trust in His timing and in His provision. If you have committed to or feel led to support us financially, please do not wait any longer! Please click the link below to set up your contribution:

https://public.serviceu.com/payment/default.asp?OrgID=11615&PaymentID=5108

As you scroll down the page you will see my name and a box next to it where you can enter the amount of your contribution. You can also tell the website when you want your contribution to begin, so if you need to wait until after the first of the year, just indicate that as you go through the steps. You can also mail a donation to: Aid Sudan, PO Box 770693, Houston, TX, 77215-0693. Please reference “Bob and Suzy Livingston” on your check.

I’m also pleased to share that Suzy will be going with an Aid Sudan team into southern Sudan about a week after we arrive in Kampala. I am so excited for her to have this opportunity to see firsthand the incredible needs that exist in Sudan and also the incredible hope that God is bringing to the people there through the ministries of Aid Sudan. Suzy will be going to the village of Kulu for a little over a week, and she and the other team members will be focused on evangelism using Chronological Bible Storying. They will tell from memory eight stories that summarize the entire Bible from Genesis through the resurrection of Christ. Click below if you’d like to hear the stories:

http://www.aidsudan.org/api/Index.cfm/cms.page/i/2317/t/Chron.-Bible-Storying.htm

So here are some key dates for us and some things that you can be praying for in the next several weeks:

Oct. 19 – 27- We will head back to South Carolina and spend a week or so there.
Nov. 3- We board the plane for Kampala arriving the evening of Nov. 4.
Nov. 10 – 19- Suzy travels to Kulu, Sudan.
Nov. 24- Kerry Henderson, our Uganda director, and his family return to the States for a 3-month furlough. We will be staying in their home, and by God’s grace we hope to be able to hold things together until they return to Kampala in February!
Feb. 2010- We will move into our own home in Kampala provided that our funding has all come in. Otherwise we will return to the States to raise additional support.

Please pray for us as we pack and organize our things over these next several weeks. Also pray that as God challenges people to support our ministry that they will be obedient to what He has called them to do. Pray for Suzy and for the team traveling to Kulu that God will prepare them well for their trip and help them to learn each of the Bible stories well. And finally, pray for our families as we leave them behind that God will comfort and strengthen them.

Thanks so much to all of you who have prayed for us and given to our ministry over the last several months. You are such a blessing to us! None of this would be possible without your incredible faithfulness, generosity, and obedience!

I’ll send out another update in a couple of weeks. Until then, may God richly bless each of you!

Bob, Suzy, Elise, Brody, and Milenia

September Update

We arrived back in Texas last weekend after a month of traveling. Our first stop was Disney World, and we had a great time. The kids loved it, and I know will be left with some great memories from our vacation. (To be honest, Suzy and I loved it just as much as they did, especially visiting all of the different countries at Epcot!) From there, we traveled to Isle of Palms, SC, where we spent a couple of days with Suzy's sister who just so happens to live right across the street from the beach! Then it was off to Columbia where we spent a couple of weeks with friends and family. We also had the opportunity to make some new friends as we did several presentations about our work with Aid Sudan. (For those of you who are new to our newsletter, welcome!) On August 23 our home church in Chapin had a commissioning time for us, which was a blessed and powerful time as the church sent us out and committed to pray for us during the years ahead. Finally, on the 29th of August we started the long journey home with a brief stop in Birmingham to visit with the Axworthys, our dear friends from Brazil. What a blessing it was to see them one last time as they left the next day to return to their work in Brasilia.

September is going to be an exciting and challenging month for us. We are in the process of trying to schedule more presentations for September and October. We currently have commitments for 60% of our monthly support, and we praise God for His incredible provision. We continue to pray that the additional commitments will come in between now and November so that we can set our departure date for late this year or early 2010. Please join us in praying for God to stir the hearts of those He wants to partner with us financially and that they will be obedient to what He's called them to give, even in these uncertain and difficult economic times. We also will begin homeschooling this week. We've received all of our materials, and Suzy has been working diligently to get ready for her new role. Please pray for her and the kids as they get adjusted to this new way of learning. Also this month we are attending a class on Chronological Bible Storying at Houston's First Baptist Church, and Suzy is going to attend Beth Moore's Bible study, also at First Baptist. Finally, our Aid Sudan retreat is going to be September 15 - 18, and it will be great to have a time of prayer and fellowship as our team gathers together in Cleveland, TX.

Follow the link below to see the latest Aid Sudan news including the opening of our new Bible school in Nimule and the repair of several water wells near Aweil.

http://www.aidsudan.org/api/Index.cfm/cms.page/i/1430/t/Aid-Sudan-News.htm

Thanks to all of you for your continued support of our ministry with your prayers and giving. As always we'd love to hear from each of you, and please let us know if there is any way we can be praying for you.

Visit to Tonj

My last stop in south Sudan was in the village of Tonj. It is a small village about 80 miles south of Darfur and north Sudan. As we flew southwest from Malakal, the land became very green as we flew over the Sudd, which is the world’s largest swamp. As we finally crossed the Sudd, the landscape began to resemble what you would imagine the safari areas of Africa to look like- areas of grasslands with clumps of trees and forest scattered about. Everything was still very green here since it is the rainy season.

We landed on yet another dirt runway. Almost immediately a white Landcruiser drove up. It was driven by our host for the next two nights, a Dinka man named Sebat. He and his wife Suzy, a Brit, operate a well-established ministry in Tonj called In Deed and Truth Ministries. They have an incredible compound that includes a school and a medical clinic that is the only one available to 30,000 people in and around Tonj. We slept in a concrete building- I actually got to sleep in a double bed! These were truly 5-star accommodations as far as south Sudan goes and very comfortable by any standard really. It was a real blessing to get to know Sebat and Suzy and their 3 wonderful children. They have an incredible heart for the Sudanese who live in this area and have done so much already to help them. Sebat also has a school for pastors and as we discussed the possibility of the radio tower, it was clear that it would benefit greatly his efforts to train pastors in the areas around Tonj. The tower will likely be built in some empty land that is a part of his compound once the money is raised and once we have permission from the local officials.

On our second day in Tonj, Sebat drove us to a nearby village called Mapel. This area is home to a tribe called the Jur Cho, and they are renowned in south Sudan for having the most powerful witch doctors. If a Sudanese in another part of the country is having problems that the local witch doctor cannot solve, he will often travel to this area to the witch doctors of the Jur Cho. After 45 minutes of bumping along the dirt road we arrived at a newly-built church built from cinder blocks. Apparently the old church was bombed a few years back, and Samaritan’s Purse helped to build another one. We waited a few minutes for the pastor of the church to arrive and then we sat on plastic chairs under the shade of a large tree and shared with him about the possibility of the radio tower broadcasting to this remote village. He listened with great interest as Peter shared the vision with him. He then shared with us what a blessing it would be to have the Bible broadcast to the Jur people. He compared it to Jesus feeding the 5000, saying that it would allow them to use the minimal resources that they currently have to reach thousands of additional Jur people. It was an incredible time, and I was impressed with this pastor’s love for his people and with his intense desire to see them embrace the Gospel.

As we drove back to Tonj, I thought about how God used this meeting as additional confirmation for us to place a radio tower in the village of Tonj. I was really overcome with emotion as I thought about the journey that God has taken me on my life to get me to that tiny village in south Sudan. I felt an amazing sense of purpose as I considered how I could be part of bringing the Gospel to over a half a million people in and around Tonj, many of whom have never heard the message of the Gospel before. I didn’t sleep much that night- my stomach was giving me all kinds of trouble, but I also felt a huge burden to pray and to give God glory for His hand in my life and for bringing me to that moment where my role and my purpose in the expansion of His kingdom to all the tribes and nations crystallized right before my eyes.