Come…to South Sudan

In the Church History class I am teaching we recently studied “The Symbol of the Faith,” an early creed and precursor to the Apostles Creed.  The second question is very significant, which reads –

Do you believe in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was born of the Holy Ghost and of Mary the Virgin, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died, and rose again at the third day, living from among the dead, and ascended unto heaven and sat at the right of the Father, and will come to judge the quick and the dead? 

There are many important theological truths embedded into this question, a question which required a positive response from the catechumenates applying for baptism during the first few centuries.  One of the most significant truths is the affirmation that Jesus was indeed born of Mary, crucified under a historic figure, Pontius Pilate, and that he died.  During those first centuries the heretical teachers of Gnosticism and Marcionism were falsely claiming that Jesus somehow came as an apparition, a phantom who just showed up.  They could not affirm, like those applying for baptism, that Jesus was born, suffered and died as a full-fledged living and breathing human being.  They could not affirm the goodness of God’s creation, and that Jesus joined us in person, in the flesh, in that good creation. 

While Resurrection serves as a foundational belief for Christian life and witness, the Incarnation of Christ is equally important.  Moreover, as followers of Christ, we are also called to incarnate the goodness and mercy of God, living fully in this world as Christ’s ambassadors.  When nine others and I first visited the country of Rwanda in July 2000, one comment we heard several times from our hosts was, “Thank you for coming!  Your presence means everything to us.  Your presence reminds us that God has not forgotten us.”  The 1994 Genocide was only six years fresh, and Rwandans still felt the pangs of being abandoned by the watching world during those one hundred days of horror which can never be forgotten.  Our presence, our arrival, our willingness to go and sit with them and be with them mattered.

Recently I learned through a South Sudanese friend about a group that was planning to travel here to Juba from the United States this year.  To our chagrin, they decided to cancel.  From the reports they were receiving, they just felt that South Sudan was not safe.  Of course, it is unfair for me to judge anyone for making a decision such as this one.  We live in a troublesome world and it is wise and prudent to gauge the safety of any given place when one decides what to do.  However, I will also be honest, I lament with my friend the decision that was taken by this group of sisters and brothers living in the comforts of the United States of America.  Their arrival and visit here in Juba would have given a boon of confidence and hope to the South Sudanese with whom they would have worshipped, fellowshipped and served.   Their arrival and visit would have reminded the South Sudanese that they are not alone.  Their arrival and visit would have strengthened the partnership that exists between them and their Christian sisters and brothers here.  These friends would now know the faces of those whom they pray for.  With their arrival and visit, they would have been incarnating the love and goodness of Jesus Christ, the author of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame (Hebrews 12: 2).  It is one thing to write an email or send a check.  It is another thing altogether to show up in person. 

A joyful welcome form the Women's Choir of a large church
in the Protection of Civilians (POC3) camp
on the outskirts of Juba

Kristi and I have been living here now for ten months.  Yes, there are many problems in this land, but people still live here, life still goes on, children go to school and women go to the market.  Most days in Juba are peaceful and anxiety free.  Some people live here because they must; others live here because they choose to, they choose to identify with the pains and the hopes of the South Sudanese people.  That would be the case for my friend, someone who could choose to live with his wife and children in the comforts of a neighboring country, but who has chosen to live here amongst his people, sharing their joys and pains, seeking to make a difference.  That would also be the case for Kristi and I.  We feel called to love and serve the people of South Sudan, come hell or high water, come peace or continued war.  Our lives are not of great concern; we simply trust in the goodness and mercy of God.

Walking with young boy to church...

Friend and reader, on the off chance you have prayed about coming to South Sudan and feel God nudging you, please do not hesitate, come.  This land is not Disneyland; it is a place that bleeds and needs the help of those willing to be here for such a time as this.  Your stay can be short, or it can be long.  Only come…come, to South Sudan.