“We Feel Seen”

As I am halfway through writing my dissertation, it is helpful to hear the thoughts and advice of those who have gone before me on this journey. I recently sat together with Dr. Joshua Settles of the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture (ACI) in Akropong, Ghana. Dr. Settles reinforced the notion that I am writing to two audiences: the committee at Stellenbosch University in the faculty of theology, and the peoples of South Sudan. As I have thought about our conversation over the last several weeks, I realize that by default I must be cognizant of the needs and interests of the committee; I also recognize that the peoples of South Sudan are the audience I value the most. On that note, Dr. Settles asked the salient question, “Will the peoples of South Sudan see themselves in your work?”

Recently I had the opportunity to sit with Reverend David Dach and Evangelist John Odhong, my two research assistants, both of whom have accompanied me on this research journey over the last three years. A few months ago I gave them each a hard copy of my first case study. I had shared my first case study with a few others, including my supervisor. Yet somehow, I felt the most nervous about the response and feedback of David and John as they represent the peoples of South Sudan. As they shared their reflections, it was clear that they had read my work, even multiple times. I am humbled by what they shared with me…

David and John and I together reviewing our work
(Nile River in background) 

David and John described how they feel seen in my writing. They not only named several key concepts and themes from the case related to the religious heritage of their peoples and the relationship between the missionaries and the South Sudanese peoples, they took those ideas and elaborated and expanded upon them. It seems that my writing took them to important places in their own thinking and reflections on the history of the Gospel being brought to their peoples over the last one hundred and twenty years. One important example is the missionary practice of giving those persons baptized a “Christian name.” David suggested that the missionaries gave South Sudanese converts names like James and David because their African names were too difficult to pronounce. He then asks the question, “Why were [we South Sudanese] not baptized with [our] family name instead of names like John, Peter, and Anna?”

David describes how things have changed. Serving as a pastor with the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan, David recently baptized his young daughter with her Nuer name, “Nyanath,” which means “girl of the people.” David contends that God does not object to this name; he also suggests that this habit of baptizing people in their local names should have been the habit of missionaries from the beginning. “To give African converts ‘Christian names’ (names in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, German), says David, “was an imposition of the Western missionaries.”

On a different note, both David and John appreciated the tremendous sacrifices the missionaries made coming to Greater Upper Nile, South Sudan. Some of the missionaries lost children to disease and some lost their mental and emotional well-being due to intense challenges, suffering, and deaths of loved ones. Yet, David and John enumerated the value of missionaries coming to live and stay in Africa as both sides welcomed one another as their own, sharing burdens and helping one another in various ways. They also emphasized the unique and special friendship between the two central figures of the case study, Pastor Moses Kuac Nyoat, the local Nuer agent of mission, and missionary Eleanor Vandevort, known to the Nuer as Nyarial.

The story of the friendship between Pastor Moses Kuac Nyoat
and Missionary Eleanor Vandevort is told in this book (link here)

More could be said from our time together reviewing my first case study, but in sum, I am grateful that my writing thus far has enabled those whom I am writing about and representing to “feel seen,” and thus feel empowered. It is also an important affirmation that I am on the right track with my research. In many ways, the core of my study is to help African Christians appreciate their “African-ness” and to stand with confidence as together we proclaim our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to a broken world filled with cynicism and despair. To God be the glory.

Healing for Pastors in Maridi

Last week we facilitated a Healing Hearts, Transforming Nations (HHTN) workshop in Maridi, a town in the southwest region of South Sudan. The unique thing about this workshop was that the participants were nearly 100 pastors and their spouses, all of them from the Anglican Church in the diocese of Maridi. The Anglican Bishop in Maridi had called all of his pastors together for an annual retreat. In a serendipitous encounter while he was visiting Juba, he learned about the HHTN workshop, and Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) was able to organize a workshop with less than two weeks notice to be done at this retreat.

The Bishop and leadership in Maridi with our team when we arrived

Bishop Moses shared with us when we arrived that his vision was to focus on 1 Peter 2:9 and our identity as God’s people. He said that he was seeing many pastors in his diocese whose lives did not reflect the identity and transformation of Christ. Alchoholism, adultery, domestic conflicts, and witchcraft were among the top challenges he saw. He recognized that many of his pastors had endured the trauma of war and the ongoing trauma of poverty and that the unhealed trauma had opened the door for these destructive practices in the lives of his pastors that limited their effectiveness to minister to others.

A full church for the workshop!

Usually when we do the HHTN workshop we limit it to 40 or 50 participants so that there can be discussion and active engagement for everyone. This time had to make several modifications, particularly in the activities and discussion, given that we had nearly 180 participants. But God helped us to still be able to have good interaction and discussion and people shared that they found it meaningful and helpful.

women share their pain and pray together in pairs

The time of giving over pain to the cross was especially meaningful. Since all the participants were pastors or spouses of pastors, part of their ministry is listening and supporting others through challenges. But they often do not have someone that they can go to and share their struggles with. After they had written down pain or struggles that they wanted to give over to God, they divided into pairs to share and pray together. I walked around the church and observed the pairs sharing under trees or in the grass, and I could sense the sacredness of the time in the intensity of the prayers and the delay in coming back together. Back in the larger group, each person had an opportunity to lay their paper at the cross, representing giving over their burdens and pain to Jesus.

Burning the papers, representing giving over our pain to God

The following morning, we heard from several people who expressed how God had worked through that time. One older male pastor said that he has suffered from body pain. “But yesterday you said, ‘open your heart and let God work.’ And I did that. I felt God bring healing. Now my body feels strong!” Another pastor said that his grown son has been drinking a lot of alcohol and can not keep a job. That is the burden that he shared with his colleague and brought to the cross. That night he called his son and the son said that he is giving up drinking and committing his life to Christ and wanted his father to help hold him accountable. A woman pastor shared that she took in a boy who is an orphan to care for in her home, but she struggled because he was always disobedient and rebellious. After the teaching on the importance of showing love in our families, she went to the boy and asked for forgiveness for being angry at him and mistreating him. He then asked her forgiveness for not obeying or helping in the house. The following morning the boy was the first one up and mobilized the other youth in the household to work in the garden.

I celebrate the ways that God brought together this opportunity for the spiritual leaders in Maridi to be refreshed and ministered to. The vision and motivation of the Bishop and the diocese, the resources and organization from MAF, the facilitation team who came together, and the commitment and openness of all of the participants all brought together through the Holy Spirit made for a really significant time. Please pray that God continues the work of healing in Maridi as these pastors return to their homes and churches.

The lush green trees and farms of Maridi, seen from the air

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9