……“A leader takes people from where they are to where God wants them to be.” These are the words of Bishop Nathaniel Garang that served as the theme of the recent clergy conference in Nimule. Reverend John Daau, Pastor James Kuria, and I joined together with the Bishop to cover different aspects of this theme during the first part of the training organized by the Good Shepherd Leadership Training Center. My focus was on the biblical foundation for mission and the call on the lives of the Southern Sudanese Christians to reach out to others. When God called Abraham to mission (Genesis 12:1-3), He explained that Abraham was blessed to be a blessing to others. In this same sense, the southern Sudanese are being called by God to be a blessing to others as they share a saving faith in Jesus. Clergy, lay leaders, and spouses attended the conference from many denominational backgrounds. Four days of walking was necessary for some to attend. They represented the people who remained in southern Sudan during the many years of fighting and those resettling from IDP and refugee camps. All were hungry for knowledge to share with their flocks………
Dr. Katie Rhoads
Missionary Doctor for Uganda/Sudan Medical Mission
August-October 2007