A Journey of Encouragement
Encouraging churches in the network.
David Lual with Community Network Ministries (CNM) shares a little about his visitation to several network churches:
“I embarked on a trip to visit several of our sister churches. My first stop was Atuet Baptist Church, where I had the opportunity to meet and interact with leaders. Their worship structure had been completed, except for the grass roofing material which has not been harvested yet due to the changing seasons. However, they assured me the grass to finish construction would come in after the rain. Another interesting observation was their farming initiative. They were cultivating two acres of land specifically for the church. This would prove beneficial for their meetings once the rainy season subsided.
I continued on to visit Ariath Baptist Church. During this visit, I spent time with the church leaders and learned about their ongoing activities. The church is looking to expand by establishing two new worship centers, but they are challenged due to a lack of discipleship materials. They expressed their gratitude for my visit.
From there I journeyed on to meet with refugees in Wetwil. Both refugees and returnees are facing various difficulties, exacerbated by the economic challenges in South Sudan. Christian refugees, in particular, are experiencing discrimination from others who are ashamed of their conversion from Islam. They are often excluded from food distributions, and their families are subjected to abuse in the community. Additionally, they are being pressured to renounce their faith. They are continually challenged in finding a place of worship. The Catholic Church built a shelter for them and named it St. Bakhita. They requested all Protestant refugees to worship in a Catholic way, confusing them. They are praying to have a shelter for their worship. Additionally, they lacked discipleship materials.
On my fourth stop, I went to Mayen Baptist Church. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to meet with all the church leaders, just their pastor. He mentioned a farming project that the church was involved in.
Each church was encouraged that I visited them and I was just as encouraged to spend time with each of them.
Photos from the visitations:
