Thursday, December 19, 2013

Lord, Hear Our Prayer



The Journey
19 December 2013
Lord Hear our Prayer






Dec. 18, 2013: In this image released by the United Nations Mission Juba, civilians arrive at the compound of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), adjacent to Juba International Airport, to take refuge in Juba, South Sudan.







The journey of my physical presence in South Sudan may be over.  The journey of my heart and soul that remain behind is far from over.  Sometimes the heartbreak is more than I can bear.  The latest BBC report is about an attack on the UN Compound in Akobo.  I pray for my friends there.  There is nothing else I can do.  I am so very, very sad and feel so very, very helpless as I wonder if any of the casualties are friends I left behind.

There have been other reports this week of the fighting in Juba, Bor and other places.  For now, I understand that Malakal is safe.  I have friends in all these places, some from other countries, some are South Sudan citizens, some are our mission co-workers.  I pray for all of them.  I pray that God graces them with his protection.  I pray for our partners in service there and for those who are negotiating for peace. 
I wonder how many have fled to the bush and how many are continuing life as normal in these troubled times in South Sudan.  How I wish I was there to help them.  To walk with them and beside them.  To hold their hands, dress their wounds and address their fears with comfort and prayer.
It is times like these that I realize the answers to the “why” that I have struggled so hard with since the decision was made that I can’t return to South Sudan.  For a long time now, I have said I hear God saying, “not now.  The time will come.”  I had that conversation earlier this week when I said, once again, I believe we are there too early.  Someday, maybe in a year or two, I will go back and continue the work that I still feel God has called me to.  And when I do, I pray the people will be more ready, they will no longer be living in survival mode, they can begin to move forward.  

That is the conversation I had before I knew the extent of the fighting that has spread throughout the country this week.
For now, the ongoing fighting that has been happening this week, is a stumbling block to the progress that could be made there.  I have to remind myself that God is in control of this situation.  I have to remind myself these are people who have been fighting all the way back to the time of Ham.  They are children, grown to men now, who have never known peace and never known a way of life that doesn’t include fighting.
I was reminded yesterday in Bible Study, of the stories of the massacres of the innocents as we compared the story of Moses and the story of Jesus birth.  As I sat and listened, one ear on what was being said, and one ear bent in prayer for the people of South Sudan, I was struck by an image that I couldn’t shake from my head.  
It was an image of the destruction following the taking of innocent lives that lead to Moses being found in the basket, and taken care of until he became the man God intended him to be and raised him up as a great leader and savior of his people.  It was an image of the massacre of the innocents after Jesus birth and how he was taken to safety and protected until he grew to be the man God intended him to be and he became the great savior of us all.  
My prayer is that out of the ashes of the destruction of innocents in the crossfires of the fighting in South Sudan God is now preparing to save the life of the next great savior of the people of South Sudan.
I invite you to pray with me. Not just for the people of South Sudan, but for all people throughout the world who are suffering their own massacres of the innocents.
Lord, hear our prayer.

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