Jesus Film Outreach in Agor

Last night was quite the adventure.  Sebit took myself, Tyler Paulson, the twins, and three pastors to the (very) remote village of Agor to show the Jesus Film, translated into Dinka.  We rode the jeep two and a half hours into the bush, mostly westerly from Tonj on the way to Wau.  It felt like driving through Jurassic Park, and was by far the most wild off-roading experience I have ever been on.  We drove there in the daylight, and returned in the dark of night, and only twice went the wrong way.

When we arrived in Agor we were greeted by 200 singing men, women, and children.  The sound of the drums, voices, claps, and stomps was unbelievable.  I was able to record 2-3 songs on my camcorder.  After welcoming us in song they then welcomed us in dance, which was equally indigenous and wonderful to experience.  Their dancing consists of rapid and heaving stomping--almost aggressive--but very captivating to westerners like myself.

Immediately after introductions, a mother came to us with a young child who was very ill and near death.  We were unable to treat her there, but laid hands on her and prayed for God to heal her.  Her name is Mary, and she couldn't be much older than 4 or 5 years.

We then began to setup the equipment for the movie.  Never in the history of this tribe had anyone ever seen a movie, so it was a largely-attended event.  However, we were unable to get the generator to start after our long and rugged trek into the wilderness.  So instead, Tyler, myself, the twins, and Sebit taught from the scriptures and shared the gospel with the people.  This village is home to some of the pastors what went with us, and they were able to translate into the local dialect.  Tyler and I have many questions for Sebit concerning the Sudanese church and God's work in Africa, and I am not ready to blog about it, but we are learning a great deal about the spiritual condition of the people here.  Sebit taught in church at the compound last weekend that even in Sudan, Christianity is "a mile wide and an inch deep."  I am discovering that to be a very true statement, and one that poses a number of challenges to the gospel here.  It is amazing how religious tradition can sometimes blind the heart from realizing the depth and immanence of God's love.

After we taught the villagers, they sang more songs and thanked us.  The chief spoke as well.  He explained that the gospel first came to their village in 1999, and since that time they have had very infrequent interaction with missionaries or Biblical teaching.  He was thankful for the words that we spoke to them, considering how rare an opportunity it is to hear about Jesus from the outside world.  Never in the history of this village had a white man ever visited, and had they known that four of us were coming they would have "been backed up all the way to the road," so well over a thousand people, he joked.  Being so far from the more connected parts of Sudan, like Tonj or Wau, their greatest difficulty is having no access to medicine and extremely limited education.  However, it is encouraging to know that the pastors of this village are enrolled in In Deed and Truth's Bible school for village pastors.  They are in session 8 weeks at a time, 4 weeks apart.  I will have the opportunity to teach in it before I leave.

They then sang more songs to God in Dinka, and we took down the equipment.  Before leaving we had one more round of dancing.  Sebit jumped in the middle and gave his best Agor-ian dance, and after him Tyler and I gave it a shot as well...but it quickly derailed and transformed into us running in place and stomping wildly.  They found it hugely entertaining, and some of the boys after us did the same.

We then took our positions in the car and made the long, 2.5 hour trek back to Tonj.  We made it back at 2:15am.  I have never been beaten up by anyone, but traveling in the backseat of that car for 7 hours yesterday (I also did the weekly Malony outreach) was like having the snot beat out of me,  am sure.  When we got home, Tyler and I both slept like a rock.