I write to you having just returned from a sweet but emotional time in Khartoum, Sudan.

Many years ago, God commissioned LIA to serve the displaced people in the north by showing us their destitute status as they camped in mass on the outskirts of Khartoum with no means to meet basic needs. Now, several years later, our ministry has matured and we have graduated several communities. We are also joyfully seeing the chance for these people to return home.

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The Nationals of south Sudan are excited and rejoicing as they look forward to finally having the opportunity for self governance. As of Friday afternoon the unofficial results from the referendum that came to an end on Saturday January 15th, indicates that 98.6% of the south Sudanese have voted for separation.

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As I write this prayer, I do so from the stability of the United States. I have been in the US for a few days now, but continue to carry a burden for the people and nation of Sudan, even from so far away.

God has provided remarkable opportunities for LIA to minister in Sudan – both in the North where we largely serve among the displaced communities and in the South where we have established a compound with a medical clinic, water wells, agriculture program, school for 100 children and a theological program for the area pastors. Our ministry in Sudan looks very different depending on where you are, but the nation as a whole merits our prayers today.

In January, the nation is schedule to undertake a referendum vote (you can learn more about the context of this vote by following the links below) and as a result of this monumental occasion, much uncertainty has arisen.

Please join us as we pray for:
-    Peace and stability for those already living in displaced communities throughout the nation.

-    Our LIA staff in the North as they continue to serve alongside local churches and believers in the internally displaced community. Particularly, that they may provide the encouragement and ministry tools necessary for the work to continue on wherever these people may end up residing.

-    The team and solar equipment that is traveling to the LIA compound in Rumbek, to join our LIA team that live and serve daily in this community. This solar equipment will provide much needed sustainable electricity for the compound, as well as refrigeration for the vaccines we long to provide in the community.

-    Protection from any form of evil or desires of Satan to disrupt the ministry to serve the people of Sudan.

Our staff live and work in some of the world’s most challenging places. Persistent poverty, hopelessness, and tragedy are the norm. We could fill this space with volumes of first-hand stories from the communities where we serve that would simply tear you up inside. It is in this context we choose to serve, but it is also this very context where the enormity of the task at hand can quickly become overwhelming.

At church last weekend, I was reminded of the power of remembrance.  If we look back at the nation of Israel, we see that God regularly calls them to remember all that was done in the past as an indicator for his faithfulness for that which has not yet been realized. I’m just speculating, but I assume that there are many reasons God regularly told Israel to remember:

-    Lest they think that they were worthy of the glory and honor for achievements
-    Lest they believe that they were ultimately in control of their future
-    Lest they be deceived into worshiping other gods
-    Lest they neglect to rely on their creator for all that is life giving and ‘good’
-    Lest they forget God’s overall favor for them, as evidenced by the release from oppression and captivity
-    Lest they become overwhelmed by the challenges of the future, forgetting that God has done much in their past to bring them through hardship and toil.

In taking time to remember, it is almost as if we are equipped to realize that what is ahead is not so overwhelming. Every Monday, our staff across the world takes the morning to pray for the work that we are involved in, the communities we serve in and the lives that are being transformed. During this time last Monday, I took a moment to remember all that God allowed us to participate in as an organization in 2009.

I wanted to share some of the highlights with you in celebration of what has been done, and as an encouragement for what is ahead:

-    Ministry begins full-scale in Khartoum, Sudan.

-    We completed our first-ever documentary about the Merkato community and its communal tragedy of street children.

-    LIA Ethiopia commences work on our largest water and sanitation initiative in the Kirkos community – a program that will serve 16,000 with clean water.
-    Resources are provided to commence ministry in a secret east African community.

-    Ministry commences in Thika, Kenya that equips local churches for micro-enterprise and early childhood education.

-    Our largest volume of short-term teams serve to empower communities in Africa. (Check out a video compiled by trip goer Allyson Cheney from her team’s time in Ethiopia)

-    Three benefit dinners take place in cities throughout the United States.

These are but a sample of what happened last year, and we will likely never truly know the impact of what took place during 2009 (you’ll have to read our annual report in for more details!).

Looking ahead to 2010, I’m encouraged by the words of Mother Teresa, who said that “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.” May we remain humble, faithful, diligent and in a posture of gratefulness for what has already be done as we wait in anxious anticipation of what is ahead.