Oxford Hills Christian Academy, education in Western Maine

The word ‘Sudan’ is derived from the Arabic expression in the ancient Egyptian, which referred to the land to their South as ‘Bild Al-Sudan’, meaning the land of the black people. Sudan is also the place where African and Arab cultures mingle and is a home to a physically, religiously, and culturally diverse people for centuries. Therefore, Sudan is a nation full of potential and promise. Southern Sudan was a rich source of gold, slaves, and ivory for the Arab merchants of the north. As a result of the Arab exploitation at that time, the country was tragically torn by the civil war between Arab-dominated northern and the diverse black African tribal population of the south. Sudan, the largest country in Africa, is engaged in the longest war in African history, which is one of the worst ongoing humanitarian disasters on the continent. In Sudan, the civil war has taken the lives of two million civilians, and uprooted four or five million people. Innocent civilians in Southern Sudan have experienced famine, slave raids, bombing and other gross human rights violations on a massive scale.

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Rev. Andrew Smith, Senior Pastor of the Portland First Church of the Nazarene in Portland, Maine began his ministry in Portland in a multi-cultural church. The Portland Church of the Nazarene consisted of people from Maine who had lived in this country for generations, as well as refugees from the countries of Sudan, Ethiopia, and Liberia. Several of these refugees had been introduced to the Church of the Nazarene by missionaries working in these African countries while many came to the church for the first time once they arrived in Portland, Maine.

The Southern Sudanese population grew immensely and Pastor Smith recognized the need for these people to worship in their own language while retaining fellowship with their American Christian Church family. In June of 2000, under the leadership of Pastor Smith, a second service was created to specifically serve the people of Southern Sudan. In January of 2001, the Maine District Church of the Nazarene gave recognition to this second service as a mission church and this group became known as the Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church of the Nazarene. Pastor Smith, Senior Pastor of the mother and baby church, was blessed to receive Pastor Michael Teny Gatkek as his assistant. Pastor Teny pastors and preaches to the Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church of the Nazarene.

The Portland Church of the Nazarene remains a multi-cultural church, ministering to traditional people of Maine, as well as people from Liberia and Ethiopia, and the Mission Church ministers to the people of Southern Sudan. The message of both of these services is that Jesus saves, sanctifies and calls us to live a holy life. Pastor Smith and Pastor Teny work to get this message out to those who will hear

A message to all Christians from the Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church:

The oldest community of Christians in Africa, suffering the most severe persecution in the world today, demands your most urgent and wholehearted assistance. The southern people need your help to rise to this challenge.

• Pray for Sudan. Make their needs known and work together for the freedom of Sudanese Christians.
• Pray for an end to the devastating war and for the end to spiritual bondage due to religious persecution.
• Pray that those who are spiritually blinded will come to salvation.
• Pray that the church is blessed with on-going revival and growth, including the discipleship of believers and training of the church leaders.

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This hymn reminds us of the words of Paul in Philippians 4:11-13:

For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

When we are relying on Christ for our strength, we can be like Paul and be content no matter the circumstance. Whether we are at peace or in the middle of a storm, we can say “It is well with my soul.”

When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

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Isaiah 18:7, read in English by Michael Bol Bol, and in Nuer by Pastor Michael Teny Gatkek is included on the CD because of its significance to the Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church. Isaiah 18 is one of their theme chapters, quoted from the New International Version below:

Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers. All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it.

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He wasn’t really invisible–at least, not at first. On the day of his birth, he was the most visible of all his siblings. His parents looked at him, and looked at him again. His mother’s eyes welled up with tears, and his father shook his head, making a tsk noise with his tongue.

Their son was born with a terrible birth defect. His legs and ankles were deformed, and they knew he would never walk. This was the greatest tragedy the family had faced. In their society a man who could not walk was a man who could not plow or harvest a field. He was a man with no use at all.

He spent the first years of his childhood lying alone on his cot while his brothers went out to work. He listened sadly as he heard the laughter of children playing, the shouts of children fighting. He wondered what he had ever done to deserve his fate. He cried out to God, but God had nothing to say.

His sixth birthday was a memorable one. His father and his oldest brother picked up his cot and carried it out of the house. They walked down the street, collecting stares from passersby. Two men carrying a little boy on a cot is not an everyday sight. They carried him to the city gate, and set him down there. Gently his father explained to him his great purpose in life–to beg for money, or food. Anything to make it worth his family’s while to support this crippled child. Then with a quick tousle of his hair, father and brother left him alone on the crowded sidewalk.

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Ever have a place where you go to hide? Perhaps your bedroom, or a quiet hill by a rippling stream? We all need places where we can be alone and secluded from the stressful activities of life. These hiding places become special places of rejuvenation and contemplation.

All the hiding places in the world cannot match the hiding place spoken of in this song. When Jesus hides us in the cleft of the rock, we know that we are being taken care of by His love and mercy. As Psalm 91:1 says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the Shadow of the Almighty.”

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Many songs sung by the Sudanese choir have familiar melodies, taken from traditional hymns. Of course, in order to fit their words into the song, they sometimes have to take liberties with the music. This song is easily recognizable as the traditional ‘I Have Decided To Follow Jesus’

I have decided to follow Jesus (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, still I will follow (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

I will decide now to follow Jesus (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

I will love my Lord with all my heart (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

I have decided with all my heart to follow Jesus (3x)
No turning back, no turning back.

Perception is reality. Often, what we believe to be true becomes the center of our thoughts so much that it really is true. When we focus on all of the negative aspects of life, we become consumed with negativity and overcome with despair.

This old hymn reminds us to count our blessings, focusing on the good things in our life. When we focus on all of the wonderful things that God has provided for us, the trials and tribulations seem to fade in importance.

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One of the most downtrodden of all the Old Testament characters was Job, the man who was persecuted by Satan. But in the midst of his trials, Job triumphantly proclaimed “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God.” (Job 19:25-26)

In the New Testament, the promised Redeemer echoed Job’s words: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” (John 11:25) For those with faith in Jesus Christ, the promise is clear; even the final disaster–death–will not overcome you. So keep looking to the future. Keep hoping. Keep praying. Keep trusting.

Sing O daughter of Zion, Shout aloud O Israel
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart
The Lord has taken your guilt away, he defeated your enemies
The Lord your God is in your midst

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