Thoughts on things being mended (Will)

“The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that they are not mended again.” Alan Paton in Cry, the Beloved Country

I’ve been reading Cry, the Beloved Country after a friend recommended it. As I came across this quote it jumped off the page. It resonated not only in regards to South Sudan but to my heart as well.

I’m broken. I’m a mess! Being a missionary doesn’t stop me from having horrible thoughts about others, harsh words and actions rooted in unbelief of the goodness of God. This is not tragic and is no surprise to God.

South Sudan has had some very hard years. There are still many struggles and areas that to many are broken. Broken justice. Broken roads. Broken schools. Again, this is no surprise to God.

At the root of all of this brokenness, both theirs and mine, is a broken relationship. My mess is rooted in my number one priority being me. The issues of South Sudan, while very complex, can also on an individual level be traced back to broken relationships. Relationships where people are looking out for themselves not trusting there is a God who loves them and is for them and is good.

I need and South Sudan needs mending. I’m not exactly sure what this looks like. As I recognized more and more of my mess the cross of Christ gets bigger and bigger in my life and my faith grows. My relationship and trust in Christ slowly starts to be mended. My hope for South Sudan is the same. My hope is that on a personal, individual basis people will start to see their own messy hearts and seek for them to be mended by Jesus.

Maybe this will slowly start the process of mending justice, roads and schools.

Reed Update

Welcome to our Blog! Will and I are excited to publicly announce that we just joined staff with World Harvest Mission and are beginning the process to move to South Sudan. We are hoping to move by fall 2014. Here is a little bit about the process that has led us to this point. 

After moving back from Nigeria in August 2012, we were unsure of what God had for us next. In the midst of looking into opportunities for jobs and further education in the U.S., God gently started tugging at our heart for overseas missions again in January 2013. After praying about a ministry to join, He led us to World Harvest Mission. One thing we love about World Harvest is their desire to minister in the midst of weakness, which if we are honest, we felt much of after returning from Nigeria. We don't believe we are ready for the mission field again because we have made ourselves strong, but rather because we are finding strength in God's grace. Throughout this process, God has been extremely faithful and gentle. 

After conversations with World Harvest and praying about where God would send us He quickly directed us to the need in Mundri, South Sudan.

South Sudan is the newest country in the world. After 22 years of conflict, South Sudan officially became their own country on July 9th, 2011. Due to the past conflict and infancy of the country, there is a lot of need! Will's focus will be in community development. His heart is in seeing people gain a better understanding of God's love for them. Through experiencing this love, he loves seeing people learn how to pass that love onto others, and therefore help break the bonds that have entangled them in the past. He is looking into different education and/or training opportunities to better prepare for the unique needs in South Sudan. I will be focusing on helping to meet the educational needs in South Sudan. Currently, the literacy rate is 27%. One way I will be doing this is by working with the missionary teachers that are already in South Sudan to help train local teachers in more effective methods of teaching. Through the trainings, we hope they will ultimately lead to higher standards of education for the children overall.

We are really excited for what God has in store for us! For more information or to ask any questions, feel free to leave a comment or e-mail us at: threed7@gmail.com or wcreed9@gmail.com. For more information on World Harvest Mission, please go to http://www.whm.org/. 

We will try to post more information as we continue the process and will update this blog regularly once we are in South Sudan.