St. Francis The Episcopal Church In Potomac

Parish Life

Tenwek Hospital Kenya

Dear Friends at St. Francis,

I want to bring two items to you for your encouragement in the Lord and to enlist your prayers for a special mission we are undertaking.
    The first item you will find posted on Phil Ellsworth's web site, wherein I  describe a bit of an “object lesson” which the Lord brought before me last month. Please take a few moments to read about Sofia and the lesson she taught us all.
    Secondly, please pray for a group of us who leave for South Sudan tomorrow morning.  Later today, I will travel with Dr. Arega (one of our senior surgical residents), David Chelimo (a nurse anesthetist), and Andrew (my son!) to Nairobi. We will join Joy Phillips who directs World Gospel Mission ministries in South Sudan.  Tomorrow morning, we will all fly to Juba, South Sudan, and then take a small plane with Missionary Aviation Fellowship to Werkok, South Sudan. This is a small hospital/clinic with one Sudanese doctor with virtually no surgical capabilities. As the newest country in the world, South Sudan has one of the most undeveloped surgical/medical infrastructures on the planet. We hope to begin developing a relationship with this hospital, and this entire region. I hope and pray that we can meet the direct surgical needs of a small group of Sudanese patients during the 9 days we will be there. However, in the bigger picture, I hope we can learn how best to assist them to develop their capabilities to minister God’s Gospel of healing and restoration to their own people. Further, by regularly taking one of our surgical residents, I pray that God would work in their hearts to call out those whom He intends to carry the Gospel into South Sudan and other very poorly developed areas.
    The first surgical trip to this area was actually scheduled in February. However, violence broke out during the week before the departure. Twenty people were murdered in the area during that time, and we thought it best to postpone. Things have settled down significantly now.
    So please pray for us as we go. Pray that God would protect us as travel, protect us from disease, and bless our efforts as we share the Gospel with the people of South Sudan. We’ll try to keep you updated as we are able to have access to email, and will at least write you a report when we return. To read more about ministry to Sudan and this trip, read Joy Phillips’ blog at joyphillips.blogspot.com.
    In His Service,
    Russ