Here for a Reason

A Letter from Bob and Kristi Rice, serving in South Sudan

July 2020

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In Matthew 25, Jesus tells three parables – the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, and the parable of the sheep and the goats. Within these three parables, Jesus interweaves themes worthy of reflection, instructing his disciples to “keep watch” and be ready, to be faithful with what they have been given, and to care for the “least of these” in their midst. Perhaps, in the final analysis, our faith will be authenticated or invalidated according to these themes. Such ponderings can arouse soul-searching questions in us, such as “Am I a sheep or a goat? Am I a wise or a foolish virgin? Do I use my resources and gifts to serve our world better?”

The day before Kristi and I were requested by our mission leadership to leave South Sudan for the United States in late March, the government of South Sudan issued a declaration to close all schools. A few days later, the government issued a lockdown that limited movement, prohibited public gatherings, and forced many businesses to close temporarily. While Nile Theological College (NTC), where I teach, closed during this lockdown, members of the faculty continued to meet in a safe way, praying about the situation, and seeking ways to remain engaged with the students. Their first action was to create a Facebook Messenger group to communicate easily with each other. The second action was to request students to come individually to the college to pick up notes and assignments from their teachers so that they could study from home. The third action NTC took was to gather students in small groups, socially distanced, to listen to teachers lecture from a remote location via WhatsApp on their phone. Sadly, the weak internet connection in South Sudan foiled this plan. Lastly and most recently, the administration of NTC solicited the help of two larger churches in Juba, requesting the use of space so that students could safely social distance while being instructed in an intensive format so that they could finish the semester.

      

I have been impressed by Rev. Santino Odong, the principal, and members of the faculty who have persisted in their efforts to serve the students and to remain faithful to the calling of preparing leaders to serve the peoples of South Sudan. Despite limitations and grave challenges, they kept hope alive and found creative solutions to intense problems. Like the wise virgins, they kept “enough oil” on hand to accomplish their task. Like the shrewd holders of talents, they took risks and expanded their influence by finding partners who could help them. Like the sheep, they were aware of their students’ needs, a group often marginalized and forgotten. I am inspired by Rev. Santino and my NTC colleagues, who remain in Juba.

Kristi and I feel challenged by these parables of Jesus as we have had to leave our home, our ministry, and our life in South Sudan. We wept and rebelled in our spirits as we left our beloved country of service. Had we buried our talent? Had we abandoned our post? Upon our return to the United States, there were many days when we felt divided in spirit, recognizing the wisdom in our return but feeling grief over leaving. Over time, we have come to realize that God has us here for a reason. We have had unique opportunities to connect virtually with colleagues, family, and friends, which have sustained and strengthened us during the pandemic.

We have been able to support others and be supported during these tumultuous months. We have had opportunities to reflect more deeply upon the challenges we find in the U.S. regarding systemic racism. We have been challenged by the protests over the death of George Floyd and other African American men and women and the continued police brutality against people of color. There is an ongoing need for repentance, healing, restoration, reconciliation, and peace.

We have read, listened, and engaged with African American and other concerned and prophetic voices who are helping us understand what it means in our United States context to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). We will keep learning, keep growing, keeping asking, and keep seeking to know how to stand with the poor, the marginalized, the stigmatized, the oppressed, the harassed and harangued persons, and peoples of color, for that is where Jesus dwells. Are we sheep? Are we watchful and ready? Are we taking risks in our faith journey? Only God knows, but we are trying, we are hoping, we are praying, and we are taking steps towards action. We trust that God has us here for a reason.

Friends, we want to express to you from the bottom of our hearts how grateful we are for your ongoing prayers and financial support, which sustains us and our ministry. We do not know when we will return to South Sudan, but we invite you to pray with us for that “window” to open so that we can return home. May God grant you strength, wisdom, courage, love, and compassion for the days ahead.

In Christ,

Bob and Kristi

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Here for a Reason 07/28/2020 15:57 A Letter from Bob and Kristi Rice, serving in South Sudan | July 2020 The post Here for a Reason appeared first on Presbyterian Mission Agency.

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Healing Hearts in Rwanda

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In March our partner the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SSPEC) sent 4 people to Rwanda to be trained at the International School of Reconciliation. Michael, Kuat, Suzan, and Toma joined participants from fifteen countries, led by facilitators from 3 different continents in a workshop called Healing Hearts, Transforming Nations. It was an intense two weeks of learning, sharing, facing the wounds in our own hearts and in the world, and working together across different cultural divides. Their training in Rwanda was cut off a few days early as the Coronavirus crisis heated up and countries in our region closed their borders and imposed travel restrictions. The church leaders had to change their flights multiple times and had quite an adventure returning to Juba—but they all insisted that the training was well worth it!

As we debriefed together, Kuat shared his own story. “My father was killed in 1983 when I was a child, so I am a victim of ethnic conflict. I prayed many times, and said ‘I forgive them, because they didn’t know what they were doing.’ But I didn’t really forgive in my heart. In this course I realized that pain was still in my heart, and I had the opportunity to acknowledge it, to give it to Jesus and ask him for healing. After thirty years, I am finally experiencing healing for my father’s death. And I realized that South Sudan is very similar to Rwanda. We can learn from them!”

Suzan affirmed, “The session called ‘Forgiving is not forgetting’ was really powerful for me. Because if someone hurts you, it is not easy to heal and forgive. It is not just a matter of saying ‘I’m healed.’ So I’m experiencing some healing of the wounds that I had. I don’t have the dreams anymore or the fears that I was having before. I really experienced healing in Rwanda.”

“This training was holistic,” said Michael. “Not just healing of wounds, but also coming together again with other people. We learned how we are called to be a holy nation and priests of God like the Bible says in 1 Peter 2:9, and how our identity as God’s people can connect us across our national or tribal identities.”

As part of the school, they visited a ‘peace village’ in Rwanda, where perpetrators and victims of the 1994 genocide live together in intentional community. “This gave us courage and motivation to implement this in South Sudan,” said Suzan. “We were really surprised to see offenders and victims living together. We realized that what happened in our country was not much worse than what happened in Rwanda, so it gave us courage that there could be reconciliation in South Sudan.”

I asked them how this training was different from other trainings they have participated in related to reconciliation and healing. Kuat shared, “This one is very practical, not just theory. You see people experiencing inner healing right there in the workshop.” Michael adds, “This workshop added reconciliation to the healing. In this workshop you bring your burden to the cross, but you do not go home empty-handed. You exchange your burden or pain for the joy or freedom or healing that Jesus gives. You leave with something lighter. I realized after you are healed, you can take the wrong that was done to you and put it on the cross, and then you see the person that wronged you as a person created in the image of God, a brother you can connect with, rather than just seeing the wrong that they have done.”

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Participants of the school lay flowers on a mass grave at the genocide memorial in Kigali.

     

Toma, a new pastor serving in a rural area, said, “I felt like this training was a mirror. It showed me how I have been teaching and living out of my own woundedness. We have been bound by so many wounds from our neighbors. We claim that we are doing ministry the right way, but we are not. The dramas and the practical exercises that we did helped us to understand these truths and experience healing, and now I come with freedom in my heart. Other workshops talk about reconciliation practically and physically, but this one starts from the inner side. Indirectly, reconciliation is a result when a person experiences healing.”

The last few days of the school in Rwanda are set aside for a practicum, where participants teach and facilitate in actual workshops around Rwanda. Michael was assigned to facilitate a workshop for university students, and he said that the experience was very moving and transformative for many of the students. The other practicums were cancelled as Rwanda imposed restrictions due to the Coronavirus and everyone scrambled to get home before borders closed. Now Kuat, Michael, Suzan, and Toma join a small group of trained facilitators in South Sudan who are conducting “Healing Hearts, Transforming Nations” workshops. They look forward to conducting workshops and helping others to experience healing—as soon as groups are allowed to gather again when the threat of the Coronavirus desists.

Please pray for SSPEC as they help people to find healing from the wounds of the past and maintain hope during the current virus crisis. Michael shared a final reflection from the training that felt like a timely encouragement to all of us: “We were told that ‘God believes in you. God has hope in you! As weak as you are, even if you are not educated, God can work through you!’ So we realize that as weak as we are, God can do something through us.”

On a personal note, in light of the growing Coronavirus crisis, Presbyterian World Mission requested all mission co-workers to return to the U.S. if possible. We were able to talk with our South Sudanese colleagues, and they were very understanding and supportive of our temporary exit, having experienced times of crisis and displacement themselves. We made quick plans to leave, and are now back in the U.S., praying and waiting with you for an end to this crisis. We love to hear from you, and you can always contact us at bob.rice@pcusa.org or kristi.rice@pcusa.org.

In Christ,

Bob and Kristi