"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the OLD has gone, the NEW has come!"
2 Corinthians 5:17
My favorite thing, by far, about our trips to South Sudan is helping patients choose new names. One day in the middle of the week this year, I looked at our surgery schedule for the day and realized that at least half of our 15 patients that day had a name I recognized; they were named "deformed". We had first learned about the meaning of these names at the very end of our week last year. Amidst everything else that needed to be done first thing in the morning, suddenly I had one mission: find the pastors! Pastor Justin and Pastor Robert are our Sudanese pastors that work with us each year. They are amazing men of God, and I knew that they would have time to talk with these families. I found Pastor Robert and explained the situation, which he also remembered from last year. I could see by the look on his face that he was now suddenly on a mission. And then we went about our day...
Near the end of that day when I had a break, I snuck away to go to the ward where the patients were. Before I could even make it into the building, Pastor Robert found me and practically dragged me inside. He was so excited! He began to tell me how they had 5 patients who had chosen new names and they were about to pray with the 6th. He took me around to all of the beds introducing me to the patients with their new names, and then with Pastor Justin we went to the bedside of the 6th. I had the privilege of watching as they explained to the teenager that he could not let anyone call him "deformed" any longer. He had a new identity in Christ now; the old had been made new. It's hard to put the scene into words, honestly. The transformation that occurred at that moment was not the outward physical transformation. He was now, Matthew James.
Matthew James
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| Blessing |
This is Grace
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Peter  |
This is David Luka
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| Joshua Yohannes |
In 6 days of surgery, we completed 90 cleft lip repairs. There are so many stories, I wish there were time to tell them all. I will put a few more pics here at the end of the families we were able to do surgery for; sisters, a mother and son, and a father and daughter.
Sister, Tesilia and Lelia
Mother and Son, Elizabeth and Minyiel
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| Father and Daughter, Marko and Amoung. When Marko woke up following his surgery, he insisted that he pray for us in his own tribal dialect. It is impossible to describe what that moment was like. He said that because he was poor all he could do in return was pray God's blessing for us and the rest of the team. He proceeded to pray one of the most sincere, heartfelt prayers I've ever heard in my life. I didn't have to know exactly what he was saying to know that he was eternally grateful and meant every word. |
