"Zeal that brings peace to the world"-Numb 25

The zeal that restores the beauty of peace

10 And the Lord said to Moses,11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.12 Therefore say,‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant ofa perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’” (Numb 25:11-13)…Read all of Numb 25 to understand the whole story

My Boss has this quote on his email signature that says, "Don't ask what the world needs but discover what makes you come alive. For what the world needs is people who have come alive". In our story today we see how Phinehas comes alive for the things that matter to God, which is really what the world needs. He shows great zeal to accomplish God's will and purpose and in so doing, the Lord declares many powerful things for him and for the rest of his generation.

What God declares concerning Phinehas

God called Him by name and:

1.Gave to him and his generations after him "a covenant of peace"...declaring an inheritance of God's peace, His Shalom…(vs 12)

2.Maked him and his generations after him to be a priesthood forever (vs 13)

3.Phinehas made atonement (paying the price for forgiveness) for Israel so God did not destroy them all (vs 14)

…This declaration sounds familiar

This sounds a lot like someone I know so well...Yes Jesus Christ

1. Christ burned with zeal to do the will of His father ....all the Gospels tell us this (Jhn 2:17)

2. God gave Him to be the everlasting priest . (Heb 3:1)

3. God made Him to be an atonement for all the sins of the world so that those who believe will not die for their sin . (Jhn 3:16, Rom 5:11)

…But how does this affect my life today?

It affects you who is a believer in Christ:
Be encouraged, you who know the Lord and have a zeal for the things that concern Him, you who have a Godly jealousy for the heart of God moved by the power of His Spirit, be encouraged.  The Lord is using you and your zeal as an instrument of peace  to break the bondage and curse of sin in the lives of all who encounter you.  

He is using your zeal as you Re-Present Christ to your family and your world, offering them the service of reconciliation so that they may be at peace with God once again and receive the full inheritance of Him. (2 Cor 5:19-21).  

Be encouraged, knowing that your zeal might be confusing to you (Jer 33:3), your zeal might be disruptive in your family (Mat 10:34), your zeal might cause many of your friends to leave you (Jhn 6:60-66), but the Lord knows you by name. Your zeal for the heart of God may cause wars and rumors of wars (Mat 24:14), your zeal may cause you to be locked up or even burnt....however you are still the one the Lord calls by name and makes a peace covenant with you and you are the one He will use to an object of deliverance for your community.

So do not wax cold, do not shrink back, continue with the passion you received the first day you believed, the Lord is faithful till the end (Heb 10:23-24) and He is coming back again to reward the saints.... Maranatha...Come Lord Jesus (1 Thes 4:13-18).

There is still peace to be found within the bushes

It affects you who does not believe in Christ:
For you who still has doubts about Christianity,  here is your comfort. Just like the Lord declared to Phinehas that a whole nation was spared because of his zeal to do the Lord's will, another One has already done God's perfect will (Heb 10:7-9) so that you will be saved when you put your faith in Him (Rom 10:9-10). You might say, why do I need saving? The answer is, we all need saving (Rom 3:9-18) because we have all lived lives outside of God's perfect will or standard. With this disobedient lifestyle comes death (Rom 6:23a), just like in our story all of Israel was going to die if Phinehas did not intervene. 

The good news is, if we put our faith in the complete work of Jesus Christ who died in our place, we will not face eternal death or the judgement that will come to all the world when God judges the sins of the world (Acts 17:30-32, Rom 5:8-9) .  The good news continues, Christ did not only die for us but He resurrected, as our assurance that we too, although we die in this world will live again forever (Rom 6:5). Now this is truly comfort for the soul. 

…But how does this affect the future?
There is another event slotted in the book of the Bible, destined for the time of History, when Jesus will come back to earth, not as a lamb but as a lion…a king...the Lord's zeal will fulfill this (Isa 9:7, Jer 33:14-26). It is His zeal that will set up His Millennium kingdom on earth, in Israel, Jerusalem to be exact (Ps 2:6). Where Jesus will rule the whole world for a 1,000 years as a monarchy (Isa 32:1, Zech 14:9). 

Israel our Future home

Not like those monarchies you know in this world, but one with righteousness and justice and peace (Isa 11:4-5, 33:17-24) that this world has never known. He will punish the rebellious hearts (Ps 2:7-9, 12) and serve with gentleness the weak (Isa 40:11). Because of his reign and His zeal as Prophet, Priest and King the deceiver will be locked up for that period until the end of his reign when satan will be let out to start deceiving the nations again for a time (Rev 20:1-3). The Millennium period will be a marvelous time. Where do I get all this….in the Bible…reading it literally and taking God to mean what he says and to say what He means…reading prophecy not as allegory but literally, because Jesus literally came as a man, born of a virgin, and walked our earth…which was foretold in many places in the Old Testament.

So rejoice, you who know this future King of Israel, that comes from the seed of Eve (Gen 3:15), of David (2 Sam 7:16), who is Jesus Christ. Rejoice because we have a hope that will surely come to pass, which says that we will reign with Jesus Christ in this kingdom (1 Cor 6:2), and Israel will have all the land they were promised and will have peace at last (Isa 41:8-16, Rev 20:6). This is our hope, this is the hope of the Church, a kingdom in Jerusalem for 1,000 years and for eternity, a new Heaven and Earth which will come down from the sky where no evil will reign, because Christ will defeat Satan once and for all at the battle of Armageddon. All those who follow Satan (Rev 20:7-10) and those who reject Christ would be cast out into the lake of fire, tormented forever and evil will be banished forever (Rev 21:10-27). God Himself accomplishes this through his own zeal which allows for peace to finally comes on earth forever.

Comfort for your soul

…Now this is true comfort for the soul for all those who believe…and for those who do not believe this is your chance to believe because God did not create us to be destroyed by His wrath (1 Thes 5:9)….but do not take my word for it..read the Book for yourself and hope in this too, by His grace (1 Cor 15:19-20, 1 Thes 4:13-18).

Until next time, I pray for you who know Him, that you would burn with zeal for Him and not grow weary in doing good (Gal 6:9) and gain a renewed hope for the future. And I pray for you  who is not in the family of faith, that your heart would be open to His Truth which sets you free and brings you peace (Jhn 12:47), Amen. 

Recommendation: The End Times, by Herman A. Hoyt (Kingdom of God: pages 167-192)

"Leadership Matters-following a Just & Holy God" (Numb 20)

"Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water…So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank…But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (Num 20:8-12).

The Book of Numbers records the period when the children of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years. The book displays how God had to groom his newly chosen people, teaching them how they are to behave as his children. So He provided the Law as a tutor for them (Gal 3:24) before He sends the ultimate One who will show them in the flesh what it means to be a child of God (Gal 3:25). 

This is the same way God deals with us today. In our case He sent Jesus to die to reconcile us back to God (Rom 5:10) AND to show us who God is (Heb 1:1-3), so that we may place our faith in Him, experience His love and willingly obey Him, living lives that show we are His chosen children indeed. 

This same thing God wanted for His first chosen people Israel. So during this time in the desert like a Father raising up a child to be a good citizen of society, God was raising up Israel to be good citizens of His kingdom, one not of this world (John 18:37). When He chose Israel, He set them apart for His use. However before they could be useful to be the light in their world, they had a lot that God had to teach them, his children needed to grow to know the voice of their Father. So the book of Exodus and Numbers records the beginnings of this growth journey.

God provided and protected His children Israel, day and night (Num 9:15-17) but disciplined them when they rebelled as we see in this story (Num 11, 14:13-19). He was raising Israel to worship Him as their on true God and also to trust Him as the one who provides for them and the one who loves them with an undying love*. This is not an easy task as we are going to see through the whole Old Testament, and one we understand first hand as we look at our own rebellious heart. This task of conforming God's children to His image is actually an impossible task without one very essential element-God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit. We will see how this plays out more fully later when we get to the New Testament.

But for now we are stuck with a rebellious people, in this case even Moses rebels against God. He is frustrated, angry, impatient, tired of dealing with God's people…I am sure some Pastors can relate...if Moses feels this way, you can only imagine how God feels…he is Holy and perfect, yet patient and long suffering. God in His justice punishes Moses rather severely, declaring he will not enter the promise land with Israel. On first glance it seems rather unfair, but because I know God is perfect and Holy, I have to let this understanding be my point of view in order to understand the lessons I need to learn here. So lets take a look at some of them.

Lessons from God

There is a lesson even in the haystacks

• Leadership Matters-(Luke 12:48) "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more". God expects more from leaders. We see this through several places in the Bible, when a leader fails, the whole nation suffers but when he follows God wholeheartedly many generations after that are blessed. One example is in 2 Samuel; when David rebels, 70,000 people die (2 Sam 24), when David follows God wholeheartedly, God preserves his line up till Jesus Christ, the One who will save the whole world (2 Sam 7, Mat 1:1-17). We also see this to be true in our lesson today.

• God is not only loving but Just-(Exo 34:6-7) "Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” So here in this story we see that God cannot overlook sin, that is why He provided the sacrificial system for Israel, to pay for the penalty of sin which is death. This system was to be used until the ultimate sacrifice Christ comes to pay for sin once and for all. So until then the Lord being Holy and just had to discipline Moses for not obeying Him and not showing God to be Holy to Israel.

I still need to learn some things

• I need to fear the Lord-( Prov 9:10) "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding"(Prov 15:33) The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility".  Fearing God does not mean we are afraid of Him, but rather we understand who He is and with this understanding comes a respect, honor and appreciation for God. Fearing God is what helps us, flee the temptations that our sin nature longs for and those the delights of our world throws at us. This reverent fear of God causes us to make wise choices and lead others on this same path. The Moment Moses let his anger overrule his fear and respect for God, he disobeyed a direct instruction. So I pray we all grow in our fear for God as we realize that although He is our Father and friend, He is also the God who made the universe, and so demands our respect and reverence. How this is applied will look different from person to person, but God's Spirit would help us understand daily.

• Anger can lead to great sin-(Ps 4:4) "Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah". (Eph 4:26) "Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath". In our story today, we see it was Moses anger that lead him to sin. The scriptures above suggest a cooling off period. it is not a sin to be angry, it is a normal and even protective human emotion. However anger has the tendency to go out of control and lead us to make poor choices. We all have to look at the best way to cool off when we are angry, before we act. For me I have to walk it off, drown myself in worship music, clean the bath tub…it seems to work for me sometimes. So no matter how mature we are as Christians, Moses as our example, we have to ask our God to help us manage our anger each time so that it will not lead to actions we regret.

I am sure you can come up with more lesson, and I encourage you to do that. I love the Bible because through its pages I learn more about the nature of the God who created the universe, helping me not to make Him in my own image, but to realize that I was made in His. The Bible forces me to live out the kind of life God prescribes and not that of my culture, even though my culture screams louder. The Bible corrects me when I am wrong and provides comfort to my soul. Most of all through God's word, God Himself helps me grow into someone that can reflect day by day who he is (His glory). I can reflect His love, joy and Truth in my world, helping others to experience His beauty because nothing else satisfies. 

I pray you will continue to journey with us at Comfortnotes as we learn from our God, through the 66 Love letters He has written to us, because from these letters comes real comfort for the soul.

*Earl D. Radmacher, The NKJV Nelson Study Bible, Nashville:Thomas Nelson, 1997, 225.

Stories & reflections about South Sudan

The Love birds in Lietnhom, South Sudan

It was two years ago that the love for the people of South Sudan was dropped in my heart like an unexpected friend. I did not watch any documentaries, I did not hear any horror stories…this love was just there one day.

Culture in South Sudan

I have always admired people who live their lives knowing they were born to serve a particular people group. Some know right at a very young age and at the right time, they say goodbye to friends and family, and leave a life they have always known to one they know nothing about, except that their heart beat is for the people of a different land. They are motivated by a loud call from above to spend their lives for the sake of the good news of Jesus Christ, for the sake of true freedom, peace and justice. All for the sake of making God’s name famous and being a glimmer of light in another part of the world where many have refused to go, where many have seen no hope, people many have abandoned. I have always wanted to be one of those people. So I prayed one day, “Lord give me a burden for a people group, so that I may ache for them, pray for them and serve them in a sacrificial way”.

Most people who follow Jesus intimately know that the Lord does not waste any time in answering a prayer like that. That is because in that moment of longing, we are actually speaking out the very will of God. As the Lord’s prayer says, “May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. I think I prayed for God’s love to be plastered in my heart for a people He loves.

The streets of Juba, South Sudan

For me the people group, was an entire country-South Sudan, which has been ravaged by war for over 40 years. The youngest country in the world became an independent nation on July 9^th 2011, after decades of war, persecution and pain. This land locked country is said to host at least 10 million indigenes which display over 200 unique tribal orientations. The larger tribal groups include the Dinka and the Nuer peoples.

 So what is there to love about South Sudan? How has this love for South Sudan changed the way I look at life, the way I relate to my God or the way I analyze the real needs of my world. If you will travel with me for a few more minutes I will share just a few reflections and stories about how a six weeks mission trip, with a ministry I work for and love and respect, called ALARM (African Leadership & Reconciliation Ministry) . This trip has really helped me renew my mind and gain confidence for the future. -to learn more about ALARM visit www.alarm-inc.org

So what is there to love about South Sudan?

ALARM Juba Staff, my new family away from home (L-R-Mohandis, Sunday, Michael, James, Victoria, Lawrence)

I love the people. Their dark serious look may throw you for a loop, but taking a step closer reveals a smile I saw many times over. First of all, I fell in love with the staff of ALARM from Juba, to Lietnhom and at Yei. They became my family for six weeks, sharing with me their stories of war, letting me into their pain and frustrations, yet as they share you may wonder how they really feel. Many of my ALARM friends showed little facial expression as they shared stories which revealed great pain, injustice and sacrifice.

One of my new friends on staff with ALARM , prior to independence, lived in Khartoum (predominantly Muslim North),  said, “In order for me to eat every day, I went to the Muslim school, even though I was a Christian. I was learning about Allah five days a week, and then Sunday about Jesus”. We all laughed, but when I thought about it, the reality that a young Christian  had no food except what falls from the table of the Islamic school did not sit well with me.

ALARM Staff in Yei, South Sudan, just amazing people (L-R-Margaret, Faith, Levi, John & I (Sheila))

Another friend shared with me his journey to Ethiopia, as they fled the war of the country.  Walking for 11 days with no food and running from air strike attacks from the Islamic northern regime which South Sudan had been fighting for over 20 years, were some of the things they experienced. The walk to Ethiopia took three months, with people dying every day. He said to me, “we did not cry when someone died, we just knew that the next day we might be next. As South Sudanese people we knew that one day we shall be free, but I never thought I will live to see the day when this happens”. With the cutest smile I have ever seen, I stared at this man in front of me, a man who now lives and raises a family, in his independent country. He now has given himself to train African leaders in servant leadership, peace building and reconciliation. He leads a team of people whom God has called, through the arm of ALARM to transform their community with the saving news of the love of God, found in Jesus Christ.

ALARM Staff in Lietnhom, South Sudan, I love you guys and miss you (L-R-Mary, Simon, Peter, Moses)

Another friend said to me, “While I was in the refugee camp I eat lentils every day for four years”. Immediately I started hating lentils, as a silent protest to the injustice that had plagued his world. Another friend said to me, “I came to Christ while in the refugee camp in Kenya, after many years of suffering even at the camp, I cried to God…saying…How long will we keep suffering, are you ever going to help South Sudan, do you hear us, do you see us”. As he spoke, his eyes transported me back to that day and time when he cried to the Lord, and I felt a tear fall down my own eyes.

So what is there to love about South Sudan? it was for me its people. A resilient people, who fight for what they believe in, who have decided to make their nation, a nation under God, in deed and creed. I carry their friendship and stories in my heart. They have made me a better person simply by sharing their life with me. For this I am grateful.

How has your time in South Sudan changed you?

ALARM Pastoral Leadership Training Institute (PLTI ), Lietnhom South Sudan. The leaders we taught for a week

It has given me a confidence in being a vessel the Lord can use, no matter how broken I am. The scripture that captures my six weeks in South Sudan is found in Psalm 30:7a, “Your favor, oh Lord has made me as secure as a mountain”. My time there was blessed by the Lord, He granted me wisdom to do the work he was calling me to do. From training church leaders, to encouraging displaced women, to even using my business and operations management background to help the work of the kingdom. As I trained, I learnt as well and for this I am so grateful. South Sudan has sharpened my hope for Africa, they represent to me a modern day Israel story, how God took a people in bondage and granted them independence in their own land (1 Pet 2:9-10). I felt like I got to live out the joy of being in the land of Canaan right after defeating the city of Jericho.

How has visiting South Sudan affected your walk with God?

Posing in Gudelle, Juba, South Sudan

I am learning that there is really nothing that beats obedience. As some wise people say, “it is ok to do things even when you are scared…I think it is called courage”. I went to South Sudan, scared, not knowing what to expect, feeling inadequate but willing to be obedient by His grace. Then a few days in South Sudan, I realized that although I was working for God and serving His people, God was actually working for me and giving me what I really needed most…confidence to do the work. Like He encouraged Moses, or Joshua, the Lord used South Sudan to show me that He is able to use me to do His bidding. He assured me that even though the vision is big, He is bigger still and I can trust Him. So yes, yet again I got another lesson on trusting God and seeing the beauty of obedience.

So as I reflect on six weeks well spent, all I can do is say is Thank you Lord, thank you to all who supported this trip financially and through your prayers. As one wise man once said, "To stand on one leg and prove God’s existence is a very different thing from going on one’s knees and thanking Him".

So as we worship and thank the Lord together, I leave you with a picture slideshow of the trip or use this link ALARM South Sudan Internship Trip


Thanks for reflecting with me, about how God can use a broken vessel like me…I hope you are encouraged that he can use you too. If you are willing and available, God will do His finest work in and through you, now this is true comfort for the soul. 

To know more about ALARM and how you can partner with us in ministry, visit www.alarm-inc.org

The beauty from my worship walk, Lietnhom South Sudan

One Night in Cairo

As I write it is 5:34am August 18^th 2013 in Cairo…well I should say at the Cairo airport in the food village better known as food court to most Americans. The food village is slowly coming to life and transformed from bedrooms to restaurants as the morning dawns.

Cairo Airport, Egypt

I and more than 100 other passengers are on transit through Cairo, and arriving here last night at around 6:30pm, we were all told that due to the current insecurity in the city, no one can go into Cairo. The city is on a compulsory 7pm curfew. Being very American I tried to argue my way through this law…I was like "…but my hotel is less than 5 minutes from the airport”, but the airport official raised his voice at me and said, “are you not understanding what I am saying, NO HUMAN BEING can be found in the streets of Cairo after 7pm. You get your boarding pass and go to your gate now.” “Yes sir”, I said and felt bad for making his job even harder than it was in the current situation. After all, I was just 15 hours early for my departure, I could wait...the price for security was worth it.

The Pharaoh, Egypt's history at Cairo Airport

I was not the only one, the airport was full of passengers eating, roaming, buying and burning the midnight oil. Speaking to strangers, sharing pictures of different locations visited…I was really trying to see the bright side of the prospect of spending my whole night at the Cairo airport with no internet.

After I had a Burger King dinner, I was beginning to reason better. I think it was safer for us all to stay at the airport; it was not such a bad idea to meet new friends who we would have passed by without a second glance. I actually had a unique opportunity of meeting a new friend called Martin from Zimbabwe, a PHD fellow at a university in the UK. He studied Peace and development and was doing statistically research on program evaluations in this area. We shared some common interests, which will help us in our current projects, for this it can only be the hand of God.

So as life is very unpredictable, I have learnt one good lesson being in South Sudan the last six weeks, which is, “relax, and be flexible”. It was harder for me to do in Cairo, because I was sooo looking forward to eating a good dinner at “Hotel le Passage”, and getting online to assure friends and family I was ok being in Cairo for the night. I also wanted to sleep on a bed and be fresh for my 12 hour flight from Cairo to New York in the morning. However I had to, “relax, and be flexible”…taking everything with as much grace as I could. It could have been worse. On hind sight this one night in Cairo, was the safest night anyone could have in Cairo at this time.

Let us bank on Egypt by praying for them. Taken @ the Cairo Airport

My dear friends pray for the people here in Egypt, especially Cairo. The pictures we have all seen on T.V are live and unexaggerated. Egypt, also known in history to be the beginning of the cradle of civilization, is facing serious instability which is leading to the death of many lives. Join me as we pray over Egypt, that our good Lord will cause peace to return to this country and good governance for the goodwill of all of the people of Egypt.

Lord of all wisdom, Father of all comfort, may your providence reign, may your will prevail, may your mercy be experienced and may this country not know prolong conflict like many African countries have known. May you intervene on behalf of our pride and arrogance, may you set justice and peace in the hearts of the people, may you provide solutions from heaven that will reign on earth. Only to you do we pray, because only you are the way, the Truth and the Life. Only you, is the author of true peace. We pray all this in the powerful name of our savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

As I write this, I am on my way back home to Dallas via a pit stop in New York. It has been a very rewarding six weeks in South Sudan, and as usual our God has been faithful all the way. Stay tune for two more post about South Sudan (Stories from South Sudan and Reflections about South Sudan), after which we will return to our normal chronicle Bible devotional. Until next time, I leave you with this Psalm as you continue to pray for Egypt, blessings.

Psalm 33:13-22

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹³ The Lord looks down from heaven
    and sees the whole human race.
¹⁴ From his throne he observes
    all who live on the earth.
¹⁵ He made their hearts,
    so he understands everything they do.
¹⁶ The best-equipped army cannot save a king,
    nor is great strength enough to save a warrior.
¹⁷ Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory—
    for all its strength, it cannot save you.

¹⁸ But the Lord watches over those who fear him,
    those who rely on his unfailing love.
¹⁹ He rescues them from death
    and keeps them alive in times of famine.

²⁰ We put our hope in the Lord.
    He is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
²² Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord,
    for our hope is in you alone.

The city of Yei, South Sudan

CLIS (Christian Leadership Institute of South Sudan) a ministry of ALARM, in Yei, South Sudan

Oh the city of Yei South Sudan, where the dragon flies locally known as “glow” cascade the dark evening grass. The Teak trees weave through every compound, the mango trees freely grow,  the cool of the morning, evening and the perfect weather of the afternoon, makes Yei a city to come to.

The natural beauty of this town cannot be compared with the people you meet. What first grabs your attention are the many schools in the city. The school uniforms make up  a rainbow of color, from the orange to the blues, to purples and brown. It is obvious that education is important over here. I had to ask why so many schools in a land that has been deprived of education for so many years. Apparently Yei, even during the war was a place where the Christian ministries called home, many NGOs also found Yei to be relatively safer than most of the country during the war. So they came with the faith of the most High God and in the process created schools which are a hallmark in Yei in this young country. To put it in perspective, a teacher training school today was recognized to have graduated the best batch of students this year compared to over 35 schools in South Sudan and Uganda.

The children in Yei, South Sudan play soccer despite not having shoes

Another love in Yei is the love for soccer which they call "football". Today is Friday and the primary school is having a competition game, the stadium is full and the atmosphere is loud with cheers from the crowd and cheerleaders on the sidelines. These cheerleaders are different, their songs are gospel songs, songs praising God as they cheer their teams on. This of course made me smile.





Women helped by ALARM thru' Microfinance

The market are lined with vegetables, tomatoes, onions and spices which are beyond me. The dried fish gets your attention and the butchers line up in their own section with unrefrigerated stalls. The bakery section has women selling fresh bread made from their homes, with a local kind of thin dough which I have come to like so much called “kisira”. It reminds me of the delicious Ethiopian meal called “ngiyra” minus all the sauce and herbs. The lemons are large and the pineapples are ripe on the tables. Then there were the avocadoes…never seen avocadoes so big in my life and that is saying a lot. They taste better than they look, they would be perfect in a blender with ice to make that perfect shake. One thing that took me by surprise in the market was how relatively civil everyone was, I am used to hearing in our local market in Cameroon the jingles of the over enthusiastic vendor, “Fresh fish fresh! Fresh fish, come here madame for your fresh fish!”, while another person with a tray of dried fish comes unsolicited, standing too close for comfort to show you their pan of dried fish. The Cameroon market is a melody of noises which to the “newbee” might be scary…I hear china markets are much the same way. Well none of that was found in this Yei market.

The people of Yei have another love which is the radio…well I might say it is common to most of south Sudan. However the station that heralds the airwaves is the Christian radio station 99.9 Spirit FM. The ALARM administrator lives on the lovely compounds which is also home to an amazing preschool, I call them, “the blue checkered kids”, too adorable I wish you could see them…well I managed to sneak a shot of three of them as they climbed unto a motor bike, which is called here “border Border”…why? that is another story.

The nursery School "Blue checkered kids"

As we visited the compound we were met by the operations manager Robert Bosco and another journalist trainer called Anna from Holland. Our conversation was filled with talks about South Sudan from a Hollandais perspective, which was full of laughter, then we shared her church horror stories and then explored the power of journalism, media and her commitment to train others in radio stations across this country…not too sure how many there are. Bosco took me to their small trailer which they have used since during the war. It was a smaller container box, which he says could withstand bullet shots and any adverse weather. I believed him, they have been there even when the country was in war.

Levi, ALARM Director of Christian Institute of South Sudan (CLIS), preaching at Anglican church in Yei.

Yei also is predominantly Christian and on Sunday morning, I realized that the popular service is the 7:30am...who would have thought. It has just rained this Sunday, the sky is overcast, yet there is still a praise in my soul. Praise to our God who is perfect and beautiful to make nature so amazingly beautiful and people unique from one place to the next. Oh who is like you our God, who can truly compare to you. As the Psalmist says in Ps 19:1-2

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.

Day after day they continue to speak, Night after night, they make Him known.

They speak without a sound and word. Their voice is never heard.

Yet their message has gone throughout the earth and their words to all the world.

May the delight of your goodness comfort our souls today, our God and redeemer, Amen. Until next time...Read, share and be comforted.