It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. Some close friends of ours live in Sudan and serve among the Didinga Tribe. They sent along a note to me from Sudan, and I wanted to pass it along to each of you in case God is stirring something crazy in your heart, and you’d like to take the opportunity of a lifetime…
Jonathan, Lauren, and little Adelaide Ramirez
Note From Jonathan:
“Aaron,
It occurs to me that through your networking you’re in contact with some fairly radical and wide-eyed Christians. Some of which may feel a desire to go overseas and do Kingdom work. I have an opportunity for them that I’d like you to pass on….
As you know, we work among the Didinga tribe. Their next door neighbors are the Boya people (pronounced Boo-yah <—fun to say). The Boya are a completely unreached people group. When I say that, I mean as unreached as a people can be. They are a small pastoral tribe isolated and confined to a small area nestled in the lowlands of the Imatong Mountain range. They raid cows from our people and our people raid them right back. This has gone on for centuries apparently and created some tribal lines in the hearts of the people that are difficult to cross.
Our God has put it in to the heart of a young man named, Jacob to go to these Boya people as a long term (3+ years) missionary. Jacob falls under my responsibility as our role with Africa Inland Mission includes team leadership to the Didinga and all surrounding tribal areas. Jacob’s heart to serve God among the Boya is an answer to prayer, but to be honest, I do not feel good at all about him going alone. We’re praying that God will send more with hearts like Jacob’s to partner with him in this pioneer effort.
It’s a beautiful place, great boulders and beautiful shade trees…consistently cooler weather than TX too… The Boya are steeped in the only spirituality they know, animism. They have a reputation in S Sudan for being a wild bunch of illiterate cattle keepers. My fear is that if I send Jacob alone, he could become quickly discouraged and blunted as the realities of that life settle in on him.
To be specific, I’m looking to begin recruiting a team of young men (for starters). I’d like at least two young men to join Jacob as he goes to the Boya in mid 2012. I’d also like to see a family or two move in as well. Joining Africa Inland Mission is not a requirement, but would certainly help logistically.
We are looking for a minimum 1 yr. commitment, but prefer those who are open to longer terms of service.
It’s as rural a place in Africa as any one might find, so they should know that ahead of time and prepare for it. Also, dirt bikes are a non-negotiable, so they should be/become comfortable getting around on them.
This is primarily a church-planting and disciple making initiative. Development initiatives (water wells, micro-loans, coop biz groups, etc) are discouraged for the first year to give time to learn about the people, language and develop relationships within.
I will go through AIM’s candidate placement department as well, but I wanted to specifically extend this opportunity to any that you think might be good candidates for this work. Keep it in the family..you know.
Please send me any questions you might have, and feel free to share my email address with anyone that might be interested in joining the work here.
With you,
Jonathan Ramirez
http://www.strangersathome.com“
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