The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma

By Mike Romero, Foundation Vice President, Trust Counsel and Member of Council Road Baptist Church

On January 9, 2011, the people of South Sudan voted to secede from Muslim-controlled Sudan in an effort to establish their own identity. The nation of South Sudan will celebrate its independence day on July 9, 2011. Sudan, a nation ravished by civil war, is attempting to find peace through the separation from the North. Unfortunately, South Sudan shows the effects of decades of war with very poor infrastructure and resources. Upon its independence, South Sudan will comprise 10 states with nearly 200 ethnic groups and will include dozens of languages and dialects.

The men in the picture represent the leadership of the recently formed Baptist Convention of Sudan. A former International Mission Board missionary to this area helped these men organize as a convention in 2007. However, due to a lack of resources and other challenges with basic infrastructure, they have not met since their formation.

Kyle Pewitt, Missions Pastor, Council Road Baptist Church, Bethany, and I had the opportunity to accompany John Duerkson, also from Council Road, to Juba, Sudan. John is a linguist with a well-known Bible translation organization and has had various posts throughout Eastern Africa. Through another contact, we were able to reach the IMB missionary who helped organize these men and then were able to contact six of the pastors in the picture via email. On short notice, Council Road was able to provide resources for several of these men to travel to Juba for a meeting. The pastors referred to the meeting as the first annual meeting of the Baptist Convention of Sudan.

We met together for the first time on Friday, March 25 under an enormous mango tree along the banks of the Nile River. Most of these men had not seen each other since the formation of the Convention. It was a blessing to see them renew their friendships and discuss their respective churches. During this first day, we spent about seven hours hearing the amazing stories from each pastor, their backgrounds, training and church work. Stories, which at times were heart wrenching, but also stories filled with hope and joy for the Gospel.

The tall man on the far left side of the photo is a pastor named Ding. He is from the Nuer ethic group, which resides primarily on the East side of upper Nile region of South Sudan. We discovered that Ding was a “Lost Boy of Sudan,” who was displaced in the early 90’s to Ethiopia during the second Sudanese civil war. From there, Ding was able to get to Kenya where he began his education. He is now completing a master ’s degree through a local university, actively planting churches, and training leaders in his home area. Ding’s master’s thesis is on the results of HIV/AIDS education and prevention in Sudan.

By the end of the day, what became evident is the zeal each of these men had for reaching the lost in their communities and around the region. Again, because of a lack of basic infrastructure, these pastors had no idea what each other was accomplishing, often commenting that they thought they were working in isolation. Every one of them reported on their churches and the other churches they helped to start. They all reported how they tried to pull together resources to secure Biblical training for other men to become pastors. Some are training indigenous missionaries to reach areas that we simply cannot access. Although I cannot put the actual names of these regions in print, these are key areas in the effort to reach into North Africa.

The second day of the meeting resulted in a list of priorities for the new convention along with a firm commitment to meet again in November. During that meeting, they will adopt the Baptist Faith and Message as their statement of faith and develop a vision for planting churches in all 10 Sudanese states. They have known churches in three states and are attempting to verify work in a fourth state. The vision also includes the delivery of education to children to help shape future generations. These Christian schools are usually located at and funded by the local churches. This provides one of the few alternatives to the children learning in Islamic schools. After our meeting concluded, the pastors compiled a list of known Baptist churches, which totals 78. Another 28 churches are being planted once pastors can be trained and leaders developed.

The needs in South Sudan are staggering and it is very difficult to know where to begin. However, these men have a passionate vision for their people and zeal to reach the lost. They do not want to be dependent on the West for support. Pastor David said that the churches need to support each other whether or not they receive support from outside. However, there is a great opportunity for us to partner with them in sharing the Gospel in very dark places. This can be done by providing funds to cover transportation and housing costs, attending convention meetings, equipping pastors and other leaders (both men and women) with Biblical training, supplying materials for the construction of a convention office and other churches, as well as basic supplies such as plastic chairs and wooden pews.

Our churches can partner with the Sudanese to impact Sudan and the surrounding regions for Christ. Please pray for these men as they represent the birth of a new convention in the birth of our newest nation. To learn more about partnering with the Convention in South Sudan, please contact Kyle Pewitt at kpewitt@councilroad.org.