A letter from Jacob and Aliamma George in Sudan
March 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
Greetings from Sudan in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The situations are getting more peaceful as days go by. This morning (Sunday) we saw only one army officer with a gun in the church compound compared to five last Sunday, and eight the Sunday before that, and 12 the one before. Thank you for your prayers.
Jacob greeted the church this morning reminding the people to “rebuild” the nation by starting it from the church. The church was packed inside and people were standing at both doors and outside. We saw the drummer sitting on the armrests of two chairs because all the seats were occupied. It was a joy to shake hands with the people one by one as they were coming outside after the service (singing) and forming a large circle outside the church.
Our teaching assignments at the Giffen Institute of Theology of the Presbyterian Church of Sudan are going on very well. As of now we have 21 students in each class and we expect more to come. Jacob is teaching “Preaching Practice - Principles of Biblical Preaching” and Aliamma is teaching “HIV-AIDS Awareness - Community Health.” These students are pastors and evangelists already and they really want to learn. That makes it easy and joyful for us to teach in a room without fan or light or any computer but just a black board with chalk. The students are eager to learn more about the Word of God.
Even the little children want to learn here, especially English. In between two classes, Aliamma saw some children standing by and she began to talk to them. She then taught them a song and talked to them about Jesus. As we had to go back to classes, we said good bye and Aliamma went back to her teaching assignment. The children left one by one and finally a young 9-year-old girl said “good bye” to Jacob by saying, “Sister, I am going.” Again this little girl said, “Sister, I am going,” since Jacob did not respond. (This is the first time someone called Jacob a “sister”). But Jacob corrected the little girl by saying, “Brother, I am leaving,” and then she corrected her language and left with a smile. The new nation of South Sudan is going to have English as their official language and that is going to be a blessing for this country because it will open many doors for the people. Education is one of the primary needs of this country.
We are thankful to the Lord for you and for your prayers and support for Sudan because it is going to bless this nation. We are already seeing the positive effects of the Referendum by the positive attitude of people. The streets are getting cleaner each day. There is a long way to go but this is the appropriate time to invest our time, talents and treasures here. God bless you as you do the same and please pray for a better education system in this nation and also for our Arabic learning. Thank you very much.
Blessings
Jacob and Aliamma
