"Go swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers." Isaiah 18:2

Dear Swift Messengers,

Happy Independence Day! We, in the US, are truly blessed to have enjoyed freedom for 232 years. God has been good to us. As you celebrate and give thanks today, please remember our Sudanese brothers and sisters in Christ. They have not enjoyed this same freedom. After receiving their independence from Britain in 1956, they have only experienced peace for about 10 of those 52 years. Two long standing civil wars have left the South devastated in every way.

There is a remnant of God's people there toiling to build the kingdom. They need our help. I am reminded of Nehemiah's words, "'The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!'" (Neh.4:19-20). Can you hear the trumpet?

A significant portion of the remnant are the wives of the church leaders. The pictures attached are from a pastor's wives conference held at the Akot Medical Mission in April, by Idlewild Baptist Church of Tampa, Florida. These women walked a very long way in extreme heat to fellowship with other wives and hear teaching from the Word, as well as to learn about disease prevention from Dr. Emma Ocampo. They thoroughly enjoyed fancy cookies and pretty plates. Rose, our interpreter, said, "They want to know 'what is the purpose of these papers?'" She was holding up one of the flowered paper napkins. We all giggled and yet felt the stark difference in our lives as women. However, as sisters in Christ we have a common bond and common concerns.

My part to teach was "The Praying Wife", and I used Stormie Omartian's book by the same name. I told the story of Hannah from 1 Samuel 1-28. The ladies really identified with the story about there being two wives, and the rivalry over one's bareness. After the class I left them with the charge to start prayer groups with ladies in their respective churches. They were very receptive the idea.

It was a great joy to hear from a team from Colorado, who met with these same ladies last month, that many of these pastor's wives have started their prayer groups. "They gave beautiful testimonies of answered prayers among their groups", stated Terry Jackson from Emanuel Baptist, Ft Collins, Colorado.

-Pray that God will raise up women with the gift of leadership among the Dinka sisters. -Ask that the Holy Spirit will fill and use these leaders to minister to their weaker sisters. -Lift up the many needs of these ladies before Jehovah Jireh, that He might provide for them spiritually, emotionally and physically . -Intercede for the future of the Dinka church. -Ask God to use godly mothers and grandmothers to transform their culture into a Christ-centered society.

"Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" (Proverbs 31:30).

Nhialic abi thieei, Ann Rao