How a Short-Term Mission Trip Fueled Ministry in My City
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Invest in UgandaIn 2011, South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan. Just a couple of years later, civil war broke out between two tribes: the Dinka and the Nuer. These tribes’ struggle for power led to the displacement of approximately four million South Sudanese people.
Over 280,000 of these survivors were relocated to an uninhabited plot of land called Bidibidi Refugee Camp in Northern Uganda, and that’s where a friend and I spent part of a mission trip a few years ago.
The experience has shaped my ministry of evangelism in Birmingham, Ala., ever since.
We expected to meet people in deep pain. And we did. Even more pain than we could have anticipated. Men had been shot, women had been raped, children had watched men murder their parents, and everyone had left their homes behind. Their stories were overwhelming, and their pain was unbearable.
But what we did not expect to see was the hope, joy, and forgiveness that the Christians displayed at Bidibidi.
Rather than despairing about the pain they had experienced, believers gathered regularly across tribal lines to celebrate their hope in Christ by hearing and meditating on the precious words of Scripture.
Rather than sorrowing over the loss they had experienced, they gathered regularly across tribal lines to worship God through joyful shouts of praise accompanied by stringed instruments, drums, and tambourines. And rather than growing bitter and keeping to themselves, they gathered regularly across tribal lines to pair up, go out, and share the gospel together.
LEARNING FROM FREQUENCY AND SCOPE IN EVANGELISM
There were two main things that struck me about the way our South Sudanese brothers and sisters did evangelism: their frequency and their scope.
First, their frequency. Getting together across tribal lines to go out and share the gospel was a regular thing for Christians at Bidibidi and in South Sudan. My friend and I were privileged to join in on some of these outings, and after they showed us the ropes, we started initiating conversation while they translated for us.
Even in the few hours we were able to participate, we had opportunities to encourage and strengthen fellow believers, share the gospel with those who did not know Christ, and show Christ’s love to everyone by listening to their stories. I wonder if their frequent evangelism outings had something to do with the fact that their earthly possessions were few.
Second, their scope. During our final week of the trip, we attended a pastor’s conference with over 60 South Sudanese pastors from a number of different tribes, including a pastor from the Nuer.
The Nuer were one of the two tribes that started the civil war and caused the displacement of approximately four million people. During one of the training sessions about how to reach people with the gospel, a Nuer pastor named Peter stood up and the room fell silent.
He boldly challenged the pastors to join together to go and share the gospel with the Nuer people. With his people. Everyone agreed. They knew that the root solution to all the problems in South Sudan is the gospel.
The pastors planned a trip, organized motorbike rides, and set out on their hours’ long journey. Weeks later, my friend and I received a video from one of the pastors showing hundreds of Nuer people dancing and rejoicing because they had received the gospel with gladness.
APPLYING THE LESSONS IN MY OWN CITY
I was left wondering: “How can I share the gospel with this level of regularity and boldness in my city?” And the answer was quite simple: I needed to change my frequency and my scope.
In Birmingham, I helped start a weekly evangelism outing on Friday afternoons at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). We gathered at our church, walked to UAB, paired up, and went out to share the gospel.
People from our church became more and more interested, and I quickly realized that iPhone group chats can only have a maximum of 32 people. So, we made a GroupMe. Then, I saw that there was not only a need at UAB, but also at Railroad Park, the largest park in our city. So we expanded to Friday afternoons at UAB and Saturday afternoons at Railroad Park. The Lord continued to raise up more and more people until we grew to having people gather twice a week, regularly, across denominational lines to share the gospel with people in our city.
And it all started in a refugee camp thousands of miles away.
Our brothers and sisters in South Sudan and Uganda gave me an imagination for how to reach my city with the gospel. Maybe they can spark your vision too. We pray that more and more people in Birmingham (and beyond) will join the Nuer in celebrating as they receive Christ with gladness.
