Newsletter, Preaching & Teaching and Sports Ministry

See the links below for week three and week four in my recent newsletter series on events in my everyday life.


Sports Ministry:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8ERUTI7yUj6TTJ2MDVFSi1xZE0

Preaching & Teaching:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8ERUTI7yUj6SUVTQzMzem1aZEE

Letter from Makonis Billi

Mundri West County

1 October 2012

To the mother of Joseph (Scott) and all his family and friends:

I am very happy to write my letter to all of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How are you over there? I think you are all ok, and here we are a bit ok. But my wife, she is sick. Then I ask all of you to pray hard for her. Her name is Afia*.

So we also pray for you, and greetings from family of me. Then I ask all of you to come here in Mundri because we can sit together, and also I will build another house for you.

Thank you very much.

I am the brother of Joseph. Now we are sitting together with Joseph here and waiting for your reply.

My name is Makonis Bili, from Mundri.

*Bili’s wife, Afia, is expected to deliver their second child any day now.

Life Is A Journey - Relationships & Medical

I'm trying something new when it comes to my newsletter. This time around, I am writing a six week series, with each week detailing a certain area of my life and work and how to pray specifically for that realm.

I've posted links to the first two weeks below:

Life Is A Journey - Week #1 - Relationships:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8ERUTI7yUj6Z3A2N0FmODlHckk

Life Is A Journey - Week #2 - Medical:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8ERUTI7yUj6cFp1TjF2SV9Lajg

As always, thanks for journeying along...

-SJW

Questions and Lessons On Contentment

Questions and Lessons On Contentment

I pray to God to give me words. I pray to feel His presence moment by moment. But I think those prayers have gone largely unanswered. Weeks have turned into months, but the same prayers continue.

Is it a lack of faith? I hope not. Today, at this moment, I don’t think so. I think God has something much deeper in store.

Has he been calling me to further dependence on His Word, His promises? Is His Word enough for me? Are His promises enough to pull me through? Even if I do not feel His presence, do I believe He is still there? Amongst my perceived silence on His part, do I believe He is still listening?

I am learning, but the process is not lightening-quick, at least not for me. I am learning to cling, to hold steadfast, to move forward unswervingly – even in the midst of non-visible or audible affirmation. I am learning that His Word has to be enough, that His promises are true, in all circumstances.

I am learning that I have much to learn.

-SJW

18 September, 2012

Mundri, South Sudan

Greetings from Francis Wajo

*The following is a message written by my friend Francis Wajo. This morning he came to my house, unprompted, and said he wanted to write a note to my family and friends. He then proceeded to write the note, and I typed it for him as written below.

Hay! From Mundri West – South Sudan. Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. With much thanks and excitement, I am very glad to write this message to you in Joseph’s family and friends. I thank all of you so much for praying for him and we his friends in South Sudan. I personally want to extend my gratitude to you in his family, and I want to say that Scott Joseph’s love for me and my family is beyond description. I wish I would have seen one of his family members but God willing one day that will happen. I therefore ask all of you at the family to pray for him and we his friends as well. I wish all of you happy stay. May the good Lord continue to push us. I will be pleased when you send for me your greetings.

Francis Wajo Cirilo

Athletes In Action

ATHLETES IN ACTION

The Lord used a man to bring me to him. A broken, sinful, holy-spirit filled man that chose to invest in me because God had invested in him. That man’s investment in me has opened my eyes to the world of grace and propelled me into a head-first journey, full of strife and struggle, ups and downs, but always deeply rooted in joy through relationship with Christ.

The Lord used discipleship, one-on-one mentorship, to help me see the deep need I have for him. He used Athletes In Action (AIA) to steer me onto the path of becoming a Christian 12 years ago when I was a junior in college at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

I am not sure why I joined a Bible study with fellow athletes, or why I agreed to meet one-on-one with the staff member of AIA, or why I decided at the last minute to go on the “Big Break” spring break outreach with Campus Crusade for Christ to Panama City, but I know the Lord used all those events to draw me into a deep, intimate relationship with him.

I am a believer in investing in people. I have seen how desperately and deeply people desire to be known and heard, and how many individuals are longing for someone to reach out to them. I have seen how people - sinful, broken people, have helped point others to God, and how God has used those relationships to bring people to salvation.

I am a missionary, working alongside and investing in people in Mundri, South Sudan because many years ago God chose to use someone to invest in me. My whole life people have been investing me, over and over again. They deserve the credit for any good I have ever done.

I am thankful for Athletes In Action, and I am thankful for Scott Shepherd, the man that intentionally chose to teach me about God and Jesus, to meet with me one-on-one every week and explain the four spiritual laws, the man that continues to use his skills to serve the Lord through work with Athletes In Action.

Saved by grace and firm believer in the power of discipleship,

-Scott J. Will
MMS, MPH, PA-C
Missionary – Mundri, South Sudan

Undeserved Blessings

Living in town, in the epicenter of the local community, affords easy access for my friends, neighbors, and just about all of Mundri to visit me in my home. I have numerous visitors, mostly in the afternoon and evening hours, but pretty much anytime I am home, regardless of time of day. Just ask my teammates Andrew and Heidi, whom both live in small homes next to mine.  As such, finding or making time to be alone and write is not always easy. (I’ve noticed that since Heidi moved into town central, her blogging has decreased drastically…maybe Heidi can comment on that!).

I love having visitors and friends in my home. I take delight in knowing that they would take time to come visit me, that they feel comfortable in my home, and that my closer friends realize that they always have food and a bed waiting them if need be.  The conversations within my home have covered the spectrum; no topic has been left untouched. The honesty and clarity with which my friends express themselves has been encouraging and challenging. Encouraging in the sense that we have conversations about God-related things often and my friends are ever confirming my place within their community, and challenging in the sense that my friends convict me to be more honest and open with them through their displays of truth and candor.

My love for the South Sudanese has continued to grow, and honestly, I had no idea how much I would love so many people here. A true gift from the Lord.

A few days ago I was in Uganda visiting a Ugandan friend and his seriously ill, aged father. The “Old Muza” as I have come to lovingly refer to the father, a man in his 80s, told me that it is obvious that I love Africa and Africans, and it is a gift from God that I am happy on African soil, as many white people would not be. I think the Old Muza is absolutely right, it is an immense and underserved blessing. The past three years of my life, spent in Uganda/Sudan/South Sudan, have been full of undeserved blessings.