South Sudan Spring Expedition Video

I have posted a video that shares about our short term mission trip to South Sudan, and what we believe the Lord is calling us. It is about 13 minutes long, so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the details!

Wintermantel Family Africa Expedition FAQS

1.  When would you plan to leave for Africa?

The timing is of course in the Lord’s hands, but we would hope to move to Africa sometime in the summer of 2018.

2.  What will you do for the next year or more in Minnesota?

We will begin raising prayer and financial support.  This role is a “faith supported” position.  We trust that God will raise up individuals and churches who believe in us, and the mission to which God has called us, and will pledge to support our financial needs through their gifts and prayers.  We will complete the application process as required by AIM and CVM.  We will be getting our house ready for sale next spring/early summer.  We will also be looking for new homes for pets (chickens, Bearded Dragon lizard, a crazy Border Collie, a Blue-Front Amazon parrot, and a couple fish- interested?)    (Steve:  anyone want to open a pet store?)

3.  How long will Steve remain on the Buffalo Covenant staff?

 We will work together with the BCC staff and elders to establish a time frame.  Hopefully we can arrange for a departure sometime in the first half of 2018.

4.  Once you arrive in Africa, would you go immediately to South Sudan?

Good question.  We don’t know.  The two families who currently comprise the team are in, or on their way to Torit, South Sudan.  Although there has been insecurity in some places around the country (especially in the northern part), the area in and around Torit (the southern part of the country) has been relatively secure for the past several months.  Working together with our two sending agencies (Africa Inland Mission/AIM and Christian Veterinary Mission/CVM) we will develop a contingency plan for what we will do in the case that we are unable to go to Torit when we first arrive in Africa, or need to leave Torit after arriving.

5.  What will you do once you get there? 

 Once we are in Africa—whether in Torit or somewhere else—we will begin learning Juba Arabic, the “trade” language of South Sudan.  Thankfully many young people and educated adults speak some, or even a good deal of English.  However, most people in the villages speak only their tribal language, and Juba Arabic.  We will also use the first year to learn about the cultural and religious beliefs of the Lotuko tribe.  Much of our first year in Africa will be devoted to this work, and also beginning to build relationships, and lots of prayer as we seek the Lord’s guidance to reach the Lotuko people.

6.  What about education for the kids?

We plan to take the “home school plunge.”  The other two families we would be working with have always home-schooled.  Between these two families they have seven kids, four of whom are about the same ages as Josiah and Cyrus.  AIM has put out a request for a teacher to come to Torit and help educate these 10 or 11 kids (hint, hint).  There may be only ten kids who are home schooled because there is a possibility that Hazel would attend Rift Valley Academy, a top-notch Christian boarding school in Kenya.

7.  How long will you be on mission in Africa?

We plan to make an initial four-year commitment (usually 3 years serving, 9 months furlough).  At the end of that time we will evaluate and determine if the Lord is calling us to return to serve in Africa for another term.

8.  Can we come and visit you, and be a part of what God is doing in South Sudan?

Wahoo- thanks for asking! For those who might like to do this, we would welcome you as the situation allows others to come and serve. Details to be worked out in the future. We are praying for you already 😊

South Sudan Expedition: What's next for the Wintermantels?

Recently, Cyrus was studying for a test and shared with us the definition of expedition: “a journey undertaken by a group of people with a particular purpose.”

Following a season of prayer, fasting and seeking the Lord, we have determined that God is calling us to take next steps on our family expedition.  We plan to move forward in the process of moving to, and serving Him full-time in Africa.  So many of you have come to us and told us that you have prayed with us in this decision.  We are grateful for your prayers.

This expedition has two beginnings. It started initially when God placed a love for Africa, and its multitude of lost peoples, in the heart of Gina when she was a young veterinarian.  The second beginning occurred 18 months ago when we learned of the missionary team being formed in Torit, South Sudan.  While the journey has taken some time, it has been a blessing to follow the Lord, and wait on His revelation about what is next.

Our recent family trip to Torit helped greatly to solidify God’s calling for us.
Our first and primary calling will be to help fulfill the mission, “We glorify God by being disciples who make disciples of Jesus Christ.”  Our plan is to work together with the members of our missionary team and church leaders in Torit to help raise up and equip young disciple-makers who will return to the Lotuko tribal villages around Torit.  Their mission will be to make disciples who make disciples, and plant/start new churches.  We will support these young men and women in their ministry through relational discipleship, theological education, fellowship, and prayer.
 

Just as Jesus met both spiritual and physical needs, we want to follow him in that mission.  Along with making disciples, and helping to plant churches, we hope to help people raise and grow more food. South Sudan has great potential to feed its people, and more. And yet people are starving, even in Torit.  With Gina’s veterinary degree and experience, and Steve’s agricultural degree and farming experience we will seek ways to help people to provide better nutrition for their families.

South Sudan is hungry.  There is a deep hunger for the nourishing food of the gospel.  Jesus is the Bread of Life.  He is our Hope.  He is our Peace.  He is Life.  We look forward to bringing and sharing the good news with the lost, and help make disciples of those who have found Christ.

By God’s grace, and with your prayers and support, we hope to keep our family on an expedition for our Lord Jesus.

We have another entry on the blog that goes through some "FAQs" on our expedition!

Grateful to be serving Jesus together with you,
Steve, Gina, Hazel, Abe, Josiah, and Cyrus

Trip to Imatong Village

The road out to the village was a typical remote country road, with endless potholes, and mild flooding from place to place.  Jordan told us it was one of the nicer roads in South Sudan. Considering there is only 60 miles of paved roads in all of South Sudan, I guess we should not be surprised. The trip took about 2 hours.

When we arrived out in the village, we immediately met Benjamin, a young evangelist trying to reach people for Jesus in his home village.  We visited his compound and then went over to the schools. Benjamin is the headmaster of the school.  He oversees several teachers who teach there in the K thru 8 grades. To attend high school, the children must go into Torit. 

Sitting with Benjamin inside his tukel, or house.

The kids were all sitting in their classrooms when we arrived. We went and greeted each of the classrooms, and then sat under the mango trees with all the young children eating mangoes.  We also walked through the village area and greeted some families.

We

Grinding the Cassava root by hand is hard work!

We saw many young children who were malnourished, indicated by the enlarged abdomen, and some had the characteristic orange hair. When asking about food supply, one of the people told us that they stored up some food, but perhaps some people had “oversold” their ample supply and therefore were likely to experience food shortage.  The rains were due while we were there, and since the community is just now beginning to plant, they would not be able to harvest until June/July. Considering the current famine situation in much of South Sudan, this is concerning.

On the way back from the village, we had the chance to be the good Samaritan! This vehicle did not have the best tires on it, and we pulled it out twice on the way. And the rains were just beginning-- by this time the roads are likely to be very slippery.

I did not have the opportunity to see how the cattle in the village looked, as the people had taken them up into the mountains for better grazing. We did see some goats in the area that actually looked to be in good condition, and with the rains on the way, there should be enough fresh browsing to help them stay in good condition. We enjoyed our visit to Imatong, and hope we were an encouragement to Benjamin as he disciples the believers in the village.

First days in South Sudan!

Thanks for coming to learn more about our trip to Torit.  We are so grateful for the prayers, financial support and encouragement we have received as we have taken this survey mission trip.  Whatever role the Lord has called you to in helping us on our way, we are grateful as we know we could not have done this alone. I have broken our time in Torit into several posts due to length, so be sure to look beyond this first one!

We traveled into South Sudan on Monday April 27^th via AIM AIR. Pete Young was our pilot, and his family recently relocated to Lokichoggio, Kenya from Waverly, MN (within 20 miles of our residence) of all places!  That was a fun connection.  Pete took us in on a Cessna 206, which did not settle well with a few of our family members.  It was a hot and bumpy flight in.

We had family introductions with the Scotland family, and stayed in the guesthouse that is on the same compound as the Scotlands’ home. They built the guesthouse to give their teams that live out in the more remote areas a relatively close place for rest and a few creature comforts.  We had comfortable beds, a small kitchenette, and a nice shower that supplies us with water warmed up during the day by the sun.  Amazingly, the water temperature always seemed about perfect! The evenings were warm, but we were blessed with fans, which make it easier to sleep.

Andrea, Jordan, Aislynn (6), Aiden (8), Calum (10)

During our time, we met many people in Torit.  We started the day off on Tuesday by going to greet the Governor of Imatong State, Toby. The governor has a huge job- and the blessing is that that Jordan has been friends with Toby for a long time (an active Christian)- even back to the time when the Scotlands lived in a more remote area.  We feel that a good relationship for the AIM team with the governor is a tremendous plus.

After meeting with the governor, I attended a prayer meeting for National Women’s Prayer Day.  The Prayer meeting went on all day, but Andrea and I went over for a couple of hours. Many
churches of the area were represented, and came together to pray for peace in South Sudan. Most of the ladies spoke in Juba Arabic, but a couple translated into English as well.

Tuesday afternoon we spent time with the Scotland family, asking many questions and learning more about the people of Torit.  The kids had a great time of playing kickball, whiffle ball, cards, and night time hide and seek! 

Birth of a New Country by Abe W

South Sudan celebrates its new-found independence on 9 July 2011
Picture courtesy of: http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/04/opinion/south-sudan-lost-boy/

After years of planning, preparation, and anticipation, South Sudan became an independent country on July 9th, 2011. 99% of voters wanted to secede from the north. It took a lot of time and fighting to finally get everything figured out. Both countries had to figure out the country’s sharing of oil wealth, where the border was going to be, and the country’s collective debt.

There were more problems regarding the Abyei region. With the indefinite postponement of the Abyei referendum, its final status was still pending. That was a big source of tension in the region. There were small amounts of violence in Abyei, but that all changed in May 2011. Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, ordered an attack on Aybei.

He maintained that the attack was justified response to southern provocation. He planned an attack from southern fighters on Northern forces and peacekeeping soldiers from the United Nations a few days earlier. Now Bashir claimed Abyei to be Northern Land and refused to withdraw northern troops. Many were scared this could reignite a war.

However, most of these fears were quelled when both sides agreed to demilitarize their undecided border. In June, an agreement was reached for a new, temporary North-South administration of the Abyei region. It was also agreed that both North and south forces were removed from the region. Then Ethiopian peacekeeping troops were sent for security in Abyei.

As secession day got closer and closer, the north and south agreed that the critical problems, the common borderline and the sharing of the oil revenues, would be continued to be discussed after the South’s Secession. On July 8th, the UN agreed for a new peacekeeping force: the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS). On July 9th, 2011, the South had a peaceful secession to create the South Sudan we know today.

Submitted by Abe Wintermantel

Source: https://www.britannica.com/

Travel Details:

We were sharing the journey details with the younger Wintermantels, and thought we would post it here as well!

Traveling into South Sudan is not as easy as flying into many places in the world.  Although South Sudan is roughly the size of Texas, there are only 60 miles of paved roads in the entire country.  Yes, this means rough roads! Poor condition of the roads mean slow travel, and due to our time constraints, we will need to fly into Torit to make our visit.  So here is our travel route:

After we arrive in Nairobi, we then will have 24 hours to recover, and we will then travel this route:

The team that is currently in Torit does drive in, but it is at least a 3 day drive from Nairobi.  So our children will have two new experiences: flying on a 747, and then working our way down to a Cessna 206. Our pilot (flying with AIM Air) will fly in and stay with us in Torit, until we journey back out to Nairobi.  Now that is service!