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Testing Exclusive
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec molestie lacus vitae nulla molestie aliquet. Fusce eget ultrices nisi, eu rhoncus nisi. Aliquam vitae scelerisque nibh. Pellentesque non libero ac nulla pellentesque dictum. Vestibulum sed luctus ligula. Fusce nibh ipsum, finibus in augue vel, placerat porta massa. Nunc sit amet accumsan est. Donec aliquam ligula eu odio accumsan feugiat. Sed ut enim quis massa viverra pellentesque et a eros. Nunc eu est congue, sodales enim a, tempus nunc. Donec malesuada suscipit ultrices. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus luctus congue ante, ac convallis dolor malesuada a. Aliquam et porttitor felis, finibus congue risus. Integer euismod facilisis semper. Sed ac tincidunt dolor. Duis lobortis mi nibh, ac cursus purus cursus id. Integer eget quam tortor. Phasellus suscipit felis sed mauris dignissim laoreet. Sed nec pharetra est, vitae hendrerit ante. Nullam facilisis semper turpis, sed vestibulum massa luctus at. Phasellus auctor leo vel dictum rhoncus. Donec consectetur efficitur mauris id condimentum. Curabitur facilisis, sapien vel lobortis commodo, leo erat sollicitudin lorem, in venenatis felis magna sit amet urna. Nunc ac leo volutpat, accumsan libero ac, pretium ligula. Proin convallis, neque ac vehicula efficitur, erat neque egestas elit, eget laoreet ipsum mi nec magna. Suspendisse eget pretium enim. Maecenas vel tortor sem. Quisque ac tortor massa. In in ante sodales, fermentum odio vel, porttitor nunc. Phasellus lectus justo, hendrerit sit amet varius eu, elementum ut nisl. Morbi et nunc urna. Phasellus euismod lectus ut quam fermentum, sit amet faucibus metus ullamcorper. Ut dolor nibh, eleifend eget dolor eget, suscipit pulvinar neque. Nulla luctus feugiat risus. Duis fermentum eros quis turpis ullamcorper, id lacinia urna rutrum. Vivamus vel dignissim quam. Maecenas aliquam accumsan velit non mollis. Praesent volutpat felis sed nulla pellentesque elementum. Fusce rhoncus in dolor in aliquam. Integer et ornare erat. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Aliquam sed ornare nisl. Nam dignissim sem sit amet nisl facilisis sollicitudin. Aliquam condimentum nulla quis luctus faucibus. Quisque mollis erat ut congue feugiat. Nullam ac viverra augue. Aenean at semper arcu, eu dictum nisl. Pellentesque a rutrum metus. Donec accumsan lorem eu cursus consectetur. Nulla elementum a dui sed vestibulum. Sed eget varius mauris, sodales venenatis nibh. Maecenas accumsan, est sit amet condimentum auctor, ipsum diam commodo massa, quis commodo tellus turpis vel ipsum. Sed sit amet nulla convallis, gravida dolor vitae, finibus turpis. Nunc volutpat dapibus ligula ac pellentesque. Pellentesque suscipit porta viverra. Pellentesque maximus arcu non quam porta sollicitudin. Quisque iaculis faucibus enim ac molestie. Nullam pulvinar odio eget luctus condimentum. Ut sed consequat odio.
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New Friends in South Sudan
A couple weeks ago I joined of people from Flatirons to visit the churches we partner with in South Sudan. We spent a week teaching, training, learning, singing, watching, talking, and working in a clinic. But the trip wasn’t about what we did…it was about the fact that we went. About the growing friendship between our churches. And about how we’re making an impact on their churches, but also how hearing from them and learning from them is impacting what we do at Flatirons too. It’s about the relationship between churches because we are all part of the body of Christ. One of the pastors kept on thanking us for coming…for making, what he called, “a huge sacrifice.” And after the third time I had to stop him and say, “Look, you keep on acting like us coming here was a completely selfless act. But the truth is, I’m here for some selfish reasons too. Because I know that seeing your joy in spite of your circumstances…your faith when things are falling apart…your welcoming spirit to people you’ve never met before…I’m going to see God in a new way because of what I see and learn from you. We’re getting just as much as we’re giving away on this trip.” We don’t “do missions” to people in South Sudan…we have relationships with people in South Sudan. It’s a mutual thing. And while we did teach and train while we were there, I walked away humbled by the pastors we were training. Two quick things: They were unbelievably hungry to know God more. Most these pastors (and there were around 45 pastors, teachers, and evangelists at the training) had walked between 5 and 15 miles to get to the training. They would sleep on a tarp in the village so they would be there for training the next day. For many, this was the only opportunity to learn more for the foreseeable future. I left humbled by their hunger to know more, because so often I take for granted all the resources I’ve got access. They made huge sacrifices to pastor their churches. Pastoring a church in South Sudan equates to a low salary, more pressure on their families, and oftentimes difficult relationships with other people in their villages. Many of these pastors had to work second jobs to support their families. Pastoring their churches require long hours. Until recently there were threats from extremists from (North) Sudan. These pastors sacrifice so much for their churches. I left convicted about how sometimes I will get frustrated when some part of my job is simply inconvenient. The men and women who work in the churches in South Sudan, our new friends and partners in ministry, asked us on the last day if we would pray for them, for their families, and for their churches. Would you take a quick minute to ask that God would give them strength, wisdom, and courage to continue pastoring their churches well?