Update from JP... Pakistan here we come!

-----Original Message-----
From: fthgermany@aol.com
Sent: Sat 3/28/2009 2:31 AM
Subject: Greetings from Switzerland

Hi Everybody,
Short report from the first two days on the trip. The TV Crew spent almost four
hours with us. Hopefully they don’t cut too much. Right after they left, we
also took off. In south Germany, around an hour from the Swiss border, our GPS
quit its job. Marcel in the back of the ambulance took the laptop and studied
the manual. It was stored on the laptop. After a reset it was working again for
maybe another ten minutes. So no way to go any further. I drove off the highway
to look for a good store. We found one very quick and we got a new one. The
other one we take back from where we got it, it is a case of warranty. In maybe
one hours time we were back on track. When we came to the border, they had
already closed. With our special documents we cannot just go through. I need a
stamp that I left Germany in order to get the tax back that we paid. So we
parked in a long line of trucks, which were asking about the same thing. A female
custom officer (Swiss) jumped on a truck driver so bad, that I was thinking that
we don’t get her. But guess what, we got her. She still looked very mean, but
when we explained our mission to her, she became very nice and helpful. The
pressed her stamp on our papers and even came out of her little office. She
told the officer at the gate, what our mission was and ask him to let us trough
right away. So we passed by on about 50 trucks towards the gate. At the gate
the offices stopped us again. I thought he will check the papers and passports.
But he did not. He wished us all the best, good luck and travel mercies. That
was really nice. We arrived in Zurich late that night. On Friday we went to
Peter Hasler's church (FTH Director Switzerland). We all had a great and nice time with
Pastor Peter in his beautiful church. Pastor Peter was with Dr. Sumrall in
Jerusalem, when Dr. Sumrall received the vision from the LORD for Feed The Hungry. So
Peter is a man who's been with FTH from the first hour. I ask him to come to South Bend to our next
meeting. On Sunday we will share the project in the church service and right after the
service we will leave for the spaghetti Mecca of Italy, to catch the ferry.

JP, Marcel
and Philipp

Jean Pierre on the road to Pakistan

Jeanne Pierre (affectionately known as "JP") is the Director of Feed The Hungry Germany and he's on his way to Lahore, Pakistan with his two boys in tow. The interesting thing is that JP will be driving to Lahore... from Germany... in an ambulance! On a journey of approximately 4,000 miles let's hope the boys don't start with the "Dad, are we there yet?" routine until they hit the border of Iran at least.

JP will be bringing the ambulance to our partner ministry in Lahore, the Evangelical Fellowship of Pakistan. Our plan is to send a shipping container of medical supplies from LeSEA Global Feed The Hungry to keep the ambulance stocked and ready to go for years to come.

It’s a long trip through eastern Europe, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan (driving all day every day for 18 days) and things were kind of unstable in Pakistan a few weeks back, but have gotten better since then. Please keep JP and his boys in mind whenever you're on the road or shuttling your kids about.

---

From: FTHGERMANY@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 4:56 AM
To: Stefan Radelich
Subject: Update on Ambulance Trip

Good Morning Everybody,

Greetings from a nice and sunny morning in Germany. Spring seems to come. For sure our departure day is coming. Our website says since Monday, that the countdown is running. Every day one day less.

Little update: The ambulance is back from the shop since two weeks. The owner of the shop told me, that it is in an excellent condition. They checked everything. They made an oil change, checked the motor and the transmission. They replace the two front tires and that’s also the only thing they charged us for. Praise the LORD. I had a very good press meeting last week. They did a great article in the paper on last Thursday. The paper probably sold well that day. The day before, on Wednesday we had that school shooting you may heart of. Big tragedy. Germany is the number two on list of school shooting in the world. Shows me how much my country need to hear about JESUS.

I worked a lot on the webpage. We started to type a blog. It is of course in German, but I give you the link, if you want to at least see it. I put a lot of photos in there from the preparing process. Last night we started to pack.

I am in constantly contact with Pastor Salik. He informed me Monday, that the situation in Pakistan, also in Lahore calmed down. I would not say that we can talk about a peaceful country. This area will be an unrest region for a long time. Challenge to us, to be a witness for JESUS in this time of history.

The Turkish government does not allow us to cross their country with a “transfer car license”. No idea what the English term will be. So we have to go with the normal license plate. But that means, I have to take the entire car documents all the way back to Germany, cancel the registration and send the papers back by Fedex. Stupid rules. We could drive around Turkey with a transfer number I would like to use, or sell a car in country, but we can just go through. Well, wasting time to think about it. I spoke with Salik about it, that what we will do. At the border in Pakistan we have to get insurance. My insurance is only good up to the border Iran/Pakistan. A company gave us a satellite phone. Ben will send me text messages in case something emergency goes on in Pakistan. We may have no access to news for a number of days. So this way, I know what is going on. He will send text message trough the Iridium website. This is easy and for free.

I think that’s it for the moment. Find a photo that we took on Saturday. These are the “driving doctors”

jp

Peace Returns to Yei

It looks like peace has returned to Yei and the LRA rebels have been scattered. Let's hope they are gone for good.

-----Original Message-----
From: stanley lonathan
Sent: Sat 3/14/2009 2:46 AM
Subject: Greetings

Dear Stefan and friends,

Thanks for standing with us in prayer regarding the security situation in Yei. The situation is now calm and many families are going back to their homes in the villages. The LRA's have been pursued all the way out and a remenant of them entered again to Congo. Some of them were captured and could possibly be handed over to Uganda.

The Dreamland children are back in school and we thank God that all the kids are well. Are you still planning on sending us another container? We have 400 students this year in our school and we have a total of 250 students at the Dreamland including our 38 orphaned kids. We will update you again.

God bless,
Stanley

Trouble in Yei, Sudan

Please pray for a situation that has recently come about in Yei, South Sudan. Pray specifically for Pastor Stanley LoNathan, his family, the children and staff at New Generation Dreamland and New Generation School, the entire congregation of New Generation Church, and for the family of faith and people of Yei, Sudan in general. Please pray for another missionary we know well in Yei also, Michele Perry and the staff and orphans at Iris Ministries Sudan.

Below is a message that I received today from Pastor Stanley; a contingent of LRA rebels (Lord's Resistance Army) have made their way from the Congo to Yei, Sudan. The LRA are an evil, wicked, merciless group of soldiers that have terrorized northern Uganda for close to 20 years. If you've ever heard the story of the Invisible Children, the thousands of children that had to move at night from village to village throughout north Uganda to avoid being abducted... the LRA was the group behind that crisis. About two years ago Joseph Cony and his troops fled Uganda and went into hiding in the Congo; recently a coalition force of Congolese, SPLA, and UDF troops have sought to rout them out of the jungle so they've been on the move and causing trouble along the way.

According to this BBC report, the trouble in Yei started this past Tuesday: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7926173.stm

Here's a BBC report that provides an insider's look at the marks a raid like this leaves behind: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7852086.stm

Based on Stanley's news below, it looks like the trouble is increasing. Pray for divine protection for both people and property in Yei, and pray that the SPLA find and arrest/capture the LRA soldiers.

Thank you for taking this to heart and for enlisting the prayer support of others.

-----Original Message-----
From: Stanley LoNathan
Sent: Sat 3/7/2009 2:46 AM
To: Onochie "Uche" Izuora; Stefan Radelich
Subject: It Well,

Dear Freinds,
Last night we experiences a security challenge in Yei specifically around the New Generation Dreamland. Some elements of the Ugandan LRA rebels who were scattered in Congo appeared around the villages close to the Dreamland. Four people were killed and much food looted. Most of the people around the Dreamland moved to the Freedom Square in town and spent the night there. Soldiers were deployed immediately to the area and for the safety of the children the soldiers asked us to move the kids to another place for just that night just incase anything happens. All the children spent the night at Jimmy's home, one of our workers. As I am writing you now there is so much confusion and fear gripping the town. We are assessing the situation and will touch base with you again. Please pray for the safety of the kids,and pray that the culprits will be captured as they are being pursued by the army.
God bless,
Stanley

Here's a photo of Stanley LoNathan and his two children

Good News about Priscilla

Pastor Solomon recently sent an update that Priscilla is doing well. She has had a total recovery-- the swelling on her brain subsided, she's back on her feet, and back in school.

"Hi Stefan, I have just come from church and one of the people who attended was Priscilla, our God indeed hears and answers the prayers of his people, she is doing a lot better and is out of danger and out of Hospital. We will give her the exams she missed. Thank you very much for the great help you have given us as a ministry and a Nation- Solomon"

Turns out Priscilla has passed her exams with flying colors and is now a proud student in the Academy's P-8 class. Thanks for remembering Priscilla in your prayers.

Pray for Priscilla

Please pray for Priscilla, a young lady from Bulenga, Uganda.  About a year ago her brain swelled so much because of a complication from AIDS that she lost the ability to talk or walk.  She was hospitalized and the condition persisted for months.  Many people prayed extensively, God intervened, and she recovered.  Well, the same complications have just happened again.  Pastor Solomon from Good News church sent the following message:

"I'm requesting urgent prayer for one of my kids at the Academy, Priscilla Natugonza, who is battling with full blown AIDS.  She is in Hospital with a swollen brain, she missed the end of year exams because of that disease, she is trying to talk with a lot of difficulties, she is one brave kid who never misses church, even the all night prayer meetings when she is strong. Last time she was this sick, I called for prayer and she got better and out of hospital, I believe even this time we will join our faith and pray for this girl.  Thank you very much.  Solomon"

I was just at the Bulenga church three weeks ago and Priscilla caught me outside after the service and gave me a big hug… she first squeezed me and said, “Thank you for bringing all the food for us at school!” and then she said, “Mr. Stefan can you please pray for me that I make it to eighth grade.”  Priscilla had finals coming up.  I prayed a simple prayer for God’s hand to be upon her and for the Holy Spirit to help her study and do well and thought to myself… “she’s got nothing to worry about when it comes to doing well at school.”  

As Pastor Solomon noted-- she wasn’t able to take the exams to graduate from grade seven.   Priscilla is such an articulate, intelligent, and cheerful girl.  She wants to be a medical doctor so she can help people.  Please earnestly pray for Priscilla and ask other people of prayer to do so as well.   Here's a two minute video we filmed with Priscilla  a few months ago:

Beautiful Burundi

"Breathtaking" is the only way to describe the beauty of this nation and its people. In reality, it simply cannot be described, it has to be experienced. From the lush green mountain landscapes to bustling Bujumbura on the shores of Lake Tanganyaki, it's hard to take it all in. Add to the mix the unique, sophisticated, resilient, progressive Hutu and Tutsi peoples... and the precious Twa (known as 'pygmies' in colonial times) and you have an African nation like no other. Known as the heart of Africa for its location in the center of the continent and cardiac shaped boundary, Burundi will one day be the apple of the world's eye... it just has to happen.

Feed The Hungry's first container of 270,864 fortified rice meals provided by Feed My Starving Children arrived in 'Buj' about two weeks ago. On Monday the pilot school-lunch program for vulnerable kids started up in one school in Gitega and one in Rutana. ARM, an outreach of Pastor Edomond Kivuye and Eglise Vivante, oversees the project on the ground. Teams of parents and community volunteers take turns prepping and cooking the rice meals each day during the school week, which is no small task considering there are 1,900 children at both of these schools. Education has become a priority for this formerly war torn nation-- it is one of the very few countries in Africa where parents and caregivers do not have to pay tuition for public education. Peace has returned in measure since 2005, yet there is one rebel group that still lurks in the shadows, having rejected the negotiating table. The last violent outbreak was in April 2008 when rebels launched mortar attacks on the capital city.

Photos from this week's visit to Burundi can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/sradelich/BackInBurundiNov2008