Jose Nunez - "God is Present"

Note: Jose Nunez is a Lahash volunteer serving in the Southern Sudanese orphanage of St. Bartholomew's. He works primarily with the health-care at the orphanage and babies home. Click here to write him an email of encouragement or to let him know you are praying for him.

"I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude towards all of those who have remembered me in their prayers. Much time has gone by and communication on my part has not been possible on any level. I have been entirely isolated from any type of international communication for the last two months.

As of now, I am still situated in Kajo Keji South Sudan at St. Bartholomew’s Orphanage. These last couple of months have been both challenging and rewarding for my spirit.

The Lord has been using both health-care provision and personal health-care to mold many areas of my faith that I had never been challenged with, before. These last few weeks have been extremely difficult for me. I was infected with Salmonella and at the same time, dormant Malaria parasites that had been hiding in my liver since the previous time that I was infected, came out and invaded my blood for the third time. I was hospitalized and put on both antibiotics and anti-malaria treatment.

For two weeks my body was completely shut down. Simple tasks like bathing or even eating were hard to accomplish. After these tough weeks passed I am now better. I am still on the road to full recovery, but my body is responding well to the aftermath of the treatment. This sequence of events has without a doubt caused me to yield complete reliance to the Father in all aspects of my daily life here in Sudan. My personal experience has been that it’s difficult to find God in areas like these. Hardship and suffering are at every corner and hope is symbolized by a feeble flame that is constantly being attacked by the ever changing winds of life in Africa.

Yes, it is difficult to find God, nonetheless His eminent regality is present; you can see it in the smile of the children after having potage for breakfast, you can see it in a hospital that depends mainly on miracles to help the sick because resources are awfully limited, or you can even see it in the hardworking women that give themselves away for the sake of their children and family. GOD IS HERE; but the prince of this world is hard at work. This in fact, has only inspired me to work harder than him.

Once again words are not enough to express life here in Africa. Even though life can be exceedingly distracting and distressful my prayer from here is for you. I pray that our Lord would stir your heart as He is doing to mine and that you would willingly yield to His plans for your life. You too might be in my place, where it is difficult to find Him. But know that God is present and He is eager to show you what life is like. True Life."

Excerpts from a Jose Nunez email (March 20)
Photos taken by Toby Brooks and Lyla Peterson