Years End Report from the Cranes--November 30, 2017
By David and Renee Crane
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| David Presenting MP3 players to Musa of Ocea Baptist, Rhino camp, Uganda |
This year has been a highly unusual one for us. In this year-end summary of our ministry and
personal lives, we want to give praise and glory to God for all that He has
done in and through us. We hope reading
it will give you reason to join us in thanking God for His provision and
leadership.
The year started off with our doing a training event for
refugee women and church leaders in Adjumani, Uganda. Renee and her team of five ladies trained 29
women in how to tell the 42 stories of the first Story Cloth developed by
Calvary Road Ministry (CRM). They also
provided trauma healing counseling, training in how to make washable feminine
products, and gave each lady a large bag of food items to take home. Reports,
photos and video of this event have been placed on the Face Book group page
entitled “Operation Hope and Healing for S. Sudanese Women.”
(Renee and January
Team)
This training included women from a wide variety of tribes
and required 5 translators. Some of the women are of people groups having no
scripture translated into their heart language.
The reports received after the training have indicated that the women
are reproducing what they were given through evangelism, discipleship and even
helping with the starting of new churches.
While Renee and her team were training women, David and
Edward Dima trained 17 refugee church leaders in how to use both story cloths
produced by CRM. The second story cloth
has 30 pictures representing stories from the 28 chapters of Acts. David also distributed the MP3 players
containing the NT in various S. Sudanese languages. Almost $20,000 was used to buy Proclaimers
from Faith Comes by Hearing, and another 200 were generously donated by Charles
Stanley’s In Touch Ministry. We also
provided 500 SD cards also loaded with the NT, but also containing the Jesus
Film. Altogether scripture resources
were provided in 13 languages, for refugees both in Uganda and Kenya.
We departed the USA for this Jan. ’17 training from
Charlotte on Dec. 27, ’16. While in the
airport, we met with Adam Crane who had just flown in from New York City. Adam invited David to join him in doing a
thru hike of the Appalachian Trail starting April 9.
After praying for 5 weeks about Adam’s invitation, David
came to believe the Lord would have him do it, IF he did it as a means for
raising funds for their ministry among refugees.
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| Calvary Road Ministry CRM |
The venture ended up involving a small
army of people and we were simply overwhelmed by the encouragement and support
we received from a wide array of individuals, churches and groups. Neither David or Adam completed their dream
of hiking the AT’s entire length.
However, they still had a wonderful experience, and the fact that it
ultimately resulted in a successful fund raiser for such a worthy cause will
make the memories even more special.
Upon leaving the AT,
David immediately began finalizing plans for the second training event of ’17,
but this time for refugees living in the Kakuma Refugee Camp located in NW
Kenya. However, due to acts of violence
perpetrated by a young S. Sudanese man in the town of Lokichoggio, the planned
venue for our Oct. 29-Nov. 3 event, we were forced to make plans to return to
Uganda at the last minute. God
intervened, and we ended up having another very successful training event in
Arua, Uganda
.
This time Renee’s
supportive team included 6 women (pictured above). They trained 39 refugee
women using the same means/program as in January. Five of the 39 women had actually attended
the Jan. ’17 meeting in Adjumani, and their testimony regarding how the Lord
blessed them as they shared the stories with others living in the camps was
very encouraging to Renee.
While Renee and the ladies led their event,
David and Edward Dima went to two separate camps to train using the story
cloths. They ministered 3 days in the
Ocea section of the Rhino Camp, and one day in the Bidibidi Camp. Many of those involved in the Ocea event are
Muslim Background Believers (MBBs), and a number are originally from Dar Fur or
the Nuba Mountains region of Sudan.
David also
distributed 650 MP3 players. Four
hundred were donated by In Touch and the other 250 purchased from two different
ministries here in the USA. The picture
on this page is of Edward Dima presenting some of the players to Baptist
leaders who live and minister in the Bidibidi Camp.
While with church
leaders in Bidibidi, they shared testimonies regarding the impact our training
and provision of MP3 players and other scripture resources have had on their
ministries. Regarding the MP3 players provided
by In Touch, Andrew Yunda said “I have come to see Charles Stanley as my mentor
through listening to the 36 messages given by him and found on those
players.”
Others shared how
they have given out players to people who were returning to South Sudan and who
in turn made sure Baptists living in IDP camps located in the country had
access to at least one of them. They also said the players have made their way
to all the camps and are in high demand.
Others shared that
the story cloth focused training has played a key role in the ministries of the
women and youth, resulting in many people receiving Christ as Savior and even
new churches being started. I only wish
all our supporters could have been there and witnessed their sincere enthusiasm
over the impact their prayers and giving have made.
David also presented
MP3 players and story cloths to a local church located just outside of Yumbe
Town. This town is also the headquarters
of the district bearing the same name.
The majority people group of this district is %98 Muslim so the leaders
and most of the members are MBBs. We are
very hopeful that this provision will provide a big shot in the arm for this
group of persecuted, but bold, believers.
What’s Next for Us?
1.
We are now waiting for the leaders of the
Baptist Convention of S. Sudan to tell us when we should do our next training. We hope it will be in Kenya for those in the
Kakuma Camp.
2.
After the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
season ends, we will earnestly begin to take steps to increase the number of
partners giving to our expense and personal support account with CRM “Central-East
Africa.”
3.
If your church or small group would like to
invite us to make a presentation regarding our ministry, please contact us and
let’s set up a date.
4.
As we head toward the end of the year, if you
would like to donate toward our Central-East Africa account,
you can send your check made out to Calvary Road Ministry to: CRM, 4100 Fulton
Road, Corryton, TN 37721. Just write the account name on the check. Note that you can also donate online at www.calvaryroadministries.com. Click the “Donate” tab and choose “Donate to
CRM…” and then follow the instructions.
Our thanks go out to each one of you who have
prayed for and supported us in one way or another during this wild and wooly
year.
David and Renee
John 4:35
Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
