Years End Report from the Cranes--November 30, 2017



By David and Renee Crane

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.

Calvary Road Ministry CRM

After making the decision to join Adam, David enlisted Ron Ritchie to help him with all the blogging and updates he planned to place on Face Book and Blogspot.com.  He knew that an effective fund raiser would also enable interested parties to donate online, and thus an account was opened on Generosity.com. David gave the entire venture the name of “Hiking to Help Refugees” and set a goal of raising $100,000.  Between April 9 and September 9, David was on the AT for 104 days and hiked 1,652 miles.  At the time of writing, $58,000 has been donated.

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

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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.

Finally, David was also able to meet with some of the South Sudanese we are helping to scholarship

at the Uganda Baptist Seminary in Jinja.  Currently we are sponsoring 12 students.  Three of them are women and include Edward’s wife, Rose.  The two newest we sponsor are from the Yumbe area church.  Our prayer is that all those granted this chance for deeper theological training will become the next generation of Bible school teachers, both now in the camps, and later, once peace returns, within the country of S. Sudan.  Your giving enables us to provide this significant form of support to this deserving group of fellow 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.