“You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light.”   2 Samuel 22:29 

In 2005 Bill wrote a letter about his desire to install solar lights in health clinics in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where women give birth at night by flashlight or kerosene lamps.  Many responded to that appeal.  What a blessing it has been to be used by God in Congo and South Sudan these past 21 years to bring not only physical light but spiritual light to places where God has led.

The most profound physical darkness I ever experienced was several years back when Cassie and I were hurrying home at dusk and took a shortcut through a stretch of rainforest in the Congo but had forgotten to bring flashlights. Twilight on the Equator passes quickly, and we soon found ourselves in total darkness.   I was overtaken not by the sounds of things slithering across our path, but by a glimpse of the utter, palpable darkness of the spiritually lost. I sensed a deep sorrow for those who live and die without the light of Christ in their lives.  I have never forgotten that experience.

This brings me to South Sudan, but even before that, to Michigan where I was visiting churches in the fall of 2012 while Bill was in  South Sudan.   I was on the porch with my hosts, Albert and Nancy Williams, enjoying the crisp morning air, the garden flowers, and a cup of coffee. After commenting on the lights along the edge of the garden path, Albert went and pulled one up for me to see… a solar device, charged by the sun during the day that provides light at night.

Marveling at the ingenuity of ‘path lights’, I wondered if they could be of use in South Sudan. “Take it,” he insisted, so I tucked it into my bag.

Back in South Sudan a few weeks later I gave the ‘path light’  to one of our health workers, Phillip. The next morning, Phillip excitedly recounted how his family had “light all night” … not from a candle but from the path light I had brought from Michigan. 

He was overwhelmed by such a simple gift.   Not only would his family save the expense of buying a candle each day, but they would no longer worry about their children being burned. So began our efforts to bring out $5 path lights with each trip from the U.S. Many have been blessed by these simple lights. 

In this, our 3rd year in South Sudan, we are occasionally overwhelmed by the challenges of opening clinics, hospitals, and even a school.  Sometimes it is the simplest things which make the largest impact.   What a joy it has been to pass out these lights to families who would otherwise sit in darkness, in a land where electricity is only available to those who can afford generators and the fuel to run them.

We know what it is like to walk in utter darkness (as Cassie and I did on that path in the Congo) and we all have witnessed the absence of hope for those who live and die without faith.    We have had the privilege in places such as Congo and South Sudan to bring physical light to clinics and to homes, but the greater task is to bring messages of hope and light to those in despair.  American Baptists are good at both.   To those individuals and churches that see beyond their walls and bring hope and light to a world in need … we love you with all our hearts!  Thank you for the privilege of bringing Light to South Sudan. 

“And there shall be no night there and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light and they shall reign for ever and ever.”  

Revelation 22:5