Elijah Arok speaks out on life as a missionary…

I am working in Southern Sudan in Upper Nile region in a place called Panyagok. That is where I am based in. I am staying there as a missionary. We initially went there as missionaries but when we got there God opened up doors and helped us do some church planting and train youths.

I was born and brought up in Southern Sudan. All along, it was very hard for me to know Jesus because my people were idol worshippers. It was not until 1978 that somehow, God helped me to get out of that place and join the people of God. That is when I got saved. A certain preacher came along from Juba and he came to a place called ‘konggon’. At that time I was just passing about looking after the cattle. You know the Dinka’s love cows very much. And as I was passing by I found people gathered at a spot, praying. After praying, the preacher came forward and started preaching from the book of John 8:1-32. I still remember that scripture up to now. It says that ‘when you know the truth, the truth will set you free.’ At that time, the only ‘truth’ I knew was that when you get so close to the cows, then you are the good one.

All this false ‘truths’ were soon to die hard. Accepting Christ into my heart made me different. When the Holy Spirit came down upon me, I started to differentiate between what was right and what was wrong. Soon after, I developed an interest in reading the scriptures on my own. I thank God for the brethren we had around who helped us translate the word of God into our local language. It was hence very easy for me to read for myself and understand. I continued to know the truth.

Then I joined up with ACK - Anglican Church of Kenya. In Sudan we call it Episcopal Church of the Sudan – ECS. It’s the same Anglican Church of the Sudan, like the Anglican Church of Kenya. But we call it ECS.

I was serving there with the youth ministry until 1973 when I became a full member of the church. It was difficult for us to be members of the church immediately we got born again. This is because this was a whole new thing and we needed to first understand how it works. I had also been advised by my family not to be in a hurry to join the churches. In 1973, I became a youth leader until 1976 when I became an elder. In the same year, 1976, I joined my friends in the bush. That is the time when we walked all the way to Ethiopia to be trained as soldiers. We were being trained by the SPLA. I went to Ethiopia and came back to Sudan fully trained to defend my people against the enemy. From then until 1991, I was in the army. Then I got wounded in the battle and I was taken to Kenya for treatment. When I returned, I was given a chance to serve in the army as a minister of the gospel. They later told me that it was not good for me as a pastor to go to the battle field. So they gave me a chance to serve the youth again.

Serving with the army was not the same as serving with the church. With the army, things are done very differently from the way they are done in the church. Even when you are reading the word of God, you command the people to do things according to the way it is done in the army.

Generally it was very difficult because any time I could be restricted from doing my work to carry out another task. There was no way for me to reject because at that time I was under the movement, the army authority.

I met ACMI in 1999. That was the time that I was serving with Anglican Church of the Sudan. At that time, I was not able to talk English. I only understood Arabic. But God opened a door for me and I got an opportunity to come to ISOM, Thika where I was trained for missions. That is where God began to open my eyes.

I started training with ISOM in 2001 to 2002. After grasping the truth, I went back and God helped me train both adults and youth in missions. ACMI has helped me in many areas, in supporting me and also in advising me on how to go about the work of the Lord. I am filled with gratitude for them because it is when I met them that I began to work with outreach groups like this. Initially my methodology was to wait for people to come and receive what there is in store. Now with ACMI, I have learnt to go out there and reach out to them instead of sitting around and waiting.

From there I went to ICM Kitale where I am pursuing my BA in Bible Theology, I am currently in my third year. The training has been helping me and I know even after completing my BA I will be of greater contribution wherever I go. The Bible says that it is good for the men of God to be equipped so that he or she can be able to do a better job in the ministry. The education will give me skills, understanding and knowledge that will help not only me but even the people I am training.

So when I met ACMI I was still under Episcopal Church. So after the training I got here in ISOM, I went back and told them, “now god has given me a new direction apart from the old one.” And I was requesting the Bishop to allow me to start churches with the Christian Church International – CCI. It was very difficult for him because he thought that there was something more to dig out from me. It’s like he was thinking, ‘what is wrong with me?’ he was actually asking me to tell him what the matter is so we can work it out. And I told him that it’s just that the way the Pentecostal churches and the Episcopal churches do their tings is different. And I told him that it’s just better for him to release me. And it was difficult for him until I wrote a resignation letter to him saying that I have resigned from the Episcopal Church.

According to the way I know, the first church I planted was an Episcopal. I have planted many churches and I began to do so while I was still under Episcopal. I planted 15 churches with the Episcopal with one church having 500 people and 15 pastors.

With CCI, I can say that we are still in exile, sort of. We are staying in Kakuma in Northern Kenya. We are planning at the beginning of 2006 to … I remember that earlier in Southern Sudan in Panyagok where we had done missionary work before Kakuma, we registered 950 members under the CCI. They use house churches in Sudan and we hope that in early 2006 we can start to call them out from those places and then we can be able to make some buildings in the local material. So in Kakuma we have a CCI church but in Sudan we don’t have one open place, we have what we call house churches.

House churches refer to a place where people who are committed to a certain group meet to fellowship. After getting to know each other, they are free to publicly announce their faith. We have about 80 house churches. We can’t say exactly how many people are in each house church because it depends on the people living around. And the number in a certain house church also depends on how free people are with each other. We are not restricted to a particular number. It depends also on the choice of the people.

I am currently pasturing CCI Kakuma. I have 15 pastors and 5 overseers. I was appointed a Bishop last year in July. It is a good thing because when the people decide it and they say they want so and so to be their leader, it becomes very easy for them to contact me and lay hands, empower and say continue with the work, man of God.

Challenges:
Migration: We don’t want to steal from different churches. But when they come, you cannot chase them away. We are looking for the un-churched and not members of other churches. So sometimes we get into conflict with other church leaders who think we are out to stealing their members.
The former churches also feel threatened because they know me and I know them and they also know the teachings of the Pentecostals.

Joy: My greatest joy is in training more people to go out and make an impact somewhere. Training transforms people. I am mostly based in Panyagok and also in Kakuma. The training is however in three different places; Panyagok, Kakuma & Narus.

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