follman family|blog

Last Friday night our son Josiah fell down our stairs and broke his collar bone. Please pray for a quick and complete healing of his body and for us, his parents as we try to keep a very active 3 year old from running, jumping, and falling! Thanks so much!

For a more detailed story of what happened (and pictures) visit Liz’s blog. Have a blessed day!

Last week, we at GRN learned that 46 people were abducted about 6 miles from the Loka Senior Secondary (Christian) School in Sudan where I just was less than a month ago. If you recall, while I was there, soldiers from the government were deployed to our area and surrounding areas because a local chief had just been killed by the LRA (rebel group) and were headed in the Loka direction.

Well, the soldiers are still there, and yet the violence continues. How do you defend yourself from a hidden enemy who stays primarily in the bush? I created a mini video to help bring awareness about just how real this issue is for those who live in that area of Sudan, including those I met on my trip over there… even the kids you see laughing in just the previous post, and the woman, Angela, who speaks in the video.

Check out this video for a glimpse into what life is like for people there, and pray how you might get involved. They need our help. I was moved when I was in Sudan personally listening to Angela share these words. I believe you will be moved too.

Go to www.grnconnect.org to get connected with this project.

For Jesus,

John

     Check out a few pictures from my recent trip to Sudan. One of my main tasks was recording video footage for Global Response Network. I am now importing and editing the videos to create movies to help spread awareness and raise support for the Loka Senior Secondary School project. The videos will be broadcasted on the internet, shown at churches and shared with partners of the ministry.

     You can tell I had a blast meeting such wonderful people! I count it a great privilege to do whatever I can to help people in southern Sudan receive a Christian education and rebuild their lives! Check out www.grnconnect.org to get connected yourself with the project.

Check out a few more pics…

I am not sure where to start after going on such a life-changing experience. Let me first say thank you to all who have prayed for Tom Zurowski and I and our families. Thank you to those who contacted our wives and kids while we were away – it was greatly appreciated.

We arrived safely home Tuesday night from about 33 hours of flying and waiting for flights. One of the goals that I personally had when I went was to encouraging the believers in Sudan and also to be encouraged myself. Now that I reflect on the trip, I hope that they were encouraged even half as much as our lives were changed through the experience.

The trip included everything from meeting students, teachers, local people, influential governmental leaders concerning the school, watching de-miners remove land mines from the war off of school property while the students learned in classes, hearing reports of a Ugandan rebel group (LRA) killing a chief in a neighboring community and heading in the direction of the school and where we were staying, having soldiers dispatched into our area for safety form these rebels who kill, steal, abduct and rape, making friends with a bat who I shared a tookle (shelter) with, and trying to trust God throughout the whole experience.

I quickly found out where my peace laid: in the comfort and familiarity of what I know here in the US. I realized that when your world is flipped upside down, you discover what is really on the inside of a man. For me is was a lonely, scared, uncomfortable, intimidated little man I wasn’t so spiritual as I thought I was. Back here in the US, Liz and the family felt insecurities and fears as well. It is a humbling experience to say goodbye at the airport knowing Dad is going to a volatile place and it may be the last time we see each other. Though each day we live we don’t know what may come no matter where we are, this trip seem to bring out thoughts and feelings we had never experienced.

Though we did not have me go to Sudan for my sake, I believe my family and I were lovingly broken in such a way that will help us to be better lovers of God and people. We have a long way to go, but we thank God for the experience. He held us in His loving hands throughout the trip.

As many of you know, the ministry we are working with (Global Response Network) is rebuilding the second largest school ever built in Southern Sudan. The nation is war-torn and as I experienced to some extent first hand, still is dealing with rebels, broken families, fear, a rebuilding government, and the attempt for a people to stand together and restore their lives. I got to see first hand how GRN is helping to do that.

I took so much video on the trip. That was one of my main tasks for the ministry. I will now have the great opportunity to go through the hours of footage we took to edit the videos and create short “movies” meant to help communicate the scope of the Loka Senior Secondary School Project with people in the States and around the world.

I realized quickly that the school that GRN is rebuilding is a great source of life and hope in the community of Loka and for all of the south of Sudan. I feel so privileged to be able to help the students, teachers, workers and people of Southern Sudan in some small way. Now that I have looked into their eyes, seen their lives, kicked the soccer ball around with them and talked with them, I see with absolute clarity the difference we are making in Sudan.

If you have not done so already, I encourage you to visit GRN’s website at www.grnconnect.org where you will see some of the video work that I will be doing and its where you can connect with the Loka Senior Secondary School Project.

Well, thank you once again for your love and support for my family and me. Honestly, my family and I are such rookies in “ministry.” We don’t really know what we are doing at times! Please give us feedback on how we are communicating with you and even how we can pray for you. All we know to do sometimes is keep pushing forward, trying to make a difference for Jesus in the sphere where God gives us influence. I do believe that somehow, we all are making a difference as we live our lives totally sold out to God and His desires.

Stay tuned for pics and stories from the trip and our everyday lives. We hope you are encouraged by them!

Jesus is worthy,

John

Thank you all so much for praying for John and Tom. They arrived home safely this past Tuesday night. They had an awesome trip and have lots to share! We are hoping to post some pics of the trip soon. Thanks again for your prayers! Have a blessed day!

for an update on John and Tom’s trip please go to www.eafollman.wordpress.com

on June 2nd John and Tom left for Sudan. I (Liz) got a call from John today around 10:30 and they had just checked into their hotel room in Uganda! I will be updating my blog regularly and even hopefully posting some pics that John is going to send me via email! We covet your prayers as the area they are going into is considered a war zone. Also please pray that many lives would be touched for His glory! If you want more updates go to www.eafollman.wordpress.com

We made it here at about 9:30 pm on the 26th. It was a long trip, with frequent stops for fly-away tarps and bathroom/food breaks But it was good, the kids did great and we had beautiful weather the whole way down. Thank You Lord! Here are a few pics of the trucks all loaded up and also of our new house. We feel so blessed. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and kind words of encouragement. We could not do this without you! It feels awesome to be living out the dreams that God has put in our heart. We are so excited about what the future holds!

Hey ya’all!!

As I write we are scheduled to be on the road and moving to Kentucky in less than 3 days! Wow, where does the time go? Seems like not to long ago we weren’t sure how or when we were even getting down there…

Now, some of you may be feeling a little confused right now. “Why are they going to KY??” Well, the ministry we have joined up with, Global Response Network, is moving their world headquarters to KY. We have been trying to move down there now for over 6 months, and in the past month everything fell into place for us all to make the move.

Caught up now, a little at least?? So now, we are on the brink leaving all we are familiar with and going to a foreign land flowing with blue grass and horses. We are so excited for all that God has in store in Somerset, KY. Liz and I have both basically grown up in Orleans County here in New York, so this will be a brand new experience for us.

A long time ago my wife and I told the Lord Jesus He could do whatever He wanted with our lives; that we would go wherever He told us to and serve Him however He wished. We just desire that He would spend us like money in His hand and that He would be pleased with our lives when we see Him face to face. So we try to keep the perspective that there is a bigger picture in life than trying to hang on to what is familiar and comfortable. If Jesus is truly Lord, than we must offer ALL of our lives to Him. That is what is meant by calling Him LORD. I will be honest, it is a scary thing to relinquish all control, because then, I’m not in control!! I don’t like that J But that fact is, even when I think I have control, I never really do… life is way more out of my hands than I sometimes realize. The funny thing is, the more I let go, the more I find life it seems… We take courage in the words of Jesus who said, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37 NIV).

So anyway, stay tuned for some new updates from Kentucky. We hope to have some pics of the trip up at some point. I don’t plan on giving a play by play like I did on Liz’s blog for the birth of our son, but you never know – I didn’t plan on doing that either J

See ya’ll in the Bible Belt!

 Except for our house being a little lot messier than normal and the laundry piling up higher than usual, the transition from two to three little ones has been pretty smooth We are all enjoying little Carson and are so blessed by his easy going temper and sweet little noises. He has only been getting up once during the night which has been great! God has blessed us so much!

 ”Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
 Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127: 3-5