Lessons God Taught Me

 By Brunica Marco, South Sudan

My name is Brunica Marco from South Sudan. My husband and I lead the church in Juba, South Sudan.

The church was started in Khartoum by a mission team coming from Egypt, with the first two disciples getting baptized on 3/8/2000, after which the number increased. Most of the students were from a Christian background from Southern Sudan.

In 2011, South Sudan separated from the North and became an independent state, and disciples began to move from north to south until the largest number of disciples lived in Juba.

Currently, there are less than 10 disciples in Sudan. Most of them are students in Sudanese Universities. In Juba, there are 39 disciples, including Singles and Marrieds.

Among the challenges facing all of the South in general and the disciples is the separation of families due to wars and instability. Men would live in Juba while the wife with her children would live in other countries like Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, or Kenya.

I joined the church in 2007 in Sudan. During this period, I saw the hand of God in every detail of my life. And I learned from Ephesians 5:20 to give thanks always, for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father.

I lost my first pregnancy in the sixth month without knowing the reasons, because medicine is not so advanced. It was a time when I experienced gratitude to God in the midst of a real crisis and challenge. I was feeling pain, sadness, and confusion, but I was grateful to our Lord. I was sure that God was with me. I was grateful because I could have gotten poisoned. I saw God's blessing amid the challenge.

I conceived for the second time and relied on God. That happened during the Arab conference in Egypt. At first, I did not want to attend it, but I prayed and asked for the will and advice of our Lord and decided to go. In Egypt, I did tests that revealed a disease that leads to the death of the fetus. In the last months of my pregnancy, I started taking injections and pills every day, from the fifth month to the ninth. I was grateful to God because he guided me and helped me to travel to Egypt and be treated despite the pain and the high cost of medicines that are not found in Juba but in Egypt.

At the end of 2019, I got pregnant for the third time and I needed to travel to either Egypt or Sudan for an examination in order to make sure that I was cured of the disease. But Corona closed the airports, created a general prohibition for all countries, and the examination was not present in Juba. I fixed my eyes on God, though I didn’t know if the pregnancy would continue or not. I was grateful, trusting, and certain that God was with me. I completed the ninth month and delivered in Juba without any problems. Currently, I have two daughters. May our Lord preserve and protect them, and they become disciples of Christ.

The lessons God taught me throughout the years included:

* A thankful and grateful heart in the midst of crisis and challenge gives peace and tranquility.

* Gratitude moves God and makes Him intervene and give unexpected solutions.

* Gratitude brings both blessings and victories.

* Gratitude can be hard in certain situations, but God gives us strength.

* Gratitude to God will give quiet amid the storm, joy in the midst of sadness, peace in turmoil.

To Him, all the glory!