It may be said that God does God's mightiest work in the unlikeliest places.
Take South Sudan, a young nation where civil war has been the norm for generations. Conditions in that country are as poor as anywhere on earth, yet in just the last year 73 Church of Christ congregations formed and more than 2,400 South Sudanese were baptized into the kingdom of God.
What is going on there?
In this episode, Dennis Cady (Faith Village Church of Christ, Wichita Falls, Texas) of the Starfish Foundation, tells the story straight from South Sudan, where he has been ministering, preaching and traveling since 2011.
Link to The Christian Chronicle's coverage of the Church of Christ in South Sudan
Link to the Starfish Foundation
Find more news and stories at christianchronicle.org
Donate to support this ministry of "information and inspiration" at christianchronicle.org/donate
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Cover photo by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=145963320
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Holly Linden (00:03):
Welcome to the Christian Chronicle Podcast.
We are bringing you the storyshaping Church of Christ
congregations and members aroundthe world.
Here is our host, BT Irwin.
BT Irwin (00:14):
Family and friends, neighbors and, most of all,
strangers.
Welcome to the ChristianChronicle Podcast.
May what you are about to hearbless you and honor God.
In my lifetime, I observed thatsome Christians who sojourn in
the United States seem to inferthat conditions in the culture
must be just right forChristianity to flourish.
(00:35):
For example, I remember hearingChristians link the decline of
church membership to things likethe end of mandatory Christian
prayer in public schools, theover-sexualization of our
culture and the quote-unquotewrong people holding government
offices.
Now, while there is acorrelation between changes in
culture and policy and thedecline of church membership
(00:57):
here in the United States overmy lifetime, it is helpful for
us to zoom out to a global pointof view.
After all, there are many moreChristians living outside the
United States than in it.
Indeed, the latest data showthat Christianity is exploding
all over the world.
The Church of Christ in the21st century is global and it is
(01:17):
thriving.
Now, lest we think that that ishappening because conditions
are better or more conducive toChristianity in other parts of
the world, we need to considernews like what we're bringing
you today.
That news comes to us fromSouth Sudan, which happens to be
the newest sovereign nation onearth, founded in 2011 when it
declared its independence fromSudan.
(01:39):
We don't have time to go intogreat detail about South Sudan's
culture, history and people.
It is a complex and long story,as is the story of any nation.
What we will say here is that,since the middle of the 20th
century, the people who live inSouth Sudan have endured some of
the worst economic conditionsand violence of any people on
earth.
Two civil wars convulsed thenation of Sudan through the
(02:02):
second half of the 20th century,eventually leading to South
Sudan's independence in 2011.
The Christian Chroniclereported on the hope and
optimism that many Christians inSouth Sudan felt when their
country became independent, butless than two years later, in
2013, civil war broke out again,this time among ethnic and
political rivals that wantedmore control of the country and
(02:24):
its resources.
Seven more years of open wardecimated South Sudan, killing
400,000 people and displacing 4million in a nation of only 11
million.
The political end of the civilwar in 2020 did not end the
violence, as various ethnic andmilitia factions continue to
fight, laying waste to thecountry's economy and
(02:45):
infrastructure.
This is the setting for one ofthe most marvelous stories that
the Christian Chronicle hasreported over the last few
months, for in a place wherehuman beings are lucky to even
survive, they're often harassed,hungry and homeless.
The Church of Christ isthriving in a way that Americans
wish it would in the UnitedStates.
For example, last fall theChristian Chronicle reported
(03:08):
that in just eight months, 37new Church of Christ
congregations formed for 837newly baptized Christians in
just one South Sudanese city.
Does anyone else think thatmaybe we need Christians from
South Sudan to come to theUnited States to teach us how to
join God in growing the church,most of all since those of us
(03:31):
here in the United States haveso many things going for us and
our brothers and sisters inSouth Sudan have so many things
going against them, and yet theygrow and thrive against
everything that should stand inthe way.
It is a little hard to get aChristian in South Sudan on the
podcast.
We will do that someday, Ipromise, but this time we have
the next best thing.
Dennis Cady is a lifelongmissionary who preached the good
(03:54):
news of the kingdom of God inmany places that other
missionaries did not dare to go.
He started his missionary workin Southeast Asia when he was
just 20 years old and traveledto 20 nations, since the poverty
Dennis saw in some parts of theworld inspired him to start the
nonprofit Starfish Foundationin 2007.
Simply put, the StarfishFoundation helps those in need
(04:17):
most of all by investing ineducation.
In recent years, the StarfishFoundation has worked
exclusively in Haiti and SouthSudan.
Dennis has had a front row seatto witness the miraculous work
that God is doing in South Sudan.
Dennis, thank you for coming toshare your testimony today.
Dennis Cady (04:34):
I appreciate the Chronicle giving us this
opportunity.
BT Irwin (04:38):
It's a pleasure to have you.
So you've been working in SouthSudan for a long time now and,
we should note, you did not gothere at a time when it was at
peace and prospering.
In fact, as long as you've beengoing to work in South Sudan,
civil war, famine and violencehave been raging in that country
.
Are you just the kind of guywho likes danger, or did
something else move you to comealongside the people there?
Dennis Cady (05:01):
I don't particularly like danger.
Before we start with ourquestions, I'd like to insert
that I have a co-worker.
Chuck Dennis and I are equalco-workers I'm the mouthpiece
today for that but Chuck and Iare best friends.
We both go to the Faith VillageChurch of Christ in Wichita
Falls and from day one, we havelooked for a work and found a
work, and we are co-workers.
So I want to be sure that Chuckis recognized as a big part of
(05:25):
this.
This is not my work.
First, it's God's work.
Secondly, it's our work, butit's not my work.
I cannot deny that it was notsafe for us to go in the
beginning.
There is still an element ofdanger, but it's extremely low
compared to what it was when westarted in December of 2011.
I had several years ofexperience in Indonesia, chuck
(05:45):
had experiences in CentralAmerica and I had the
opportunity to turn the work inIndonesia over to other people
who are continuing it in a goodway.
Chuck and I teamed up and wewere looking for a new work.
We had three criteria and wehad explored some options.
Finally, I called Eric at theChronicle and I said we have
(06:05):
three criteria.
One is we want to start a newwork.
We want to pioneer.
We don't want to build onsomebody else's foundation.
Second, we want to combinehumanitarian work and evangelism
or church planning.
We think Matthew 25 is in thesame Bible as Mark 16 and
Matthew 28.
And thirdly, we are not afraidto go where other people won't
(06:26):
go because they say it's toodirty or too dangerous.
Eric heard that he said youneed to go to South Sudan.
So that opened our.
We barely knew where SouthSudan was.
We did a lot of research, wemade a survey trip, but if we we
give Eric the blame or thecredit for our choice, yeah,
(06:47):
that's our CEO, eric Trigestad.
BT Irwin (06:49):
That's a good story.
So you first went there in 2011, right, right after South Sudan
became an independent nation.
Dennis Cady (07:00):
We made a survey trip.
We left the state December 27th2011,.
Five months after it became acountry.
BT Irwin (07:09):
Okay, and when did you ?
Following a 22-year?
Dennis Cady (07:12):
civil war.
BT Irwin (07:13):
That's right.
That's right, and youestablished a school there.
If I'm not mistaken, thatopened not too long after.
Could you tell us about that?
Dennis Cady (07:23):
In our survey trip, we tried to just, first of all,
determine if South Sudan wasgoing to be our target and then,
if it was, where in South Sudan, location-wise, and what
approach we would take to startwith, because the Church of
Christ was unknown there.
We ended up in the office ofthe governor of the largest
(07:46):
state, in South John Lee State.
I have never sat in the officeof a governor in a state of
America, but here I was, chuckand I were in the office of the
governor and we told him we wantto help.
We have traveled your country,you have just finished war.
We want to do something foryour country.
(08:09):
You need everything.
You need bridges, you needwater wells, you need medical
clinics, you need schools.
We cannot do everything.
What would you like us to do?
And he said the war is over, butall our people know how to do
after 22 years of fighting themuslims is kill, swing machetes
(08:29):
and shoot guns wow we'rerebuilding, but people are
coming from other countriesindia and uganda because they
have the skills to build andthey're sending their wages and
their money back out of thecountry.
Our, our country, is benefitingfrom what they do, but we need
a vocational school to train ourpeople as we recover and
(08:51):
rebuild.
They made available six acresof land and that was the reason
that we started with thevocational school, which
continues today.
BT Irwin (09:02):
That school is in Boer .
Is that correct?
Dennis Cady (09:05):
Yes, for the capital city of that largest
state, zhongli?
Yes.
BT Irwin (09:12):
And it seems like about the time you were trying
to get that school set up.
Civil War broke out againaround 2013 and actually
affected the work you weretrying to do at the time.
Dennis Cady (09:26):
Knocked the wind out of us.
We had built buildings.
Chuck is a home builder, anarchitect.
He designed the campus with thebuildings, the sewer lines,
Knocked the wind out of us.
We had built buildings.
Chuck is a home builder, anarchitect.
He designed the campus with thebuildings, the sewer lines.
We contracted with aconstruction company actually
living in Indonesia I'm sorry,living in South Sudan but they
were Indian people and theybuilt our campus.
(09:47):
We had it ready to open.
We had not moved furniture inyet, but we were going to open
in February of 2014.
In December of 2013, civil warbroke out, mainly tribal.
This had nothing to do withSouth Sudan and Sudan, or
Christians and Muslims.
This was tribal.
Now we were in the middle of acivil war.
(10:12):
We didn't know if we had acampus even left.
They did damage but they didnot do destruction.
But that's delayed the openingof the boarding school a year.
BT Irwin (10:26):
But you managed to get it open in 2014, 2015?
Dennis Cady (10:29):
But you managed to get it open in 2014, 2015?
We actually opened in.
We opened, let's see 13, 14,after we opened in 15.
BT Irwin (10:38):
Yeah, how is the school doing since then?
How has that project come?
Dennis Cady (10:41):
along.
It's doing fine.
It is a boarding school.
The governor's first requestwas teach our people a skill.
But also we have tribesfighting against tribes.
We will help you find students.
That was not necessary but thatwas part of his offer.
We will make available land andwe will find students.
(11:02):
We will recruit students fromdifferent tribes to come and
make it a boarding school.
So they must live together,they must eat together, they
must play soccer together on thefield between classes and they
will learn that the people inother tribes are not all bad.
This was the governor speaking.
Well, the Civil War that brokeout made that impossible.
(11:23):
Two tribes would not come andsleep together in the same
dormitory and so most of ourstudents that is changing with
time, but most of our studentswere from the Dinka tribe,
d-i-n-k-a, and we have graduallyhad some students from minor
tribes as well.
But the school has always donevery well.
(11:46):
Now it's a boarding school.
We charge a token tuition.
Now it's a boarding school.
We charge a token tuition thatdoesn't even pay for one week's
meals, let alone five monthsmeals.
And we had to get teachers fromout of the country because South
Sudanese didn't know how to doelectrical work and use
computers and those things.
(12:08):
So those salaries were biggersalaries than we would have paid
in the local market and wewanted Christian teachers.
So we went out of the countryand Christian teachers had those
skills.
So it has always been thefinancial elephant in the room.
We have capacity for 150students.
We have had as many as 100.
(12:28):
We now have 50.
150 students we have had asmany as 100.
We now have 50.
We've had to limit thatdifferent times, not because of
availability of students butbecause of money.
But it's doing well.
It's just not as successful asit could be if we could operate
full steam.
BT Irwin (12:45):
Yeah, does most of your funding come from the
United States?
Dennis Cady (12:51):
All of it.
BT Irwin (12:52):
All of it comes from the United States.
Okay, it sounds like a clearcall for support right there to
all of our listeners in theUnited States.
You got it.
One of the reasons you know howit's done.
You've been doing this a longtime, so one of the reasons we
wanted you on the show is thatwe had this remarkable report
from South Sudan that wepublished in the Christian
(13:14):
Chronicle last fall.
The report was that 37congregations were established
and something like 837 peoplewere baptized in one city there
in South Sudan, in one citythere in South Sudan.
So, from starting the schoolback and opening it up in 2015,
(13:40):
you said there were no Church ofChrist congregations in South
Sudan when you first visited in2011.
It sounds like the gospel isspreading very quickly.
Churches are forming, peopleare being baptized.
Tell us what's happening there.
Tell us what you see.
Dennis Cady (13:54):
Your numbers were accurate.
They are totally outdated.
In 2022, we became aware ofWorld English Institute students
hundreds of miles to the northin the province of AWIL, next to
the border with Sudan.
(14:15):
Those students had learned thegospel through World English
Institute, world Bible School,online.
They wanted to be baptized.
We sent four evangelists, orfour preachers, four Christians
Not all of them were technicallyevangelists up there and that
trip they stayed about 10 days,baptized 13 people.
(14:36):
That is where our primary focusis now is on fire for the
spread of the gospel.
In 2024, over 1,800 werebaptized.
In 2024, over 1,800 werebaptized.
62 congregations wereestablished.
In the first two months of thisyear, 661 have been baptized in
(15:02):
two months and 11 new churchesestablished, and there'll be
more next week.
BT Irwin (15:07):
I was going to say we're recording this on March
3rd 2025, and you're saying thatjust in 2025,.
The last two months, there havebeen 11 new congregations
established and 661 baptisms.
Dennis Cady (15:23):
Wow.
Evangelists there go out on theweekend and conduct three-day
seminars.
They call them.
It would be like a gospelmeeting, except they're in the
daytime because they don't haveelectricity.
Friday, saturday, sunday andSunday they baptize people.
I guarantee you there will betwo or three new churches this
weekend and there will be morepeople baptized.
(15:46):
We supported five evangelistsduring 2024.
We were there in november of 24and things were stacked up,
villages asking our evangelistscome and preach the gospel here,
come and start a church ofchrist here.
So we added five moreevangelists.
(16:07):
That's a total of 10.
Holly Linden (16:09):
And it's just just .
Dennis Cady (16:15):
I went to the mission when I was supported
when I was 20.
The church in York, Nebraska,had a program kind of like the
AIM program at sunset, calledMaster's Apprentice Program, and
as a single young guy betweenmy sophomore and junior year in
college, I've been at this along time.
I had my 21st birthday on themission field.
(16:36):
I have never seen anything evenclose to the results that are
happening in mainly a wheel.
It is not Sudan, but especiallythe wheel part.
There are other parts of thecountry that are slow.
That's why those of us who workin third and we even say fourth
world countries find greaterreceptivity than we do in the.
I don't want to get in troublewith anybody somewhere else, but
(16:59):
find more receptivity than thepeople who preach the gospel in
London, England, or Paris,France, or even Dallas, Texas.
BT Irwin (17:06):
What do you think?
Because you know the people inSouth Sudan, you've talked about
their circumstances.
Certainly the way you comparedlife for a person living in
South Sudan with life for aperson living in Wichita Falls,
texas.
What is it about the gospel?
What about it?
(17:26):
What about the gospel is comingacross as such good news to our
neighbors in South Sudan?
What about it is so veryappealing to them?
Dennis Cady (17:37):
It's not like the people of South Sudan have never
heard about, heard of the Bible.
We appreciate those who havegone before us of other beliefs,
of later ground groundwork, butwe try to make this plain.
It's simple, it doesn't need tobe theological.
(17:57):
The gospel is plain and it'ssimple.
And these people, most of them,are illiterate and we use
simple illustrations.
We don't mind, in a polite way,disagreeing with what they've
been taught.
I have an illustration that Iuse.
(18:17):
I just stumbled onto it.
In South Sudan, the predominantreligion, christian religion
there is Anglican Church orEpiscopal.
Sudan was a British colonyuntil 1956, became independent,
but the Church of England wasthe first Christian influence
(18:38):
there during those colonialyears.
And they sprinkle for baptismand so I don't care what the
Greek word baptizo means and allthat, and they don't care
either.
And if I told them theywouldn't know if they could
believe me or not.
But I can show them verseswhere baptism is a burial and
some people call it other thingsbaptism.
(19:02):
So usually there's a goatwalking around and I say you see
that goat over there.
How many legs does that goathave?
Everybody answers four.
I said all right, I'm going totell you.
I'm educated, I have collegedegrees.
I came from America.
I'm a smart person.
I got a Bible in my hand andI'm going to tell you that that
tail is now a leg.
Now, I'm going to tell you thatthat tail is now a leg.
(19:26):
Now I'm going to ask you againhow many legs does that goat
have?
Some say four, some say five,and they get an argument with
each other and I let them fuss alittle bit and finally they say
the right answer.
Well, it still just has fourlegs.
I said are you saying that?
When I told you the tail becamea leg, I lied to you.
They said you are a liar.
I said that's exactly right andthat's what your priests and
(19:47):
your pastors have told you.
And maybe they believe that lie, but they have told you wrong.
And so we use simple thingslike that, and every time they
see a goat after that they'llthink of that illustration.
That they'll think of thatillustration, and so we try to
adapt to the message to theirlevel, if that's what I want to
say to.
BT Irwin (20:07):
so it's effective it seems like the jesus way so many
of jesus's.
Now everybody listening to thiswill never see a goat the same
dennis.
So thank you for that.
Um, one of the reasons that theChristian Chronicle prioritizes
news from Christians around theworld is that we believe
(20:30):
Christians have so much to learnfrom each other.
So what lesson or message doyou think God has for his people
all over the world from thepeople in South Sudan?
How do you imagine the Churchof Christ in South Sudan is
building up the entire body ofChrist all over the world?
Dennis Cady (20:49):
When we come back to the States after our trip.
We communicate and that makespossible our work.
We communicate multiple timesdaily with brethren in South
Sudan and we see and we hearstories and we know people that
when our listeners, when peoplein churches that we go to and
(21:10):
report to hear these stories,they're inspired, they're
motivated, Motivated.
Maybe is a good way.
I think it helps those wholisten to when I tell them there
are people that walk for hoursbarefooted through the African
bush to come to worship and theysit on the ground or they sit
(21:31):
on rough logs for longer than wego to church and Bible class
and they don't watch the clock,and I give them other examples
like that.
It touches some of those peoplein our comfy pews and it should
touch more, and so it providesa little more motivation.
(21:51):
Maybe I should do more, Maybe.
BT Irwin (21:53):
I should not take for granted the things I have easy
for Americans like me to see thedanger and hardship that
Christians face in South Sudanand think that that is the
biggest challenge to theirChristianity.
But I wonder if there arechallenges and temptations for
(22:14):
Christians there that we missbecause we don't know the full
story of life in South Sudan,and I'm thinking of the example
of the violence in that country.
You mentioned it yourselfbetween 2013 and 2020.
It continues today betweenethnic factions and militias.
It's been atrocious.
It's been generational.
(22:35):
You mentioned the Dinka, theDinka people a few minutes ago.
I know, I think it's.
Is it the newer, the secondlargest?
Dennis Cady (22:47):
ethnic group.
Yes, that's the main twoconflicting tribes.
BT Irwin (22:51):
Got it.
So these grudges go backgenerations and are almost
passed down from generation togeneration.
Dennis Cady (22:58):
We call it Hatfields and McCoys.
BT Irwin (23:00):
Hatfields and McCoys.
I was thinking of Catholics andProtestants in Northern Ireland
, or Israelis and Palestinians,so it's possible that you have
people from these differentfactions joining the same body
of Christ.
How are Christians and how isthe church dealing with
overcoming some of these deep,deep, generational, almost
(23:23):
hatred that people have for eachother as they come into the
body of Christ?
Dennis Cady (23:27):
In most areas there is one tribe that's predominant
.
We work mostly with Dinkapeople, not by design, but
that's just where we've been ledand they have friends and
relatives and they've gotkinfolk in the next village over
, been led and they have friendsand relatives and they got
kinfolk in the next village over.
Most of our work is among theDinka tribe, which is also the
(23:49):
largest tribe in South Sudan.
But there are people in otherareas where it's a different
tribe.
So in those situations, in achurch, in a village they don't
have to deal with other tribes.
But there are tribes, and it'smore so now as people are more
mobile as younger generations gooff and get education.
(24:10):
There are two and three and fourtribes, people from two or
three or four tribes that are inthe same congregation.
There are congregations thatuse multiple languages.
A sermon may be preached in onelanguage, translated twice so
that everybody can benefit fromit.
But they get along.
There is no.
(24:31):
I've never heard of anyanimosity, ill will, walking on
eggshells, any of thatinternally in the church.
Now I'd like to address onemore thing, that kind of tied to
that, which says somethingabout the wonderful spirit of
the South Sudanese people.
The Muslim war of 22 years wasbrutal, it was horrific.
(24:56):
It was fought in what is nowSouth Sudan.
It wasn't fought in the north,it was fought in the south,
which became South Sudan.
Muslims were, Christians werebrutal too, Some of it in
self-defense.
But Muslims raped and killedwomen, Muslims killed men.
Muslims kidnapped boys and madethem child soldiers.
(25:19):
They did terrible things tothose people and over and over I
have picked up in conversationsamong Christian people generic
Christian people in our NewTestament, Christian brothers.
They do not hate the Muslims.
And I have asked several howcan you not hate those people?
(25:43):
And the answer has always beenthe same God tells me.
If I don't forgive, I cannot beforgiven.
I want to go to heaven and so Imust forgive them.
Wow, you think anybody in achurch in the Bible Belt in
America ought to hear that theygot some people they don't hate
(26:04):
or that they hate yeah yeah, butwe have no problem.
We have no problem in thechurches and in the villages
where, uh, there are churcheswith the problems you're
describing tribes not gettinggetting along.
Now we choose not to work insome areas because there are
(26:24):
still lingering problems in someareas.
We'll go there when we can getto them.
In the meantime, we've gotpeople waiting for us that we
don't have that problem to dealwith.
BT Irwin (26:35):
Well, here at the end, Dennis, and thank you for
sharing what you just shared.
That's very powerful and that'swhere the rubber meets the road
right.
Do you have maybe one or twofavorite stories that you'd like
to tell about our brothers andsisters in South Sudan, or what
you've seen God doing in thatcountry?
Dennis Cady (26:59):
One of the first examples that comes to mind is
tied to our vocational school.
The vocational school has twostandalone five-month terms a
year with a month break betweenthem.
It is a vocational school.
We teach at this.
We've taught various vocations,but at this time we're teaching
electrical computers andtailoring.
(27:23):
But we also teach Bible, butthe students do not come.
Many non-Christians come and webaptize a good number of our
students.
A term was about two years ago.
A term was ready to start.
A man named John Lee Cure hadnot shown up.
He had enrolled or registeredby Internet came from quite a
(27:46):
distance away starting to startthe school.
He wasn't there.
Finally, he came 12 days late.
He had walked 12 days in theAfrican bush so he could attend
a Bible school and also learn askill.
Wow, he has graduated.
He's now an asset back in hiscongregation.
(28:08):
He's so remote we will probablynever go to that congregation.
Jacob O'Jack at one time wassupported as an evangelist with
us in a very remote area.
Twice he fled for his lifeduring the time he was assigned
there because of tribal problemscoming.
That was in the 2013-2015 timeperiod and a little bit after
(28:32):
that that area still hadviolence for a while.
Twice he fled for his life andboth times he has.
As soon as it was safe I mightsay sooner than it was safe he
went back to his post andcontinued to preach the gospel.
He said it's more importantthat these people hear the
gospel than I remain safe Backup to a wheel.
I said that we had fiveevangelists that we support.
(28:54):
Last year, when we were therein November, we just saw such
greater need so we added fivemore.
Such greater need, so we addedfive more.
One of the ones that we addedwithout pay, without support,
but with conviction that if Idon't tell the gospel to these
people they won't hear it.
And he had a list.
(29:14):
He had a written list of 12villages asking him no support.
Come and start a Church ofChrist in our place and they
walk.
We now are able to provide eachof those supported evangelists
with a motorcycle.
It's essential if the church isgoing to grow to its capacity.
(29:37):
But before they got motorcyclesthey walked.
But before they got motorcyclesthey walked, and they sometimes
walked two or three days topreach the gospel.
I was an elder.
Now I'm going to make thepreachers mad at me.
I was an elder, but I was anelder for 22 years in two
different congregations.
And these guys look at itdifferent.
(29:59):
They look for an opportunity.
They got to feed their families, but they don't negotiate for
fringe benefits.
And these guys look at itdifferent.
They look for an opportunity.
They've got to feed theirfamilies, but they don't
negotiate for fringe benefits.
At job interviews with elders,american preachers do.
BT Irwin (30:12):
It's a whole different deal.
Well, Dennis, it's obvious thatGod is at work in a powerful
way among the people of SouthSudan.
So many new congregationsforming.
It's got to be mind-blowing forour American audience to hear
what's happening there.
How many people have beenbaptized since we started this
(30:33):
interview, and you and theStarfish Foundation are coming
alongside God and the peoplethere to support them and join
in with them.
If our brothers and sisterslistening to this right now and
all other parts of the worldwant to also come alongside you
and the Starfish Foundation andthe churches in South Sudan, how
(30:58):
might they do that?
Dennis Cady (30:59):
Yes sir.
I say this.
I hope this will come across inthe way that I intend it.
Chuck and I are notmissionaries.
We get no salary.
We are the two biggestcontributors financially to this
work.
When we go to South Sudan, wepay our own way.
When we go to report to acongregation, we buy the gas.
When we send out a newsletter,we buy the stamps.
(31:21):
But this works out grown.
We need help.
The preachers the 10 preachersare telling us there can be
between 3,000 and 4,000 baptismsthis year and they baptize 660,
something in two months.
(31:42):
I'm not going to tell them Ican't do that.
It can't be done.
But the more growth we havewhen we report, there's more
churches, there's more seminarsto be conducted, there's
training sessions.
All that takes more moneybecause the church is growing.
So I'm not ashamed to say weneed dollars, we need
contributions and we have awebsite,
(32:03):
thestarfishfoundationnet.
That's thestarfishfoundationnetand contributions can be found
there if anybody has questions.
A lot of ways to make donations.
We need prayers, we need wordsof encouragement.
A lot of ways to make donations, but we need prayers, we need
(32:23):
words of encouragement, but I'munashamed to say we need to go
to the maximum.
What is the potential?
Chuck and I are both 79.
We know our time's limited,ongoing and nobody is after our
job, so we have decided we needto push this as hard and as fast
as we can in the time we haveleft, because no 30 year old guy
(32:44):
out of a preacher school sayingI'll go yeah so we need help.
BT Irwin (32:52):
well, uh, one thing I've raised a lot of money in my
life and one thing I've alwayssaid about fundraising is it is
a ministry, because there are alot of people who can't or won't
go where you will go, but theycan support the work you're
doing with something that'sfairly easy to do, which is
write a check.
So if people are listening tothis right now and they want to
(33:13):
contribute to the amazing workthat God is doing in South Sudan
, we'll put a link to theStarfish Foundation in the show
notes.
You can click on that andbecome a part of this really big
thing that God is doing inSouth Sudan.
Dennis Cady is a lifelongmissionary and he leads the
Starfish Foundation with ChuckDennis the two Dennis's and
(33:33):
they're working hard to love ourneighbors in Haiti and South
Sudan.
Dennis has been a firsthandwitness to God at work in mighty
ways in those two countries.
We'll put a link to theStarfish Foundation in the show
notes, like I said, so you cancome alongside your new brothers
and sisters in Christ and yourneighbors in South Sudan.
Dennis, our prayers are withyou as you head back to South
(33:53):
Sudan very soon.
Dennis Cady (33:58):
April 24th.
BT Irwin (33:59):
Okay.
Dennis Cady (34:00):
Tickets are in hand .
BT Irwin (34:02):
All right, everybody will be praying for you, dennis.
Dennis Cady (34:04):
Thank you, I thank you, I thank you and I thank
Eric for putting us in touchwith you, and we appreciate the
exposure that this will give towork.
BT Irwin (34:15):
Yes, sir, grace and peace to you and all of our
brothers and sisters in SouthSudan.
We hope that something youheard in this episode encouraged
, enlightened or enriched you insome way.
If it did, thanks be to God andplease pay it forward.
Subscribe to the podcast, shareit with a friend, recommend and
review it wherever you listento your favorite podcasts.
Your subscription,recommendation and review help
(34:36):
us reach more people.
Please send your comments,ideas and suggestions to podcast
at christianchronicleorg.
And don't forget our ministryto inform and inspire Christians
and congregations around theworld is a non-profit ministry
that relies on your generosity.
So if you like the show and youwant to keep it going and make
it even better, please make atax-deductible gift to the
(34:59):
Christian Chronicle atchristianchronicleorg.
Slash donate Until next time.
May grace and peace be yours inabundance.
Holly Linden (35:09):
The Christian Chronicle Podcast is a
production of the ChristianChronicle Inc.
Informing and inspiring Churchof Christ congregations, members
and ministries around the worldsince 1943.
The Christian ChroniclesManaging Editor is Audrey
Jackson, editor-in-chief BobbyRoss Jr and President and CEO
(35:30):
Eric Trigestad.
The Christian Chronicle Podcastis written, directed, hosted
and edited by BT Irwin and isproduced by James Flanagan in
Detroit, michigan, usa.
Welcome to the Christian Chronicle Podcast.
We are bringing you the storyshaping Church of Christ
congregations and members aroundthe world.
Here is our host, BT Irwin.
BT Irwin (00:14):
Family and friends, neighbors and, most of all,
strangers.
Welcome to the ChristianChronicle Podcast.
May what you are about to hearbless you and honor God.
In my lifetime, I observed thatsome Christians who sojourn in
the United States seem to inferthat conditions in the culture
must be just right forChristianity to flourish.
(00:35):
For example, I remember hearingChristians link the decline of
church membership to things likethe end of mandatory Christian
prayer in public schools, theover-sexualization of our
culture and the quote-unquotewrong people holding government
offices.
Now, while there is acorrelation between changes in
culture and policy and thedecline of church membership
(00:57):
here in the United States overmy lifetime, it is helpful for
us to zoom out to a global pointof view.
After all, there are many moreChristians living outside the
United States than in it.
Indeed, the latest data showthat Christianity is exploding
all over the world.
The Church of Christ in the21st century is global and it is
(01:17):
thriving.
Now, lest we think that that ishappening because conditions
are better or more conducive toChristianity in other parts of
the world, we need to considernews like what we're bringing
you today.
That news comes to us fromSouth Sudan, which happens to be
the newest sovereign nation onearth, founded in 2011 when it
declared its independence fromSudan.
(01:39):
We don't have time to go intogreat detail about South Sudan's
culture, history and people.
It is a complex and long story,as is the story of any nation.
What we will say here is that,since the middle of the 20th
century, the people who live inSouth Sudan have endured some of
the worst economic conditionsand violence of any people on
earth.
Two civil wars convulsed thenation of Sudan through the
(02:02):
second half of the 20th century,eventually leading to South
Sudan's independence in 2011.
The Christian Chroniclereported on the hope and
optimism that many Christians inSouth Sudan felt when their
country became independent, butless than two years later, in
2013, civil war broke out again,this time among ethnic and
political rivals that wantedmore control of the country and
(02:24):
its resources.
Seven more years of open wardecimated South Sudan, killing
400,000 people and displacing 4million in a nation of only 11
million.
The political end of the civilwar in 2020 did not end the
violence, as various ethnic andmilitia factions continue to
fight, laying waste to thecountry's economy and
(02:45):
infrastructure.
This is the setting for one ofthe most marvelous stories that
the Christian Chronicle hasreported over the last few
months, for in a place wherehuman beings are lucky to even
survive, they're often harassed,hungry and homeless.
The Church of Christ isthriving in a way that Americans
wish it would in the UnitedStates.
For example, last fall theChristian Chronicle reported
(03:08):
that in just eight months, 37new Church of Christ
congregations formed for 837newly baptized Christians in
just one South Sudanese city.
Does anyone else think thatmaybe we need Christians from
South Sudan to come to theUnited States to teach us how to
join God in growing the church,most of all since those of us
(03:31):
here in the United States haveso many things going for us and
our brothers and sisters inSouth Sudan have so many things
going against them, and yet theygrow and thrive against
everything that should stand inthe way.
It is a little hard to get aChristian in South Sudan on the
podcast.
We will do that someday, Ipromise, but this time we have
the next best thing.
Dennis Cady is a lifelongmissionary who preached the good
(03:54):
news of the kingdom of God inmany places that other
missionaries did not dare to go.
He started his missionary workin Southeast Asia when he was
just 20 years old and traveledto 20 nations, since the poverty
Dennis saw in some parts of theworld inspired him to start the
nonprofit Starfish Foundationin 2007.
Simply put, the StarfishFoundation helps those in need
(04:17):
most of all by investing ineducation.
In recent years, the StarfishFoundation has worked
exclusively in Haiti and SouthSudan.
Dennis has had a front row seatto witness the miraculous work
that God is doing in South Sudan.
Dennis, thank you for coming toshare your testimony today.
Dennis Cady (04:34):
I appreciate the Chronicle giving us this
opportunity.
BT Irwin (04:38):
It's a pleasure to have you.
So you've been working in SouthSudan for a long time now and,
we should note, you did not gothere at a time when it was at
peace and prospering.
In fact, as long as you've beengoing to work in South Sudan,
civil war, famine and violencehave been raging in that country
.
Are you just the kind of guywho likes danger, or did
something else move you to comealongside the people there?
Dennis Cady (05:01):
I don't particularly like danger.
Before we start with ourquestions, I'd like to insert
that I have a co-worker.
Chuck Dennis and I are equalco-workers I'm the mouthpiece
today for that but Chuck and Iare best friends.
We both go to the Faith VillageChurch of Christ in Wichita
Falls and from day one, we havelooked for a work and found a
work, and we are co-workers.
So I want to be sure that Chuckis recognized as a big part of
(05:25):
this.
This is not my work.
First, it's God's work.
Secondly, it's our work, butit's not my work.
I cannot deny that it was notsafe for us to go in the
beginning.
There is still an element ofdanger, but it's extremely low
compared to what it was when westarted in December of 2011.
I had several years ofexperience in Indonesia, chuck
(05:45):
had experiences in CentralAmerica and I had the
opportunity to turn the work inIndonesia over to other people
who are continuing it in a goodway.
Chuck and I teamed up and wewere looking for a new work.
We had three criteria and wehad explored some options.
Finally, I called Eric at theChronicle and I said we have
(06:05):
three criteria.
One is we want to start a newwork.
We want to pioneer.
We don't want to build onsomebody else's foundation.
Second, we want to combinehumanitarian work and evangelism
or church planning.
We think Matthew 25 is in thesame Bible as Mark 16 and
Matthew 28.
And thirdly, we are not afraidto go where other people won't
(06:26):
go because they say it's toodirty or too dangerous.
Eric heard that he said youneed to go to South Sudan.
So that opened our.
We barely knew where SouthSudan was.
We did a lot of research, wemade a survey trip, but if we we
give Eric the blame or thecredit for our choice, yeah,
(06:47):
that's our CEO, eric Trigestad.
BT Irwin (06:49):
That's a good story.
So you first went there in 2011, right, right after South Sudan
became an independent nation.
Dennis Cady (07:00):
We made a survey trip.
We left the state December 27th2011,.
Five months after it became acountry.
BT Irwin (07:09):
Okay, and when did you ?
Following a 22-year?
Dennis Cady (07:12):
civil war.
BT Irwin (07:13):
That's right.
That's right, and youestablished a school there.
If I'm not mistaken, thatopened not too long after.
Could you tell us about that?
Dennis Cady (07:23):
In our survey trip, we tried to just, first of all,
determine if South Sudan wasgoing to be our target and then,
if it was, where in South Sudan, location-wise, and what
approach we would take to startwith, because the Church of
Christ was unknown there.
We ended up in the office ofthe governor of the largest
(07:46):
state, in South John Lee State.
I have never sat in the officeof a governor in a state of
America, but here I was, chuckand I were in the office of the
governor and we told him we wantto help.
We have traveled your country,you have just finished war.
We want to do something foryour country.
(08:09):
You need everything.
You need bridges, you needwater wells, you need medical
clinics, you need schools.
We cannot do everything.
What would you like us to do?
And he said the war is over, butall our people know how to do
after 22 years of fighting themuslims is kill, swing machetes
(08:29):
and shoot guns wow we'rerebuilding, but people are
coming from other countriesindia and uganda because they
have the skills to build andthey're sending their wages and
their money back out of thecountry.
Our, our country, is benefitingfrom what they do, but we need
a vocational school to train ourpeople as we recover and
(08:51):
rebuild.
They made available six acresof land and that was the reason
that we started with thevocational school, which
continues today.
BT Irwin (09:02):
That school is in Boer .
Is that correct?
Dennis Cady (09:05):
Yes, for the capital city of that largest
state, zhongli?
Yes.
BT Irwin (09:12):
And it seems like about the time you were trying
to get that school set up.
Civil War broke out againaround 2013 and actually
affected the work you weretrying to do at the time.
Dennis Cady (09:26):
Knocked the wind out of us.
We had built buildings.
Chuck is a home builder, anarchitect.
He designed the campus with thebuildings, the sewer lines,
Knocked the wind out of us.
We had built buildings.
Chuck is a home builder, anarchitect.
He designed the campus with thebuildings, the sewer lines.
We contracted with aconstruction company actually
living in Indonesia I'm sorry,living in South Sudan but they
were Indian people and theybuilt our campus.
(09:47):
We had it ready to open.
We had not moved furniture inyet, but we were going to open
in February of 2014.
In December of 2013, civil warbroke out, mainly tribal.
This had nothing to do withSouth Sudan and Sudan, or
Christians and Muslims.
This was tribal.
Now we were in the middle of acivil war.
(10:12):
We didn't know if we had acampus even left.
They did damage but they didnot do destruction.
But that's delayed the openingof the boarding school a year.
BT Irwin (10:26):
But you managed to get it open in 2014, 2015?
Dennis Cady (10:29):
But you managed to get it open in 2014, 2015?
We actually opened in.
We opened, let's see 13, 14,after we opened in 15.
BT Irwin (10:38):
Yeah, how is the school doing since then?
How has that project come?
Dennis Cady (10:41):
along.
It's doing fine.
It is a boarding school.
The governor's first requestwas teach our people a skill.
But also we have tribesfighting against tribes.
We will help you find students.
That was not necessary but thatwas part of his offer.
We will make available land andwe will find students.
(11:02):
We will recruit students fromdifferent tribes to come and
make it a boarding school.
So they must live together,they must eat together, they
must play soccer together on thefield between classes and they
will learn that the people inother tribes are not all bad.
This was the governor speaking.
Well, the Civil War that brokeout made that impossible.
(11:23):
Two tribes would not come andsleep together in the same
dormitory and so most of ourstudents that is changing with
time, but most of our studentswere from the Dinka tribe,
d-i-n-k-a, and we have graduallyhad some students from minor
tribes as well.
But the school has always donevery well.
(11:46):
Now it's a boarding school.
We charge a token tuition.
Now it's a boarding school.
We charge a token tuition thatdoesn't even pay for one week's
meals, let alone five monthsmeals.
And we had to get teachers fromout of the country because South
Sudanese didn't know how to doelectrical work and use
computers and those things.
(12:08):
So those salaries were biggersalaries than we would have paid
in the local market and wewanted Christian teachers.
So we went out of the countryand Christian teachers had those
skills.
So it has always been thefinancial elephant in the room.
We have capacity for 150students.
We have had as many as 100.
(12:28):
We now have 50.
150 students we have had asmany as 100.
We now have 50.
We've had to limit thatdifferent times, not because of
availability of students butbecause of money.
But it's doing well.
It's just not as successful asit could be if we could operate
full steam.
BT Irwin (12:45):
Yeah, does most of your funding come from the
United States?
Dennis Cady (12:51):
All of it.
BT Irwin (12:52):
All of it comes from the United States.
Okay, it sounds like a clearcall for support right there to
all of our listeners in theUnited States.
You got it.
One of the reasons you know howit's done.
You've been doing this a longtime, so one of the reasons we
wanted you on the show is thatwe had this remarkable report
from South Sudan that wepublished in the Christian
(13:14):
Chronicle last fall.
The report was that 37congregations were established
and something like 837 peoplewere baptized in one city there
in South Sudan, in one citythere in South Sudan.
So, from starting the schoolback and opening it up in 2015,
(13:40):
you said there were no Church ofChrist congregations in South
Sudan when you first visited in2011.
It sounds like the gospel isspreading very quickly.
Churches are forming, peopleare being baptized.
Tell us what's happening there.
Tell us what you see.
Dennis Cady (13:54):
Your numbers were accurate.
They are totally outdated.
In 2022, we became aware ofWorld English Institute students
hundreds of miles to the northin the province of AWIL, next to
the border with Sudan.
(14:15):
Those students had learned thegospel through World English
Institute, world Bible School,online.
They wanted to be baptized.
We sent four evangelists, orfour preachers, four Christians
Not all of them were technicallyevangelists up there and that
trip they stayed about 10 days,baptized 13 people.
(14:36):
That is where our primary focusis now is on fire for the
spread of the gospel.
In 2024, over 1,800 werebaptized.
In 2024, over 1,800 werebaptized.
62 congregations wereestablished.
In the first two months of thisyear, 661 have been baptized in
(15:02):
two months and 11 new churchesestablished, and there'll be
more next week.
BT Irwin (15:07):
I was going to say we're recording this on March
3rd 2025, and you're saying thatjust in 2025,.
The last two months, there havebeen 11 new congregations
established and 661 baptisms.
Dennis Cady (15:23):
Wow.
Evangelists there go out on theweekend and conduct three-day
seminars.
They call them.
It would be like a gospelmeeting, except they're in the
daytime because they don't haveelectricity.
Friday, saturday, sunday andSunday they baptize people.
I guarantee you there will betwo or three new churches this
weekend and there will be morepeople baptized.
(15:46):
We supported five evangelistsduring 2024.
We were there in november of 24and things were stacked up,
villages asking our evangelistscome and preach the gospel here,
come and start a church ofchrist here.
So we added five moreevangelists.
(16:07):
That's a total of 10.
Holly Linden (16:09):
And it's just just .
Dennis Cady (16:15):
I went to the mission when I was supported
when I was 20.
The church in York, Nebraska,had a program kind of like the
AIM program at sunset, calledMaster's Apprentice Program, and
as a single young guy betweenmy sophomore and junior year in
college, I've been at this along time.
I had my 21st birthday on themission field.
(16:36):
I have never seen anything evenclose to the results that are
happening in mainly a wheel.
It is not Sudan, but especiallythe wheel part.
There are other parts of thecountry that are slow.
That's why those of us who workin third and we even say fourth
world countries find greaterreceptivity than we do in the.
I don't want to get in troublewith anybody somewhere else, but
(16:59):
find more receptivity than thepeople who preach the gospel in
London, England, or Paris,France, or even Dallas, Texas.
BT Irwin (17:06):
What do you think?
Because you know the people inSouth Sudan, you've talked about
their circumstances.
Certainly the way you comparedlife for a person living in
South Sudan with life for aperson living in Wichita Falls,
texas.
What is it about the gospel?
What about it?
(17:26):
What about the gospel is comingacross as such good news to our
neighbors in South Sudan?
What about it is so veryappealing to them?
Dennis Cady (17:37):
It's not like the people of South Sudan have never
heard about, heard of the Bible.
We appreciate those who havegone before us of other beliefs,
of later ground groundwork, butwe try to make this plain.
It's simple, it doesn't need tobe theological.
(17:57):
The gospel is plain and it'ssimple.
And these people, most of them,are illiterate and we use
simple illustrations.
We don't mind, in a polite way,disagreeing with what they've
been taught.
I have an illustration that Iuse.
(18:17):
I just stumbled onto it.
In South Sudan, the predominantreligion, christian religion
there is Anglican Church orEpiscopal.
Sudan was a British colonyuntil 1956, became independent,
but the Church of England wasthe first Christian influence
(18:38):
there during those colonialyears.
And they sprinkle for baptismand so I don't care what the
Greek word baptizo means and allthat, and they don't care
either.
And if I told them theywouldn't know if they could
believe me or not.
But I can show them verseswhere baptism is a burial and
some people call it other thingsbaptism.
(19:02):
So usually there's a goatwalking around and I say you see
that goat over there.
How many legs does that goathave?
Everybody answers four.
I said all right, I'm going totell you.
I'm educated, I have collegedegrees.
I came from America.
I'm a smart person.
I got a Bible in my hand andI'm going to tell you that that
tail is now a leg.
Now, I'm going to tell you thatthat tail is now a leg.
(19:26):
Now I'm going to ask you againhow many legs does that goat
have?
Some say four, some say five,and they get an argument with
each other and I let them fuss alittle bit and finally they say
the right answer.
Well, it still just has fourlegs.
I said are you saying that?
When I told you the tail becamea leg, I lied to you.
They said you are a liar.
I said that's exactly right andthat's what your priests and
(19:47):
your pastors have told you.
And maybe they believe that lie, but they have told you wrong.
And so we use simple thingslike that, and every time they
see a goat after that they'llthink of that illustration.
That they'll think of thatillustration, and so we try to
adapt to the message to theirlevel, if that's what I want to
say to.
BT Irwin (20:07):
so it's effective it seems like the jesus way so many
of jesus's.
Now everybody listening to thiswill never see a goat the same
dennis.
So thank you for that.
Um, one of the reasons that theChristian Chronicle prioritizes
news from Christians around theworld is that we believe
(20:30):
Christians have so much to learnfrom each other.
So what lesson or message doyou think God has for his people
all over the world from thepeople in South Sudan?
How do you imagine the Churchof Christ in South Sudan is
building up the entire body ofChrist all over the world?
Dennis Cady (20:49):
When we come back to the States after our trip.
We communicate and that makespossible our work.
We communicate multiple timesdaily with brethren in South
Sudan and we see and we hearstories and we know people that
when our listeners, when peoplein churches that we go to and
(21:10):
report to hear these stories,they're inspired, they're
motivated, Motivated.
Maybe is a good way.
I think it helps those wholisten to when I tell them there
are people that walk for hoursbarefooted through the African
bush to come to worship and theysit on the ground or they sit
(21:31):
on rough logs for longer than wego to church and Bible class
and they don't watch the clock,and I give them other examples
like that.
It touches some of those peoplein our comfy pews and it should
touch more, and so it providesa little more motivation.
(21:51):
Maybe I should do more, Maybe.
BT Irwin (21:53):
I should not take for granted the things I have easy
for Americans like me to see thedanger and hardship that
Christians face in South Sudanand think that that is the
biggest challenge to theirChristianity.
But I wonder if there arechallenges and temptations for
(22:14):
Christians there that we missbecause we don't know the full
story of life in South Sudan,and I'm thinking of the example
of the violence in that country.
You mentioned it yourselfbetween 2013 and 2020.
It continues today betweenethnic factions and militias.
It's been atrocious.
It's been generational.
(22:35):
You mentioned the Dinka, theDinka people a few minutes ago.
I know, I think it's.
Is it the newer, the secondlargest?
Dennis Cady (22:47):
ethnic group.
Yes, that's the main twoconflicting tribes.
BT Irwin (22:51):
Got it.
So these grudges go backgenerations and are almost
passed down from generation togeneration.
Dennis Cady (22:58):
We call it Hatfields and McCoys.
BT Irwin (23:00):
Hatfields and McCoys.
I was thinking of Catholics andProtestants in Northern Ireland
, or Israelis and Palestinians,so it's possible that you have
people from these differentfactions joining the same body
of Christ.
How are Christians and how isthe church dealing with
overcoming some of these deep,deep, generational, almost
(23:23):
hatred that people have for eachother as they come into the
body of Christ?
Dennis Cady (23:27):
In most areas there is one tribe that's predominant
.
We work mostly with Dinkapeople, not by design, but
that's just where we've been ledand they have friends and
relatives and they've gotkinfolk in the next village over
, been led and they have friendsand relatives and they got
kinfolk in the next village over.
Most of our work is among theDinka tribe, which is also the
(23:49):
largest tribe in South Sudan.
But there are people in otherareas where it's a different
tribe.
So in those situations, in achurch, in a village they don't
have to deal with other tribes.
But there are tribes, and it'smore so now as people are more
mobile as younger generations gooff and get education.
(24:10):
There are two and three and fourtribes, people from two or
three or four tribes that are inthe same congregation.
There are congregations thatuse multiple languages.
A sermon may be preached in onelanguage, translated twice so
that everybody can benefit fromit.
But they get along.
There is no.
(24:31):
I've never heard of anyanimosity, ill will, walking on
eggshells, any of thatinternally in the church.
Now I'd like to address onemore thing, that kind of tied to
that, which says somethingabout the wonderful spirit of
the South Sudanese people.
The Muslim war of 22 years wasbrutal, it was horrific.
(24:56):
It was fought in what is nowSouth Sudan.
It wasn't fought in the north,it was fought in the south,
which became South Sudan.
Muslims were, Christians werebrutal too, Some of it in
self-defense.
But Muslims raped and killedwomen, Muslims killed men.
Muslims kidnapped boys and madethem child soldiers.
(25:19):
They did terrible things tothose people and over and over I
have picked up in conversationsamong Christian people generic
Christian people in our NewTestament, Christian brothers.
They do not hate the Muslims.
And I have asked several howcan you not hate those people?
(25:43):
And the answer has always beenthe same God tells me.
If I don't forgive, I cannot beforgiven.
I want to go to heaven and so Imust forgive them.
Wow, you think anybody in achurch in the Bible Belt in
America ought to hear that theygot some people they don't hate
(26:04):
or that they hate yeah yeah, butwe have no problem.
We have no problem in thechurches and in the villages
where, uh, there are churcheswith the problems you're
describing tribes not gettinggetting along.
Now we choose not to work insome areas because there are
(26:24):
still lingering problems in someareas.
We'll go there when we can getto them.
In the meantime, we've gotpeople waiting for us that we
don't have that problem to dealwith.
BT Irwin (26:35):
Well, here at the end, Dennis, and thank you for
sharing what you just shared.
That's very powerful and that'swhere the rubber meets the road
right.
Do you have maybe one or twofavorite stories that you'd like
to tell about our brothers andsisters in South Sudan, or what
you've seen God doing in thatcountry?
Dennis Cady (26:59):
One of the first examples that comes to mind is
tied to our vocational school.
The vocational school has twostandalone five-month terms a
year with a month break betweenthem.
It is a vocational school.
We teach at this.
We've taught various vocations,but at this time we're teaching
electrical computers andtailoring.
(27:23):
But we also teach Bible, butthe students do not come.
Many non-Christians come and webaptize a good number of our
students.
A term was about two years ago.
A term was ready to start.
A man named John Lee Cure hadnot shown up.
He had enrolled or registeredby Internet came from quite a
(27:46):
distance away starting to startthe school.
He wasn't there.
Finally, he came 12 days late.
He had walked 12 days in theAfrican bush so he could attend
a Bible school and also learn askill.
Wow, he has graduated.
He's now an asset back in hiscongregation.
(28:08):
He's so remote we will probablynever go to that congregation.
Jacob O'Jack at one time wassupported as an evangelist with
us in a very remote area.
Twice he fled for his lifeduring the time he was assigned
there because of tribal problemscoming.
That was in the 2013-2015 timeperiod and a little bit after
(28:32):
that that area still hadviolence for a while.
Twice he fled for his life andboth times he has.
As soon as it was safe I mightsay sooner than it was safe he
went back to his post andcontinued to preach the gospel.
He said it's more importantthat these people hear the
gospel than I remain safe Backup to a wheel.
I said that we had fiveevangelists that we support.
(28:54):
Last year, when we were therein November, we just saw such
greater need so we added fivemore.
Such greater need, so we addedfive more.
One of the ones that we addedwithout pay, without support,
but with conviction that if Idon't tell the gospel to these
people they won't hear it.
And he had a list.
(29:14):
He had a written list of 12villages asking him no support.
Come and start a Church ofChrist in our place and they
walk.
We now are able to provide eachof those supported evangelists
with a motorcycle.
It's essential if the church isgoing to grow to its capacity.
(29:37):
But before they got motorcyclesthey walked.
But before they got motorcyclesthey walked, and they sometimes
walked two or three days topreach the gospel.
I was an elder.
Now I'm going to make thepreachers mad at me.
I was an elder, but I was anelder for 22 years in two
different congregations.
And these guys look at itdifferent.
(29:59):
They look for an opportunity.
They got to feed their families, but they don't negotiate for
fringe benefits.
And these guys look at itdifferent.
They look for an opportunity.
They've got to feed theirfamilies, but they don't
negotiate for fringe benefits.
At job interviews with elders,american preachers do.
BT Irwin (30:12):
It's a whole different deal.
Well, Dennis, it's obvious thatGod is at work in a powerful
way among the people of SouthSudan.
So many new congregationsforming.
It's got to be mind-blowing forour American audience to hear
what's happening there.
How many people have beenbaptized since we started this
(30:33):
interview, and you and theStarfish Foundation are coming
alongside God and the peoplethere to support them and join
in with them.
If our brothers and sisterslistening to this right now and
all other parts of the worldwant to also come alongside you
and the Starfish Foundation andthe churches in South Sudan, how
(30:58):
might they do that?
Dennis Cady (30:59):
Yes sir.
I say this.
I hope this will come across inthe way that I intend it.
Chuck and I are notmissionaries.
We get no salary.
We are the two biggestcontributors financially to this
work.
When we go to South Sudan, wepay our own way.
When we go to report to acongregation, we buy the gas.
When we send out a newsletter,we buy the stamps.
(31:21):
But this works out grown.
We need help.
The preachers the 10 preachersare telling us there can be
between 3,000 and 4,000 baptismsthis year and they baptize 660,
something in two months.
(31:42):
I'm not going to tell them Ican't do that.
It can't be done.
But the more growth we havewhen we report, there's more
churches, there's more seminarsto be conducted, there's
training sessions.
All that takes more moneybecause the church is growing.
So I'm not ashamed to say weneed dollars, we need
contributions and we have awebsite,
(32:03):
thestarfishfoundationnet.
That's thestarfishfoundationnetand contributions can be found
there if anybody has questions.
A lot of ways to make donations.
We need prayers, we need wordsof encouragement.
A lot of ways to make donations, but we need prayers, we need
(32:23):
words of encouragement, but I'munashamed to say we need to go
to the maximum.
What is the potential?
Chuck and I are both 79.
We know our time's limited,ongoing and nobody is after our
job, so we have decided we needto push this as hard and as fast
as we can in the time we haveleft, because no 30 year old guy
(32:44):
out of a preacher school sayingI'll go yeah so we need help.
BT Irwin (32:52):
well, uh, one thing I've raised a lot of money in my
life and one thing I've alwayssaid about fundraising is it is
a ministry, because there are alot of people who can't or won't
go where you will go, but theycan support the work you're
doing with something that'sfairly easy to do, which is
write a check.
So if people are listening tothis right now and they want to
(33:13):
contribute to the amazing workthat God is doing in South Sudan
, we'll put a link to theStarfish Foundation in the show
notes.
You can click on that andbecome a part of this really big
thing that God is doing inSouth Sudan.
Dennis Cady is a lifelongmissionary and he leads the
Starfish Foundation with ChuckDennis the two Dennis's and
(33:33):
they're working hard to love ourneighbors in Haiti and South
Sudan.
Dennis has been a firsthandwitness to God at work in mighty
ways in those two countries.
We'll put a link to theStarfish Foundation in the show
notes, like I said, so you cancome alongside your new brothers
and sisters in Christ and yourneighbors in South Sudan.
Dennis, our prayers are withyou as you head back to South
(33:53):
Sudan very soon.
Dennis Cady (33:58):
April 24th.
BT Irwin (33:59):
Okay.
Dennis Cady (34:00):
Tickets are in hand .
BT Irwin (34:02):
All right, everybody will be praying for you, dennis.
Dennis Cady (34:04):
Thank you, I thank you, I thank you and I thank
Eric for putting us in touchwith you, and we appreciate the
exposure that this will give towork.
BT Irwin (34:15):
Yes, sir, grace and peace to you and all of our
brothers and sisters in SouthSudan.
We hope that something youheard in this episode encouraged
, enlightened or enriched you insome way.
If it did, thanks be to God andplease pay it forward.
Subscribe to the podcast, shareit with a friend, recommend and
review it wherever you listento your favorite podcasts.
Your subscription,recommendation and review help
(34:36):
us reach more people.
Please send your comments,ideas and suggestions to podcast
at christianchronicleorg.
And don't forget our ministryto inform and inspire Christians
and congregations around theworld is a non-profit ministry
that relies on your generosity.
So if you like the show and youwant to keep it going and make
it even better, please make atax-deductible gift to the
(34:59):
Christian Chronicle atchristianchronicleorg.
Slash donate Until next time.
May grace and peace be yours inabundance.
Holly Linden (35:09):
The Christian Chronicle Podcast is a
production of the ChristianChronicle Inc.
Informing and inspiring Churchof Christ congregations, members
and ministries around the worldsince 1943.
The Christian ChroniclesManaging Editor is Audrey
Jackson, editor-in-chief BobbyRoss Jr and President and CEO
(35:30):
Eric Trigestad.
The Christian Chronicle Podcastis written, directed, hosted
and edited by BT Irwin and isproduced by James Flanagan in
Detroit, michigan, usa.
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