Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller

“They can be got”    We’re on the road today.  Dave, Sel, Rob, Scott, and me. 10 hour (or more) drive from Juba, South Sudan’s capital to Rumbek.  Pray for traveling mercies.   Today, I thought about Kenny. Like me, he’s a country philosopher. A fellow son of the piney woods. He’s a lover of cattle, cow dogs, and our …

If you’d like to subscribe to our blog, click here.  The Dinka are best known for their great love of their cattle. We’re looking for some Southern Jesus-loving Cattlemen to come over and share the Gospel with them!   How you can pray this week. I will be travelling with four young men who are moving up into South Sudan …

    The sun sets on another Saturday Over Lake Victoria and Entebbe. It’s amazing how quickly the equatorial darkness falls. Dusk one moment. Nightfall the next. Smoke from charcoal fires linger in the late rainy season air. Laughing Ugandan children pass by Outside our razor wire compound wall. The haunting Muslim prayer call echoes from The loudspeakers at the …

It’s only a small piece. I picked it up from a pile of bricks under a large tree. Nearby is where a church will be built in the future. We stood there with our friend Isaac. This is land that has belonged to his family for generations. He said, “This is my Jerusalem. This is where a church will be.” …

I’m 8000 miles from my hometown of Dry Creek. This is a draft of a story written four years ago. It’s too good not to share.  Enjoy! Somebody send word to Nathaniel that I said, “Thanks again.” Good Neighbors in Dry Creek Shown above is my neighbor Nathaniel. He proudly stands beside his tractor. I was bushogging yesterday in our fields …

How Firm a Foundation Stirring You Tube video on this song. How Firm a Foundation is my “heart song.”   This classic hymn has played in my heart and mind all week. It is powerful. I hope it ministers and encourages you. 1. How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in his excellent …

In our latest Open Hands Africa newsletter, I quote my favorite poem from my best-loved American poet, Robert Frost. I’ll feature it on a future blog as well as my second best-loved poet.  You’ll be surprised. Reminder: Don’t go into the Bush without your light, batteries, and battery-operated fan! Packing Light   “Don’t get on the plane with any regrets.” – …

Stand Your Ground . . . without Driving Yourself (and everyone else ) Crazy. “But Eleazar stood his ground . . .” II Samuel 23:10 A key to a ______ life is knowing when to stand your ground versus saying, “It’s no big deal.” (Help me fill in the blank.) Kampala, Uganda is on edge. The U.S. government shared a …

5 Steps to Engaging an Unreached Unengaged People Group* in South Sudan   Jumbo Baptist Church in South Sudan. This church is planting churches in the neighbouring villages. Engagement is the process where an American church comes alongside churches like Jombu.   1.    Begin praying about an Unreached People Group to pray for.   Our Engagement Team is happy to help …

Tuesday’s Blog:  Remembering and Forgetting     It’s a face only a mother could love. They usually describe Jackson’s Hartebeest as “horse-faced.” That’s not a compliment where I come from. But it’s the most memorable of all of the animals we saw. On our recent game park visit, we saw thousands of animals in western Uganda’s Murchison Falls National Park. …

Ground Truthing and Eternity-shaping Decisions   It’s the most difficult par of our job as an Engagement* Team for South Sudan. Which tribes/people groups are truly Unreached?   Whom do we seek to reach first?   What church(s) in America or Africa will commit to stand in the gap for the Unreached Group. Eternal decisions hang in the balance.  Deciding …

Good News from our friends among the K-People: 30 new believers in village close to border. Pray for a healthy church to come out of this.

“Living in fear is just another way Of dying before your time.” -“Shut Up and Get On the Plane.” Drive By Truckers song   I first read the following short story as a teen. It’s still a favorite and very pertinent for the unrest going on in Africa. I’ve added a few comments afterwards. The Appointment in Samarra Years ago …

Saturday Blog 21 Sept 2013 Thanks to all of you who are praying for my health.  I’m much better today and I attribute it to your prayers. I have a good African doctor (she looks about twenty but knows her stuff) and good medicine. But prayer is the best medicine of all. Also, as I write this, a couple we …