The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/705414
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, July 20, 2016 A-3 LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg NEWS BRIEFS Free backpacks distributed by ladies of the Petersburg First UMC July 29-30 The ladies of the Peters- burg First United Method- ist Church will be distrib- uting backpacks, along with school supplies, pro- vided by the Pike/Gibson Salvation Army to those in need from 9 a.m. to noon on Friday and Saturday mornings, July 29 and 30. Parents should be pre- pared to complete the forms for their children. These school supplies are for residents of Pike County who have a finan- cial need. The ladies want each child to be ready for their first day of school. They will have one hun- dred backpacks from which to choose. They will be sorted by elementary, middle and high school. The front door of the church will be the point of entry at 801 E. Walnut St. in Petersburg. Pike Co. Solid Waste District Mgmt. Board meetings changed Pike County Solid Waste District Manage- ment Board meetings will be changed, due to con- flicts with Spring Clean- up. There will be no meet- ing in July, but meetings will be back on regular schedule for August, Oc- tober and December. There will be a bi- monthly meeting on the third Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Courthouse basement. Save up to $100 & more on our entire stock of quality suits and sport coats through Saturday, May 3rd ... Shop the largest selection of American-made dress clothing in Southern Indiana...and of course, free alterations! Featuring American Made Hart Schaffner & Marx, Hardwick, Sewell, and S. Cohen. Our Annual Spring SUIT and SPORT COAT SALE Open Mon., Tues., Thurs. & Fri. 9-5:30; Wed. & Fri. 9-8; Sat. 9-3 On The Square, Jasper Where Helping You Dress Well Has Been A Specialty Since 1922 Wedding Suit Special 6 or More From $159.99 812-482-5514 www.siebertsclothing.com SUIT CLEARANCE Making room for fall arrivals ... entire stock, stripes and subtle plaids and checks ... including fa- mous American makers ... Reg. from $295 ... While they last ... Hems done at no charge. 1/2 PRICE! Large group of Enro & Forsyth Dress Shirts 1/2 PRICE Sizes 15-17 1/2 Reg. from $45 By Andy Heuring Petersburg pastor Mark Schlechty traveled to the other side of the world and found a different world, but he also found Christians are still all one tribe. In June, Schlechty flew in- to Uganda and spent three weeks teaching Sudanese military chaplains the book of James from the Holy Bi- ble. He said it probably seemed a little funny hav- ing a white American pas- tor teaching a group of Su- danese soldiers the book of James, in which the central message is suffering. "I told them I didn't want to compare my suffering to their suffering. If we trad- ed suffering, we wouldn't know how to deal with each other's suffering," said Schlechty. He saw a world that is wildly different than the United States. He was on- ly able to take 35 lbs. of lug- gage with him. A fter land- ing in Uganda near the Suda- nese border, he traveled in- to the Sudan to a compound of Far Reaching Ministries. He said it was near a commu- nity of about 3,000 to 4,000 people. Anytime he was outside the compound, it was with armed guards. The country just ended a civil war in re- cent months. Schlechty said white people or women not guarded would be attacked, robbed and killed, and the women raped. It was an area of the world where all the businesses typically had armed guards standing watch. He typically flew to re- mote landing strips in a small Cessna plane. He said they would make a couple of low passes before landing to check for the dirt run- ways being rutted and or for bandits waiting to am- bush them. When traveling by bus, Schlechty said the bus driv- ers are told to run over peo- ple in the road because of their fear of attacks. "The company would rather pay a fine and restitution than have a whole bus of people killed." Schlechty almost dai- ly taught about 200 mili- tary chaplains the book of James. He said the soldiers were "very intelligent peo- ple." Most were not well-ed- ucated. They endured ex- treme hardships. In one of his classes of about 100 men, he asked the ones who had been shot to stand up. All but six stood up. He said a typical day for these men was to get up early, pray, sing and read scripture until about 4 a.m. They would then "run dry" for about 11 miles, meaning they didn't drink or eat any- thing. When they got done, they would eat a corn meal paste with little or no nutri- tional value, and they were also given rice and pecans. "They had to be fed a star- vation diet and kept from having water to get their bodies to adapt to being able to run to the battle zone on foot in the extreme heat with little or no food or water." He would start teaching them at about 9 a.m. That would last about 90 minutes. Then they would do another three hour session and the men would then run, and much of the village would run with them and they would shout out a cadence. "It was basically 'run forev- er.'" He said their favorite song was Here I am Jesus. "They were very energetic in their worship." Schlechty drew a stark contrast between their mil- itary and the United States military. He said there the men were hungry for the scripture and learning. But in the United States, the message of Jesus Christ is squelched by the military. "I was accosted by a Gener- al because I used the name of Jesus in a public prayer." Schlechty said he also spent the afternoon travel- ing to surrounding villages where Far Reaching Minis- tries had started churches. He said all of them had been started through the wom- en's ministry. When they would go into these villages, he said a group of machine gunners would go with them and set up a perimeter. They were teaching the chaplains to be the con- science of the military, where raping and pillag- ing villages you overtake is common practice. "They are taught if you are in a vil- lage that is being overrun 'it is your day to die.' They are taught to stand and fight so another might live." While there, he saw a mir- acle. He said they were about a month into the time of what is supposed to be the rainy period, but it hadn't hap- pened yet. He said the local people asked him to have his church, the Free Methodist Church in Petersburg, pray for rain. So he texted his wife and told her of the prayer re- quest for rain. During the worship service in Sudan, they prayed for the Free Methodist Church's Vaca - tion Bible School. "It was an incredible service," said Schlechty. The next night, after the Petersburg church had put out the prayer request, it poured down rain. Schlech - ty said the locals told him to continue to request rain. "So I texted back for them to con- tinue to pray for rain." That night, it poured with heavy rains. Then it became obvious the rainy season had arrived. "People were dancing and say 'God is Great' and 'the prayer of a righteous man availeth much.'" Schlechty said back home the Free Methodist Church had their best Vacation Bible School ever. He said the Sudanese sol- diers were encouraged be- cause someone from so far away had traveled that far to teach them. "Just the fact we came is an encouragement to them." He said people of that area are from mostly two differ- ent tribes. But part of what both of them learned is even though they were from dif- ferent tribes and he had a different color skin, in Je- sus they were all from the same tribe. Schlechty travels to different world, finds people are one tribe in Christ Villagers met Schlechty and his party after their plane landed on the dirt runway in the Sudan. Petersburg Pastor Mark Schlechty with a South Sudanese Liberation Army soldier. Schlechty spent three weeks in the Sudan teaching chaplains the book of James. A local stands near the water jugs that villagers carried to the Far Reaching Ministries compound. Schlechty said the compound had two wells and people from all over the area, including small chil- dren, would carry the jugs to be filled with water. yeah, it's that fast! net edition Z M www.PressDispatch.net/Subscribe The Press-Dispatch. No matter where you live. SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY? Let us know at 812-354-8500!