Pastor Peter Anibati Abia at the LCMS Convention

     For two years Orphan Grain Train--Michigan has dreamed and worked to gather a shipment of ecclesiastical and humanitarian goods to send to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Sudan/Sudan (ELCSS/S).  A full shipment has been ready for months, but regulatory challenges, freight arrangements, and other interruptions beyond our control delayed our attempts ...

                  --- UNTIL NOW.

    It now appears we have a freight forwarder willing to carry our container all the way to Yambio, South Sudan.  We have the material; we have the means; and God-willing, we soon will have a loading date locked in. 

     Contemporaneous with our project for South Sudan has been the blessed news that the ELCSS/S has been welcomed into altar and pulpit fellowship with The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.

     Pastor Abia with whom we have been communicating these many months is here greeted by LCMS President Matthew Harrison on Sunday, July 30, at the synod convention being held in Milwaukee while marking this step of Lutheran unity.   

     It is our prayer that Orphan Grain Train--Michigan plays a small part in encouraging the spiritual  lives and daily human needs of our brothers and sisters in South Sudan.  Orphan Grain Train--Michigan has ready to ship over 150 cases of theological books for the Concordia Lutheran Institute for the Holy Ministry which is training men there for the holy ministry.  And that is only the beginning.  We hope to announce a loading date early in September.  Please join us in further prayer for this initiative and the blessing it can be to many.