I was sitting with my phone in Burkina Faso scrolling through new emails when I came across one from SIM Sudan leadership that informed me that a friend and missionary in Yabus, Sudan had passed way that morning. Yacob  Aga, from Ethiopia, was diagnosed at Goal Clinic yesterday as having cerebral malaria. SIM was preparing an evacuation but he passed away early this morning.

Tibarek, his wife who is also Ethiopian, is survived by him. She and the Kale Heywot church of Ethiopia are all in our prayers.

Yacob and Tibarek were the first SIM field missionaries I met when I first visited Sudan. I had made a trip to Malakal with my church and stayed on after to visit an SIM base, just to get a feel for what SIM was doing. At that time, they were serving in Atar, a very small bush village west of Malakal on the Nile River. They were alone at the time and were preparing for the coming school season. For the last 30 minutes of the 3 hour boat ride, it began to rain heavily. As we pulled to shore, they both ran up to help take our things and help us to the small base. We were all completely drenched in the rain but everyone was smiling. We soon sat down for a cup of tea and got to know each other. They treated us, Nate Killoren was with me, very well and were great hosts. It was an eye opening experience.

One of my favorite videos was shot with my little cell phone. It shows the joy of this couple along with our other Ethiopian missionaries as they sing a traditional song over the courtship celebration of two SIM missionaries. Yacob is on the right and Tibarek is on the left.