Phil, an AIM Air pilot, was working among the Lopit in South Sudan. He shares:

‘“A city on a hill cannot be hidden,” Jesus says in Matthew 5. Well, I thought I had found proof that He was wrong!

It happened while I was flying missionaries into a remote Lopit village. As soon as we arrived, people gathered around us, repeating the same word over and over – “mong, mong, mong” – while vigorously shaking my hand.  

The first time I saw it, I was genuinely concerned. I wondered if the missionary beside me was unwell or having some kind of episode. Only later did I learn that this was simply how the Lopit greet one another.  

I stayed overnight with the missionaries in the village and began to understand the world they are living in. The Lopit are farmers and cattle herders who build their villages high on the hillside overlooking the valley below. These locations aren’t chosen for the view. They are chosen for survival. From above, they can see cattle raiders approaching long before they arrive.

Their homes are designed with the same care. Each hut has only a small opening, always facing the hill, rather than the valley. At night, even though fires burn inside and solar lights glow faintly, the village is nearly invisible from below. To anyone scanning the valley in the dark, the hillside looks empty. Against all expectations, the Lopit have managed to hide a town on a hill.

A growing Christian witness among the Lopit people

Missionaries have worked among the Lopit for many years, and progress has been slow. There are only a handful of believers in this remote region.  As one missionary, Robert, walked me through the village, we greeted everyone – endless handshakes, endless “mong, mong, ogolo.”

Occasionally, after greeting someone, Robert would quietly tell me, “That was one of the believers.”

And after a while, I began to notice something. These believers looked no different from their neighbours. They dressed the same, spoke the same…and yet something about them stood out.  

There was a joy, a hope, a quiet confidence that couldn’t be explained.  

Eventually, I found myself saying to Robert, “That was a believer, wasn’t it?” I could just tell.  

So I don’t actually disagree with Jesus at all. Villages may be hidden by clever architecture and geography, but their light cannot be concealed. As Jesus continues in Matthew 5, a lamp is meant to be placed on a stand so it gives light to everyone in the house. The Lopit believers, few as they are, cannot hide the light of Christ shining through them.’

How wonderful to see the light of Christ shining in new places. We’re working towards seeing Christ-centred churches among all African people groups – including the Lopit!