Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 12:13:41 AM
Subject: New Sudan
Dear Saint,
I greet you in the precious Name of Jesus Christ.I
bring you greetings from the people of Southern Sudan
Yei.
As you may have known on January 10th I set off on a
journey to Southern Sudan with a team of 14 ministers
in an operation named Operation Bless Yei New Sudan.
The main purpose of this operation was to lay a
foundation in the body of Christ in New Sudan because
we believe God is going to use the church to bring
about total transformation in the land which has
suffered war for the last 21 years.
I always remember to pray for the people of Sudan
because of what I heard about their sufferings but as
we traveled through the land I realized firsthand what
our brothers and sisters went through. Along the way,
we went through what was supposed to be villages but
now forests had grown . We traveled with a Pastor who
ministers in Uganda but a native of Sudan and for 14
years he had never returned to the land. He is one of
the 4 million people who have been displaced . He was
in tears as he told us stories of how his people have
suffered under the hand of the enemy through the
Islamic regime. His village was one of those erased by
the bombs.He could only point to the place where his
people once lived and you just couldnot imagine that
once upon a time people dwelt in that place.Now I
understood the heart break that Nehemiah suffered
when he heard about the fate of the wall of Jerusalem
and its gates.Nehemiah 1:3-4
They said to me those who survived the exile and
are back in the province are in great trouble and
disgrace.The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its
get have been burned with fire. 4 When I heard these
things,I sat down and wept..
Our mission was to a place called Yei which is one of
the last cities captured by the Sudan Peoples
Liberation Army( SPLA) from the hands of the Islamic
ruling regime.God by His grace enabled this army to
fight off the Moslems who had a plan to Islamize the
whole of the southern Sudan.They also had a plan to
force the Sharia law on the people.Many children and
women were sold into slavery.Many Christian children
were abducted and forced to attend Islamic schools in
the north. I met a child of about 6 years whose face
was deformed and his left arm amputatated after having
survived a bomb blast in which his parents passed
away.Another young girl we met told us of how she lost
her parents after a bomb hit their house but
miraculously she survived. Many stories were told of
deaths and displacements. Over 2 million people are
said to have been killed. The Islamic ruling regime
employed what they call Arab militias a group of
people armed with swords,pangas and knives.These
militias would attack villages,set villages on fire,
every house on fire,kill all the animals and destroy
all food crops grown by the people.This in the end led
to a famine which caused the death of hundreds of
thousands of people. The ruling government also denied
access to humanitarian agencies to the famine zones
and this increased on the deaths.
Unto our brothers and sisters who survived this
brutality we went with the gospel of peace. As we
ministered to them, you could sense the spirit of fear
among them, not knowing who to trust and who not to
trust because of what befell them.But daily as we
proclaimed and preached Jesus Christ the prince of
peace,we saw many people come to confess Jesus Christ
as their Lord and Savior.Not so long ago, we would
have been persecuted and killed for preaching Jesus
Christ in this part of the land. But we thank God for
the doors that have opened up in New Sudan. We
preached the gospel to many places daily even as far
as the army barracks where we saw many soldiers coming
in tears to receive Jesus Christ.The sick and bound
were prayed for ,many received their healing and
deliverance.One child soldier came staggering to the
open air crusade very drunk in alcohol and he asked to
receive Jesus Christ.Because of the hopelessness
sweeping across the land,many have turned to alcohol
and drugs. We had over 600 people confessing Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior through the open air
evangelism, door to door evangelism and the Jesus
Film.
As we conducted seminars for the Christian leaders in
the land, we realized that there was a great work to
be done.The church is New Sudan is young characterized
by the lack of foundation principles in the Christian
walk.There are lots of divisions even along tribal
lines.We laid a foundation based on biblical
principles and the leaders found it to be an eye
opener.
Ezekiel 37:3 Can these dry bones live? We believe
God is doing a new thing is Southern Sudan.For the
past year alone,the war has ceased and hope for peace
in the part of the earth has never been more tangible.
God has heard the cry of His people and He is bringing
healing and restoration to the land.The people have
started coming out of their hiding bushes,refugees in
Uganda and other nations are returning to the
land,slowly they have started planting crops for food.
We give thanks to God!!!
It is not yet time to stop P.U.S.Hing (pray until
something happens) but to continue praying to God that
the people of Sudan shall embrace the Prince of peace
in their hearts.Only Him alone can bring about true
peace in this land. Pray also for the ongoing peace
process negotiations taking place in Nairobi Kenya
that God shall use this to bring about tranquility in
the land.
Truly, the harvest in Sudan is plenty but the
labourers are few.Pray that the Lord of the harvest
will raise up harvesters from the east,west,south and
north to take up the challenge of rebuilding the
broken walls in Southern Sudan. A Nehemiah Spirit.
Thank you so much for keeping us in prayer. We all
returned safely to Uganda and none of us fell
sick.Glory to God!!!
May God Bless you,
Samuel
Ps.Please note my new email address:
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