Community Health Evangelism!

Since 2012, In Deed and Truth Ministries has been taking CHE into the surrounding villages of Tonj.  It has become one of our most effective tools for both evangelism and community development. The goal is to move communities out of physical and spiritual poverty and set them on a path that will change their lives for the better.  While we might be ‘band-aiding’ sickness in our mission hospital, statistics show that 90% of the diseases we treat are preventable.  It’s frustrating to have the same children coming back over and over with malaria, parasites, malnutrition, burns, and other skin infections.  CHE works to educate mothers and provide solutions to reduce the risks to these children and reduce the number of hospital visits.  A mother who has to walk 20-30 miles carrying a sick child often waits too long and then the child dies.

Monica Atiel (pictured) lives very far from our hospital and said her life has changed since we brought CHE to her village.  “I really appreciate CHE program.  Before my children were suffering all the time from high fevers, we didn’t know the cause and would stop feeding or giving water.  But now we learnt this is caused from the malaria.  The children now sleep under mosquito nets, which have no holes in it, and they sleep peacefully.  This was taught to us by one of the CHE trainers.  If they get a fever, we don’t delay but take them quickly for treatment to prevent further complications and convulsions.”

We have trained over 2,600 CHE volunteers that are serving in 46 CHE villages in and around Tonj. In addition to health lessons they also provide spiritual lessons and this has resulted in over 35,000 individual home visits made in 2022! As the community grows spiritually they naturally become more hungry to learn God’s Word and God’s truths. This has resulted in more than 2,750 people attending Bible Listening Groups every week!!

CHE perfectly complements the medical “Deeds” side of In Deed and Truth by bringing practical health lessons that can be easily implemented. We are currently doing two medical outreaches to CHE villages a week, where a medical team from the IDAT Hospital go out on motorbikes and take “clinic” to the people that can’t get to us. Over 4,600 patients were seen in 2022. Our team go with all the medicine and also a pastor.

Romans 10:14-15 says, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

CHE also perfectly complements the spiritual “Truths” of In Deed and Truth by church planting and preaching the gospel. We are currently in 46 CHE villages, adding a further 20 villages this year. Through CHE we have planted 32 churches in those villages.

We are excited to have 35 IDAT pastors (with more in training) taking the gospel to the remote villages of South Sudan! As more and more churches get established, we have prioritized the need for training pastors to faithfully lead these churches. In 2022 we officially started Tonj Bible Institute and we are praying and working hard to see a Bible school built in 2023. Join us in praying through this vision to equip every pastor to share the gospel and disciple this nation for the glory of God.