Döör kek wek raan ëbën

Where to start?? So much has happened since we arrived back in Tonj just over 2 months ago. We arrived back refreshed from a wonderful break in New Zealand – thank you to everyone who made our visit special!- with a sense of both anticipation and trepidation… and were pleased to find that we feel more at home in Tonj than ever before. Not least due to having a lovely house to live in, but also in a deeper way, with a growing sense of belonging and peace.

We are enjoying our home, our vegetable garden, our chickens, our friends, our work, having Anthony here, and the green grass and cool air that the wet season brings.

Unfortunately, along with the green-ness, this rainy season has come with malaria, malnutrition (it is almost a year since the last harvest time), and a measles epidemic. Our clinic is bursting at the seams, and we are daily amazed by the numbers of sick women and children that our small but committed team see, treat and share the love of God with. Because of this, we have rolled up our sleeves and got stuck in to the clinic, and not much else! Here are just a couple of stories from among the many incredible recoveries we have watched happen before our eyes over the last 2 months.

Achol & Abuk

When we met Achol last month she was little more than a skeleton, weighing only 13kg (about the same as Ellisha) at the age of 7. Her sister Abuk was 2 years old and for the past month had been unable to open her eyes. Both girls were sick with measles. They were both starving because the family’s food and money had both run out. The family stayed at our clinic for some days, sleeping on our balcony (AKA isolation unit). The whole IDAT team laid hands on Abuk one morning and prayed for her vision to come back, as blindness is a daunting prospect for a 2 year old in a country with no welfare. Achol’s mother has since joined our church, and a few weeks ago we celebrated the restoration of Abuk’s eye sight (though not yet complete). Meanwhile, Achol visits us often and warms our hearts with her big grin.

Abuk#2

One night I got a knock at our window at 2am, calling me to see young girl who was in a terrible state. Her muscles were so stiff she couldn’t eat, speak or even more her arms and legs. She was suffering from painful muscle spasms that had prevented her from sleeping for weeks. And more worrying, she was struggling to breathe, which is a poor prognostic factor in tetanus. She’d been taken from witchdoctor to witchdoctor with no improvement, and as a ‘last resort’ they’d been told to try the Christians at IDAT. The father later told us he thought his daughter was as good as dead. Well, we laid hands on Abuk and prayed for her several times each day while giving medical treatment, and rapidly her muscles relaxed, she was able to eat, talk and walk again. The family were amazed at the power of God and want us to go and share Jesus with their community, where it turns out her father is a chief

Ci wek bäk raan ëbën,

Hi to all you incredible people sharing our journey here in South Sudan. The last 3 months for us has been like climbing a rocky, muddy mountain path. We’ve slipped and fallen at times, sprained our ankles and cursed the rain that makes the path more difficult. At other times we’ve looked out at the view, remembered why we’re climbing and enjoyed the challenge. A big thanks to all the encouragers out there who have kept us going up. Here’s a few stories…

We have a house!

…and we are almost living in it! We still cannot believe how this whole remarkable venture has come to be, but we are unspeakably grateful to my Dad Bryan, his friend Richard, and all the people and
businesses that donated the materials. After living communally for the past year we are excited about having our own little haven for our little family to call home. We have a guest room so please consider Tonj for your next winter getaway!

Achol’s family

Meet our friends (from left): Arek, Aliet, Achol, Deng, Mary and Tong

Life is tough enough in South Sudan. Life is even tougher as a single parent. Try being a single Mum to six without any financial support from anyone. Despite living within 50 metres of a school and a medical clinic, these kids never saw the inside of either because Mum’s tea stall barely made enough to provide one meal a day, let alone the nominal fees for education or medical care. But Sunday school is fun, free and doesn’t require parental supervision, so that’s where our paths first crossed a year ago. Now we feel like these guys are extended family. Achol is in school, about to sit her first exams ever. We treat one of the kids in clinic at least once a week, and they join us for evening walks down to the river. Mary has come along to church a few times, and had a safe delivery in clinic earlier this year. And us? We benefit most. To us, this is seeing South Sudan transformed, one family at a time.

Mabior’s story

Last Friday Mabior (4months) woke up in the night crying with a high fever. Early the next morning he started seizing, and the seizure just didn’t stop. His mother, convinced he would die, started mourning at home, but a relative convinced her to go to the nearest clinic. At the clinic they were told it was too late so they tried a market pharmacy who also couldn’t help. Finally they turned up at IDAT with the child still convulsing, struggling to breathe from aspiration, and on the verge of death. We promised the mother to try our best but told her that it would take some help from God to save this child. So while starting IV infusions to treat the malaria and stop the convulsions we laid hands on him and committed him to God. The next morning the child was alert and breastfeeding again, today on ward round he were showing off his adorable smile… and we couldn’t stop smiling either! After witnessing the healing of her child, our chaplain Santino was able to share the good news of Jesus with her using picture cards, and like so many of our patients she joyfully invited Christ into her life.

The adventures continue

Although we love working in the IDAT clinic, we both have a deep passion for community health. So it’s been exciting to jump on the quad bike over the past few months and head out to visit some nearby villages. Watch this space over the coming years, as we look forward to spending more time in the surrounding communities, learning to amalgamate solid principles of health and development with the crazy, unquenchable love of Christ for the poorest of the poor.