Newsletters

May / June 2016 Newsletter

2 Comments

We Made It!

We have been back a month from our trip to South Sudan and many of you know Mama Sabet went to be with the Lord. She was an amazing lady who had battled with cancer for the past year. Our family are so blessed and comforted by many of you sending us encouraging words and messages. God’s timing was so perfect for Suzy, Hannah and Rosa to visit, with Mama passing away the day before they left Africa.

Mama’s new beginning meant a new beginning for our family as we fulfilled our promise to her to love and care for her 14 grandchildren by stepping up our support for them. It is so comforting to be part of God’s family, I feel safe, secure, loved, accepted and provided for. Mama was really asking us to do that for these precious ones.  So our goal is to find sponsors for all of them so we can provide a safe and loving home, send them to school and meet their basic needs for food and clothing. Thank you for standing with us to meet this need.  We have half the kids sponsored already.

Photograhy of Hannah with her cousins

Here is Hannah with her 14 cousins (and a few extra’s who couldn’t miss a chance to pose with Hannah). All the children have a very special place in our hearts. For information on sponsorship, email Rosa at info@indeedandtruth.org.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” – 1 Peter 1:3-5

CHE!

art of CHE (Community Health Evangelism) is teaching the Word in the villages using a method of bible storying called ‘Simply the Story’ (STS).  An area we outreach to, called Pagol, recently received its third STS training with 28 people, representing five churches, in attendance. Our pastors spent 3 days strengthening and encouraging these church leaders who are using STS in their programs.

Pastor Santino shared a testimony of a lady who attended this workshop. Since her previous training, Sarah Alual memorized the story of Jesus and the storm while being on the boat. Sarah then went from home to home in her neighborhood and told the story to her neighbor and as a crowd gathered to listen to her, five people came forward to receive the Lord as Savior as a result. That’s what you call transformational ministry! This is our heart and so exciting to witness South Sudanese being used by God to minister His love to their own people.

God is Faithful!

We have seen a few IDP’s (internally displaced people) in Tonj and one family got our attention. The seven year old daughter was severely malnourished and her 2 year old sister was refusing to open her eyes, possibly as a result of measles.

We sent out an email prayer request and Dr. Jono shared in devotion about the power of God to heal. Our entire clinic staff laid hands on Abuk and finally, after 1 month she is opening her eyes and seeing. Her family were so excited to show us God answered our prayers and our South Sudanese staff were so blessed to witness the power of our healing God first hand.

Photograph
Abuk

We are blessed to be a part of a power and a work that is greater than us, it’s about Jesus only. Please pray as Sabet returns to USA this month. Pray for our family as we transition back into life together after 9 months of separation. Pray for Dr. Tom as he leaves for 2 months to cover our team while they rotate for their break. Pray for the Wilson’s as they travel to Europe to attend a family wedding and for the Macleod family as they hold the fort during this challenging rainy season. We are already experiencing high patient numbers due to malaria.

Uncategorized

I NEED A CUP OF WATER by Simon Kirui, CO

2 Comments

AcholThis is Achol Bak she comes from Tonj East, she was in coma for three straight days and having convulsions five times a day. It was very sad for me, because on the 2nd day of coma I found her mother and some other relatives crying outside the clinic.  Later her grandmother told me that she wanted me to allow them take the child for burial. Back in the village they have seen people going to that state and not coming back to life. I told her that by God all things are possible.  One of our clinic chaplains, Pastor Santino, continued to visit and encourage them.

Achol was seriously in need of prayer and our team prayed for her last week asking God to intervene. The day after we prayed I went for ward rounds and her mother told me that Achol  woke up at midnight and asked for a cup of water. We praise God for this breakthrough and testimony that He heals for the glory and honor of His name.

Since Thursday, Achol was able to sit while supported, then gradually improved and could sit by Santinoherself and now she is finally walking. Achol’s father is a soldier and had to leave three years ago. With no one to grow food in the home we decided to buy seeds for the family because this is the season for cultivation. Pastor Santino kindly delivered the seeds on our behalf. Please continue to pray for Achol. The family were eager to know our God who answers prayer!

Uncategorized

Maternal Mortality – the greatest danger to South Sudan Women

2 Comments

One of the biggest challenges working in South Sudan is maternal mortality, which we still have the highest rate reported in the world. Our clinic focuses on pregnant mothers and at risk children, usually age 5 and under. Our Kenyan midwife, Annie shared this beautiful testimony of one ladies experience in our clinic.

“Ayen Makol Bol is a young mother from a village called Modol. She has been attending our clinic since September last year and all through her visits the baby presented breech. I encouraged her every visit and we prayed together for a safe delivery. She delivered yesterday though breech, we were able to conduct a safe delivery and welcomed her baby girl, Aluong Makor Manhiem, into the world.

IMG_20160601_102809
Ayen (left) with Midwife Annie (right)

This is the second successful breech birth for Ayen delivered in our clinic. She is a very happy mother and her faith in God has been strengthened. I told her it is God using His people in amazing ways to help her.”

If Ayen had birthed at home she would likely have died. The answer to South Sudan’s maternal mortality is qualified midwives who can prevent 90% of maternal deaths. We thank God for Annie and the rest of our IDAT clinic team, who depend on God for guidance and save lives like Ayen’s every day!

Medical Clinic

Testimonies by Midwife Larné Wilson

2 Comments

Larné is currently serving as a midwife in our medical clinical. She shares a couple of testimonies from her week in the clinic:

An older woman came in to be seen saying she had been pregnant for a year and still hadn’t had her baby yet. I soon found myself
explaining to her about menopause and she seemed to accept this. Upon asking her spiritual history, she told us that she used to attend a church in the village but ever since moving to Tonj, she hadn’t been
going to a church. In fact, she had become more involved with the
witch doctors. She agreed to see the pastors and when I followed up
with her, she had re-dedicated her life to Christ and removed her
witch craft necklace that she’d been wearing and smashed it on the
ground! Rejoice!

Last Friday was an incredibly busy and long day in the clinic. At
the end of the day a woman came in early labour and I knew she
would be here late into the night. I thought about broaching the
subject of Jesus, but then decided to finish my day and do this in the
morning, as she will hopefully have had her baby and will be in a good space to be able to hear and make a decision. Early hours of the next morning I was called in a hurry as the woman was feeling ready to push. I made it into the room only just in time as the CHW (Community Health Worker) caught the baby. It was immediately evident the baby needed resuscitation…but also that something wasn’t right about the baby. He had some severe malformations. Although I worked really hard to resuscitate him, I knew from the start that he was actually incompatible with life. He wouldn’t have survived in any high-tech western hospital. Unfortunately the baby passed away. Of course, first thing as dawn broke, the woman’s family arrived to take her and the baby away and I realised my big mistake as she declined to meet with the pastor in her rush to leave. Not only was this my first time a baby had died within my care, but I had put off talking to her about Jesus the previous day because I had been keen to finish my work day…and now I had completely missed the opportunity. I felt terrible all day long.

Later that night though, this same woman returned due to pain (which, after assessment was a very normal pain after having had 6 babies). I was overjoyed that I would have a second opportunity at sharing the Good News with her and this time I was not going to let it pass! I promptly got Sabet to come and talk to her and we had the privelage and joy of watching this woman who had lost her baby only that morning, accept Jesus into her life as her Lord and Saviour. What a great way to end an emotional day! I now know that she will be given peace and comfort in this time of pain. I’m also unlikely to let an opportunity pass me by to share Jesus with someone, as a situation can change in a heart beat and the moment can pass far too easily.

Newsletters

April 2016 Newsletter

The Macleods Return!

Steve and Larne Wilson arrived along with the Macleod family and Jono’s youngest brother Anthony. All are from New Zealand and we are excited for the vision the Lord has given us for this next year of serving together in South Sudan.

Photograph
Larne, Steve, Anthony, Macleod Family

Churches Adopt CHE!

CHE (Community Health Evangelism) is a big topic on our agenda and the Macleods really want to be involved in helping that program to keep going in the villages. We have 10 CHE centers around the Tonj area and we are praying for 10 supporting churches to each ‘adopt’ a center and commit to pray for our CHE program in that village. As we link our partnering churches with these villages our hope is that they can visit, get involved, train CHE’s and make key relationships on the ground building on those relationships year after year. Our team will spend the next few months collecting data from the clinic patients about the challenges and needs the community are facing in their homes as well as recording which villages do not have churches etc. This will help us determine the direction our CHE program should go and the areas we should reach out to first. From there we plan to start with three villages that we believe the Lord will clearly show us. We are planning a Training of Trainers (TOT1) 5 day workshop for our entire South Sudan team and if you’d be interested in learning more about CHE, attending a TOT1 training and receiving your TOT1 certificate we welcome you to join us. You can contact us for info.

God is Working Here!

Meet Yar Achol and her son Chol. Our pastors met her in the clinic when she came out of total desperation.

Photograph
Yar Achol and Chol

She had visited over 10 witch-doctors to get healing for her son, of which none worked and she run out of things to sell, so the Lord brought her to our clinic. Our doctors suspect the child has hydrocephalus. Surgery is not available in South Sudan and without it he may die. We shared with Achol about Jesus and she believes He brought her to us. After much counsel she decided to ask Jesus to be her Savior. Since praying the child has not had any seizures which were a regular occurrence. She said she now has peace and is not afraid of what will happen to Chol.

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” – Psalm 46:10

News From The Field