Medical Clinic, Ministry

Maloney by Dr. Tom

Since we were not able to go to Maloney for several months due to severe flooding it was a great blessing to start going again regularly on Wednesdays.  The word is out and this week we saw more patients then we have ever seen in the past.
Patients waiting in the shade for clinic to start
Patients waiting in the shade for clinic to start
The day started bad, my first patient was an 18 day old that had been sick for a long time. The infant was malnourished and very lethargic. The skin was grayish in color and I knew the infant would probably only live a few more hours but we tried to see if we could help turn things around and I know there is always hope for God can do anything. Sadly, the infant died after about two hours. When I first saw the infant I hated seeing him for I knew all the organ systems of the body were already shutting down. They say in trauma cases there is the golden hour where if you can catch the person in the early stages of shock and get IV’s and all going before the systems start shutting down you have a good chance of survival. This child had long passed that golden hour. It is heartbreaking to see a little one die and listen to the mother’s cry.  We thank God for Pastor Santino who was able to step in and minister the love of Jesus to this family and share the hope we have in our Savior.
Dr. Tom assessing patients in Maloney
Dr. Tom assessing patients in Maloney
During the next 6 hours the clinical officer Sharon, myself, a hard working team of Community Health Workers and a missionary nurse from Texas named Amy saw over 250 patients. I love seeing the patients in the early stages of malaria when they respond so well to therapy. We saw many children with high temps from malaria and Pneumonia  and many bootie shots were given to get things turned around fast.
We headed back to Tonj about 6:30 PM and had to push the LandCruiser to get it started. On the way home the CHWs were in good spirits laughing and jabbering all the way home yelling boom- boom  every time we hit a bump and it is almost impossible not to hit a bump for in some places the whole road is one big bump.
One reason I believe the CHWs are so chipper on the ride home is because they are exhausted to the point of giddiness and they are proud of the amount of good we are able to do on the days we go to Maloney.  They laugh and giggle and tell me that my sons (boys) are hungry (no time to stop for lunch) and need some bread and they enjoy eating their peanut butter sandwiches.
Pray for Maloney and the continued outreach there to bless that community.
In His Love
Tom
Medical Clinic, Ministry, Mission Trips

A Call to Missions! by Amy Brewer

God gave me the great opportunity to work with In Deed and Truth for three months. From the start of my trip, God had every step planned out. I lived my entire 27 years of my life in the state of Texas until January of last year. In January I ventured out to live in cold Colorado for a short season to live closer to my brothers, sister in law & nieces for a time. I had known about IDAT for a few years from their website and getting updated by their blog. I had never really considered serving in Tonj. But, for some reason I can’t explain except for God’s always greater plans- I emailed the stateside coordinator Jeamette at this time to see if they needed a nurse’s help. In just a day or so she emailed me back & said where in Colorado are you? We were close enough to meet in person and we did so the very next week! At this time I had only been in Colorado a few weeks. God had this meeting in mind way before I even considered moving to Colorado!

Amy

Fast forward 6 months later I’m on a plane headed to Africa! I was scared and anxious not knowing what to expect! After arriving in Tonj, South Sudan I immediately knew my life would never be the same again. Serving the Dinka people in the clinic and by having the opportunity to be apart of Community Health Evangelism has truly given me a joy I can’t explain. Seeing people walk for days many times barefoot and always with limited food & water to be seen at the clinic is humbling. The Dinka tribe has so much strength and culture. They welcomed me into their lives and sometimes homes with open arms. God gave me strength each day to love on another person. The need in South Sudan is so great. I have seen this now and it cannot be ignored. I’m so thankful IDAT has been there so many years. God willing they will continue to do awesome things for the kingdom in Tonj, South Sudan. The ministry and clinic is truly a bright light. To me it is just like the city on a hill. So many people receive medical care and most importantly the loving Gospel message from Tonj and even villages far away.

Dr. Tom

Many of the Dinka tribe’s stories are heartbreaking and makes you wonder what could God’s plan possibly be? One of the stories that I will never forget happened in my first few weeks in Tonj. The ambulance had gone out to pick up a patient from the outlying village Thiet. When they arrived at the clinic the story came out. The woman had been in labor for a couple of days & pushing for hours at home in her village. Many woman had tried to help her get the baby to be delivered. When nothing was working one of the men out of desperation used a spear to stab the baby’s head & literally drag the baby out. The baby passed away immediately & the mom was near death when she arrived from blood loss & the trauma. The next day she was taken to Wau for a blood transfusion and recovery. I’m not sure how long it will take this woman to get over the trauma from something so heartbreaking. I pray and ask God frequently to give her peace and understanding. I ask God to give me understanding! This horrible situation has caused my faith to grow. I have realized that I will not always understand, but need have faith that God is always just & good.

Lepers Colony

The difficult lessons and people I met in Tonj is something that has changed my life forever. My time there was truly in God’s plan. I feel blessed and full of joy thinking about what God showed me. He is great, just and full of compassion. He knows what the Dinka people need more than I ever could. He is in control of everything. He uses all to His glory and I count myself blessed to be used by Him. Everyday in Tonj wasn’t perfect by any means. I learned very hard lessons in a place so far from my family & everything that is familiar. I had to rely on God in ways I never thought possible. Sometimes I prayed to Him to just get me through the next hour. I would pull through then ask God please come be by my side this hour. Being in that kind of unity with The Lord is what He wants. I pray that God will continue to work in Tonj and maybe He will send me to serve the Dinka people again!

Medical Clinic

A Blessing to the Community by Nurse Sham Musyoki

In Deed And Truth Ministries clinic exists to bless the community of Tonj and Glorify God though our good works.  We not only provide a wide variety of health services which include  immunization, maternity services and curative services to pregnant mothers, breastfeeding mothers and children under the age of five years, we also pray for every patient and believe the Lord brings each and every person to us for that purpose.

Each Community Health worker has been trained specifically by In Deed and Truth to work alongside our doctors and nurses.  As we focus more on prevention measures like immunization and health awareness we have seen this area of our ministry grow rapidly. South Sudan has one of the world’s greatest infant mortality rates with most children under five not vaccinated at birth putting them at high risk to the many deadly diseases affecting our area.  We praise God for the opportunity to be a part of helping these little ones and saving lives daily.

 

Clinic under the tree
Immunization Clinic under the Mango tree
Ministry

Joseph: A Disciple of Christ by Pastor Kibe

Pastor Kibe with Joseph
Pastor Kibe with Joseph

Joseph Madingdit is one of our community health worker. He is a believer and have been very committed at the church.  He has been helping a lot with translation in the devotions, at church and with Sunday school, as well as cleaning our church on Sunday mornings. He stands out among the rest of the people we have in service which he does with humility and joy. I have been having discipleship classes with him and he is very faithful in attending.

November Blog
Joseph serving in Church

Joseph comes from Akop in Tonj North County. He tells me that most of his fellow villagers have not heard the good news of out Lord Jesus Christ. There is no evangelism going on there. He has a passion to see his fellow villagers come to Christ. He has a plan of going back to the village during the Christmas season and he plans to share Christ with the people there. He hopes that God would use him to bring many to the Kingdom. One of his friends has a small portable video player and Joseph hopes that he can borrow it and use it to show the Jesus film to his villagers.

Jed in Joseph's Sunday school class
Jed in Joseph’s Sunday school class

Pray for Joseph as he offers his service to the body of Christ here in Tonj.

Pray that he will continue to grow spiritually in a steady way.

Pray that God will use Him at home when he goes for Christmas.

Pray that he will get the video player for him to show the Jesus movie.

Nov Blog
Joseph with some of the Sunday School Kids
Newsletters

November 2013 Newsletter

Flooding!

Flooding

Tonj is in the state of Warrap, well known in South Sudan for flooding during the rainy season. Around 10,000 homes are affected every year, mostly near to river banks. This year the World Health Organization estimated over 70,000 homes were affected, destroying houses, crops, basic infrastructure and roads. Our clinic has also seen a marked increase in the number of malaria cases as well as waterborne diseases like diarrhea and respiratory infections. And to make matters worse livestock diseases have also increased and in danger as grasslands are covered with water.

We would ask you to please pray for our team as we seek the Lord’s guidance and wisdom on how we can best assist those that have lost everything. If you would like to help please go to our website to donate. Due to the severity of the flooding we have not been able to get to Maloney in over 2 months. Please join us in praying for the church and the people there. We know the after effects of this flooding will have devastating consequences for months ahead.

Baptism!

Baptism

After our church plant in Maloney we saw a revival among the people there. We are praying this newfound faith will keep the church in perfect peace as they trust in the Lord during this challenging time of flooding. As our vehicle has not been able to pass on the road it has been tough not to be able to reach the church there.

We are so thankful for Pastor Santino and the commitment he has made to the people of Maloney. A year ago he shared the gospel with Mary Abuk. Mary had previously lost a child, had gone to the witch doctor and was riddled with fear. She had no hope and against her family’s wishes she went to church to ask for prayer. She has been faithfully attending and is now one of the CHE participants. She had a huge desire to get baptized and came to Tonj where Sabet and Pastor John were able to baptize her in the Tonj river.

Maloney is tucked away in one of the remotest corners on this planet, and yet we are witnessing the power of the Holy Spirit at work in people’s hearts and their desire to obey God’s Word. It is so encouraging to see this fruit after 4 years of serving there.

”Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.“ Psalm 31:24

Furlough!

Our family has not had a furlough since 2008 and we are very excited to be able to finally travel in 2014 with Agum. Thanks to our amazing God, the American Embassy in Nairobi agreed to issue us with a three month visitor visa which will enable us to get some quality family time and visit family, friends, ministry partners and churches. We are planning to arrive in California for the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference in early January.

In light of this news, we are hoping to connect with as many of you as we can. We are requesting if you have a church, home group, bible study or small group that would be interested in hearing about our ministry work in South Sudan, please can you contact us so we can start to schedule and plan our time in America? We would be so blessed to have the opportunity to share what the Lord is doing through our family and ministry in South Sudan.

We are also in need of accommodation and a vehicle to use while we are stateside, please email or call Dena if you are able to help us with either of those needs.

We are so thankful for each one of you and your prayers for us.

News From The Field