“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” – Matthew 19:14
While the Olympics were going on in London, we started our own Kids Games Olympic style for the kids in Tonj and the surrounding areas of Tonj. As you can see from the Photos not as flashy as the Olympics but these children had fun playing, and heard the gospel with open heart. Gabriel, Emmanuel Part of our Medical staff, together with Donato and Santino and Albino form a team to go from village to village to conducting kids games.
Their main objective is to encourage the kids that they are important in the society no matter where they come from or family background. Many of them think that they are less important than others because they do not have nice clothes and shoes. This makes them not to attend Sunday school.
The games also create a good relationship between the children and their trainers. They will grow knowing that they have big brothers who care for them. They are taught how to respect each other and their parents. They are also taught to have discipline and work hard in school (though only a few of them go to school). Most of these kids do not have a chance to come to church on Sunday. Their parents discourage them by telling them that is not important. The children who come to the Sunday school in our church have a chance to play all these games.
After playing games in the villages all the participants are given shoes and this encourages them and boosts their self esteem. Their parents come to cheer them and Gabriel addresses them. He advises them to teach their children the word of God and to respect each other so they will grow up as good children.
We have been having heavy rains often and this has hindered Gabriel and his team from going to the remote villages. In future they are planning to go to even more remote villages.
Missionaries, John and Beth, from World Gospel Mission Uganda returned to Tonj for the 2nd C.H.E (Community Health Evangelism) training session. Twenty-one leaders from seven counties across three states in South Sudan came together as we hosted this life changing workshop.
Four weeks ago 12 year old Rebecca Ayak was brought to our clinic with a very swollen right forearm and suffering a lot of pain. She was diagnosed a year earlier in Juba with a tumor and referred for treatment to Uganda but the family went back to the village due to lack of money. Clinical officer Dennis and visiting missionary Dr. Rossi, both felt Ayak’s only hope was to medevac her to a Kenyan hospital. We do keep a running Medevac Fund for situations that arise unexpectedly like this as the costs can quickly accumulate. We always believe Jesus is our guide and brings such patients to us so we can help them without hesitation. Through our relationship with Tenwek Mission Hospital, Sabet made arrangements for her medevac and along with her brother traveled to Kenya with her. X-rays confirmed it was bone cancer and she was taken to surgery right away. Unfortunately, her arm was amputated.