From Dr. Tom in the field

I can’t help it like to laugh and have fun. The Dinkas I believe are learning to enjoy my crazy humor. I tell them I can talk baby talk as I speak jibberous to the little ones and they smile. Nothing gives me more joy then the smile of a baby. Today I took a Ground nut (peanut) out of child”s nose. I am getting pretty good at it . I can almost take them out with my eyes closed and I still jump for joy when they pop out. I have added picking up the nut I got out of the nose and pretending to eat it. They look at me crazy then I show them the nut and we all laugh.

Tonight at our prayer nite around the camp fire a snake happened to wander through the group and was spotted by Dennis and Pritty. They in no time cut it in half with a shovel . We were having troubles listening to the prayer while this was going on. You do not want to be a snake on this compound. There is zero tolerance for snakes.

We have quite a few sick little ones admitted  but thank God they appear to be doing well. A infant 5 days old was rushed into my room  today  having troubles breathing it was on it’s last gasps. I got my tube out sucked out it’s airway and beat it a bit and she started breathing better. A shot of ceftriaxone then we placed  her on oxygen and prayed. She made it to the 2nd shot of Ceftriaxone  tonight and is breathing and breast feeding well (a thut putt). PTL.

Sunday after church we had a woman with a gun shot wound to the lower leg. Small wound in but then the bullet hit bone and bone and bullet coming out making a terrible exit wound and the leg will need to be amputated. It was a sad domestic quarrel. Love, Tom

The Muellers!

Clinic Construction
Dave Mueller is welding and his son Forest working with Hydro-form bricks, the new Clinic

We had the privilege to host Dave and Forest Mueller in March/April for 3 weeks, they have come out to help us with the Clinic building, David have blessed us with welding windows and doors frames and most importantly building the wall for the clinic which we are using special type of brick that interlock Hydroform, half of the building wall is finish.

Dave has build a hospital in a South Sudan in the past and here he was sharing his expertise with us, though it’s difficult with the heat and the process of starting things from scratch and doing things manually what a blessing to see his heart to help and put his best for the Clinic to be the best and strong building standing around.

Many people are blessed to see a father son and the heart they have for the kingdom and mission, for them it was more than building walls, they were building living stone, Dave shared some messages in our daily devotion and in our Sunday service, what a blessing that was specially for our staff.

The crew that was helping Dave and Forest were young men, the beauty of having them working with experience people like Dave Mueller is they are learning some skill, and picking trade like to be precise or diligent in what you do and not cutting corners, I was very grateful to see that what they were picking up. They are far from perfect but in this part of the world they are closer to perfection more than ever.

Much gratitude for the Mueller’s (specially for Joy Mueller for arranging and putting the trip together) and the great time we had with them and looking forward more opportunities to work with them in the near future.

The Clinic

April 2012 Newsletter

Kingdom Assignment in Sudan!

Kingdom Assignment Sudan constructing a medical clinic in MaloneyIn 2009, Kingdom Assignment Sudan co-founder Andy Dunt left Australia in search of a remote village in South Sudan called Maloney. In Deed and Truth Ministries crossed paths with Andy and joined in his vision to provide basic support to this rural community. Just 45 minutes drive from Tonj across barren swamp land this isolated settlement was the perfect place to begin our weekly medical outreach. Now, three years later, the partnership of our two ministries has provided this disadvantaged village with life-saving resources ranging from a bore hole providing safe drinking water, weekly medical professionals and drugs, a church plant and soon its very own medical clinic. Last month Andy was able to return to the village he has loved and supported bringing with him a group of construction and medical professionals and a pastor. It was our joy to host this dedicated team on their life changing mission as they lay down their lives to serve. They experienced first-hand the harsh world of South Sudan and witnessed the vast needs of the people. To learn more about their ministry vision for South Sudan go to www.kingdomassignmentsudan.org.au.

Midwife on a Mission!

Midwife on a Mission!Stephanie Williams has served as a midwife in the medical clinic for the past two years. Selflessly, she has worked day and night delivering over 200 beautiful Sudanese babies and giving them the best chance of survival in life. With one of the world’s highest infant mortality rates, South Sudan, her women, and In Deed and Truth Ministries are blessed to have had such a devoted and passionate midwife bring hope to every birth.

STS Training Returns to Tonj!

Simply the Story (STS) team came back to Tonj to follow up with our pastors on last year’s training. The emphasis was to train the pastors to be trainers of others in using the STS method as a way to evangelize and share the gospel. The team was able to put what they learnt into practice in a nearby town called Mapel, which is home to the tribe of Jurchol. More than fifty pastors and church leaders attended the three day workshop.

STS is built on the foundation of ‘storying’ and develops storytellers who use inductive bible methods to dig deep into a bible story and learn spiritual truths for themselves and to share with others. The lives of those who gain the skill of STS are forever impacted and changed. For a country high with non-literates, this oral style of bible study has proven to be a huge success.

In Africa, people love to tell you a story. It can be a slow process but people listen attentively to every word that unfolds. It is why STS has been a fruitful outreach to our waiting patients.

Prayer Requests!

  • Pray for the continued building of the new medical clinic. We are on the final stages and excited to see it finished.
  • Pray for CHE trainers arriving this month to train trainers in community evangelism.
  • Pray for completion of Agum’s adoption we are half way there!
  • Pray for Stephanie to readjust easily into her culture as she returns to USA.

“Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.” – Mark 9:37

Sad News

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

Thank you for your recent prayers for us here in South Sudan. Today things did not turn out the way we thought they would. Sadly young Anoch, the 12 year old amputee, died following her surgery. She was severely anemic and needed a blood transfusion before she could be operated on. Our Community Health Worker reported the Wau hospital did a blood transfusion on arrival, so we are not sure what went wrong exactly. We have many unanswered questions for those at the hospital but we have chosen not to pursue this any further. Her father came to us this morning requesting our ambulance to carry Anoch’s body back to Tonj. We are all so sad for this family. Sabet was able to pray with Anoch and she acknowledged she had understood his invitation to receive Jesus as Savior. Please pray for her family especially the grandfather that shot her accidently. When unexpected events unfold you realize how fragile life really is and how quickly our lives can change forever. Our hope is in Him, HE is our ROCK and our ANCHOR. Pray for Sabet and I as we continue to minister the love of Jesus to this family.

In His Love,

Suzy (for Sabet too)

12 Year Old Girl Loses her Leg

For Anoch, in just one day her whole life has been changed. She went from being a normal 12 year old Sudanese girl, fetching water, sweeping, cooking and caring for her younger siblings to never walking again. How so? She was shot. Not from recent cattle raids, or the fighting in the town yesterday where the police came and fired guns to disperse crowds, no she was not harmed in either of those cases. Her injury came when her grandfather was trying to unload his gun and accidently shot her at point blank through her thigh. Her family carried her writhing in pain and distressed but thankfully the bullet had passed right through her leg. After stabilizing, cleaning the wound and praying our ambulance drove her the following day to the nearest hospital 75 miles away in Wau. But what happened next was quite unbelievable. The hospital refused to admit or treat her without a police report because it was a gunshot wound. Despite pleas and explanations from our staff that it was an accident and even with the child’s family verifying the story the hospital would not change their mind. This was so disheartening to me and a picture of how hardened South Sudan has become from the years of suffering and war. This poor child was transported back to Tonj, a three hour drive on a dirt and bumpy road in sweltering temperatures where she spent her second night in our clinic. By now the leg was very swollen, an infection had set in and the blood flow was disrupted. Our whole team was praying for options, medevac to Kenya or Juba, try and go back to Wau? These arrangements are challenging, requiring time to arrange transport, care and translators. Meanwhile we could see her leg was dying, smelling very bad and she was afraid. We encouraged the family to put their trust in the Lord and not to lose heart and not to call on the local magicians and witchdoctors. Sabet reassured Anoch we were going to take care of her and she would be OK. No matter what, we were here for her and would stay with her to find someone to take care for her medical needs. After the family received the police report Sabet decided to call the doctor and talk to him directly. He was told to bring her back to Wau. Knowing that Wau is our best option but very unreliable we prayed for her and sent a medical worker with her back to Wau. Sure enough on arrival they were told they could not be helped, but Moses, our community health worker (CHW) refused to return to Tonj and insisted they help Anoch. After hours of persistent pressure and negotiating, the hospital admitted our patient. Moses waited around until he was confident they were taking proper care of her and then returned to Tonj. By this time there was no other option but to amputate her leg. Please pray for Anoch and her family during this difficult time.

News From The Field