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Matoch Arrived in Kenya!

We Arrived With Matoch! February 28, 2010

 
Your response to my prayer request has been so touching and encouraging.  I’m now in Nairobi and the Lord has faithfully opened doors and put together a team to help us in this crisis.  The process through immigration in Kenya went very smoothly and Matoch traveled quite well.  His mother Achol, is escorting him and neither have been out of a village so it has been interesting.  She filled her water bottle from a rain puddle while I was talking to the immigration officer!!  I know this new culture and journey is going to be difficult for them and ask you to pray for protection on their heart and minds.  Samaritan’s Purse logistician in Loki helped us through the process and was waiting when we arrived.  AIM AIR allowed the plane to go all the way to Nairobi even though it was only scheduled to Loki (about half way).  AIM also contacted a doctor at Kijabe mission hospital and they have a team on standby to receive Matoch and do surgery.  Another AIM pilot helped get me a Dinka translator who also was waiting in Nairobi when we arrived.  Stacie has escorted everyone to Kijabe, and will keep me posted. 
 
Last night when I emailed I was tired and couldn’t think straight about where to send donations etc.  We appreciate your willingness to help financially with this sudden need.  We expect the total costs to run into thousands of dollars.  As I get more information I will let you know how much the evacuation and surgery will cost.  We are not concerned as we know our Lord has a plan in providing for it all.  So please pray and if you are led to help out financially then please click here to go to our donate page on our website or you can mail a check to our PO Box 51253, Colorado Springs, CO 80949 and mark the memo Matoch Surgery. 
 
Again, continue to pray for the safety of the Tonj area, they are expecting an attack in response this raid.  We heard others were wounded in the same raid, including children but have not been brought.  Possibly afraid to come out of the bush and especially towards the area where the attackers are from.  Sabet, the Losee’s and some of our Kenya and Uganda medical staff are there.  They feel very safe in the compound but ask for prayer for peace for the area and for the people
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More Dead and Wounded….Please Keep Praying.

Hand Grenade Kills More Children!
 
Continue to Pray…
 

 

 

Right after sending the last update, Sabet called to say the remaining victims finally came to the clinic.  The story of what happened yesterday is now unfolding and it appears a hand grenade was actually thrown into the camp as well as shots being fired.  Many people were killed and even more are still out there injured.  Photo 1, 2 and 3 shows Machar Chol, around 1 year.  He was shot in the back, which also injured part of the face.  His mother and sister were both killed.  Three other of his siblings were shot or wounded from the blast (photo 4).  Our medical team and other staff are working around the clock, please pray for them and for Sabet, for their strength and safety. 
 
Pray for Stacie, she slept at the hospital last night as they were contemplating possibly doing Matoch’s surgery right away.  I know she must now be exhausted having little sleep in the past 48 hours. 
 
My kids are doing OK with all the sudden rush and change,  They continue to amaze me and have been such troopers through this.  They understand why we left and have peace. 

 

 
In Christ, 

 

Suzy Kuj
Ministry

We Have Been Evacuated!

 

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Shot in the Face!
 
Please Pray…
 

 

  
 
Right now I feel completely sad.   We need your prayers, especially for a small boy called Matoch who we are medi-vacing to Kenya.  I’m not sure my words can really convey what has happened in the last 9 hours but I’ll do my best to explain it from the beginning.  Last weeks cattle raids appeared to die down over the last week but this morning a terrible thing happened.  Some raiders from the Tonj side went to the other side and surrounded their cattle camp, opening fire in the early hours of the morning.  Sleeping in that cattle camp were women and children.  Two children and one lady were instantly killed and others were hit with bullets.    This happened about thirty miles from Tonj.  The first we realized the cattle raids were still an issue was when a crowd came with a seven year old boy who had been shot in the face with a bullet.  Our medical staff called me to the clinic to pray for him and I wasn’t even sure I could stand to look but I knew I needed to go.  As they peeled the bandage from his face I held back the tears not wanting him to be more scared than he already was.  The entire right cheek from below his eye to his nose and down to his mouth was missing.  How can man be so evil??  I prayed and told him he was so brave and everything would be ok.   This  sweet boy just looked helplessly and frightened at me as I tried to keep his eyes on me and not on the nurse as she cleaned and bandaged the wound.  HE was so brave, no tears.  I just held his hand wondering how we would ever help him. Immediately we knew we were faced with a dilemma.  This boy can not receive the care he needs anywhere in Sudan.  Sabet agreed and I begun the process of trying to fly him to Kenya for surgery.  Who will go with him?  How do we get there?  How much will it all cost?  So many things buzzed around in my mind but I just knew I needed to help him.  What if it was my Hannah lying there, I would move mountains to get her help.  No door appeared to open as I made several calls so I sat and asked the Lord to guide me in helping this boy.  Right away the phone rang and it was AIM AIR (missionary pilots), they had a flight landing in 10 minutes just south of us.  I asked them to send it and we begun the frantic rush to get paperwork ready as the boy and his mother have no passports or birth certificates.  We wrote several letters, got all the stamps from the government and I asked Stacie (been here 4 months) to escort them to Nairobi.  Ten minutes before the flight was landing in Tonj, Sabet asked me to pray about going with her and taking the kids out.  The retaliation for this raid  is not going to be pretty and Tonj is now a target.  So I agreed to go out with the kids.  Not an easy decision with 10 minutes to pack for 4 people (including home school).  But we managed and made it to the airstrip.  Because of time we are now overnighting in Akot, Sudan at a medical hospital before proceeding to Kenya tomorrow.  We need prayers for favor with the Kenya immigration for easy entry for this precious boy and his mother.  We also need a way to get him to Kijabe mission hospital (one hour drive from Nairobi) and we pray there is a surgeon there that can help us.  I have no idea how this all will work out and what it will cost but we need your prayers please for wisdom and provision.  If you would like to help with the financial cost, please email me.   Please pray for these people and the deep hatred they have for each other, that God would intervene and help them see the light.  Pray for protection for my husband Sabet, our staff and our compound.  We are so thankful we are in this together.  Thank you for taking a moment to pray.  I’ll keep you updated.

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
Ministry, Uncategorized

Baby Hannah!

Dorothy and Thon, two of our clinic workers, are the proud new parents of a little girl!  She was born this morning, the 21st, which is also their son’s 2nd birthday.  Dorothy and Thon named her Hannah Achol.  This morning when Suzy told her Hannah that Dorothy was in labor, Hannah said she was going to pray for a girl.  She got what she asked for and more!  They named their baby after Hannah Kuj because both Hannahs were born on Sunday, Sunday’s child is full of Grace and Hannah means “full of Grace” and they weighed the exact same (4kg), so it’s fitting they have the same name.  Hannahs first baby to be named after her.  We praise the Lord for a healthy and safe delivery.

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Pray for Safety in Tonj

Pray for Safety in Tonj February 20, 2010

We need your prayers please.  This afternoon at lunch, we heard a series of gunshots very close to the compound. It lasted several hours causing us to retreat inside our rooms, and World Vision staff to also seek refuge inside our compound.  The only threat to any of us was possibly getting hit by a stray bullet so we kept down and waited for it to pass.  The problem was between police and civilians as they tried to steal back weapons seized in last year’s disarmament.  The police were firing warning shots to scare the crowds of people trying to break into a police storage room.  They want the guns to retaliate a recent cattle raid from a nearby town.  This type of cattle raiding insecurity is becoming more frequent throughout South Sudan.
 
In the midst of the chaos and confusion of people running, the UN feeding tent located outside our compound took a hit as people took advantage of the situation and tried to grab food.  Hence more shooting. 
 
One young man, Karbino, was hit by a stray bullet and brought to our clinic, resulting in masses of people wanting to follow him inside, but we locked the gate because of the shooting and so they started jumping our fence!  He is in serious need of prayer as the bullet entered though his back.   During this time, Sabet stayed with our medical staff in the clinic and had the opportunity to share his faith with Karbino.  Sabet asked him to pray in his heart as he was not able to speak, he was bleeding from the mouth and Karbino acknowledged he prayed for salvation.  Our vehicle, being used more and more as an ambulance, was transformed as we hooked Karbino to an IV and made him as comfortable as possible with 2 mattresses and then drove him 75 miles to a hospital in Wau. When we arrived there we were told he will need to go to Khartoum for further medical help.  Pray for a way for his family to take him there as it is a flight away not a drive. 
 
We just arrived back from Kenya yesterday and it feels like the enemy will do anything to discourage us being here.  We are 2 months away from a general election and 1 year from the referendum to decide the future of South Sudan. Pray for the people of Sudan, that they would know our Lord and how much He loves them, His amazing grace and gift of salvation.  Pray for wisdom for us as we minister to the people here especially in this time of crisis.  The Lord has called us to be here and He has called you to support us being here, so we are now asking you to fulfill  that calling by praying for us today and our safety.
 
Trusting in Him,
 

“As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. 2 Samual 22:31

Sabet & Suzy

 

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