GOSPEL OUTREACH TO SUDAN
Woodward Park Church of Christ
7886 North Millbrook
Fresno, California 93720
559-446-2550

June 25, 2008

Dear Brethren and Friends of the Gospel Outreach to Sudan,

Isaya is in Obbo, South Sudan conducting a workshop for preachers and church leaders from 16 congregations.  The classes started on Monday, June 23^rd.  Nine of the represented congregations are from rural areas of South Sudan.  Brethren came from six other Sudanese congregations that are located along the border between Uganda and Sudan.  These churches were established by Isaya and other preachers over the past few years.  It is interesting that the border dividing the two countries of Uganda and Sudan also divides the tribal land of the Acholi people.   Isaya and Kennedy are from the Acholi tribe and all the members of the churches in South Sudan are Acholi.  The church in Juba also sent brethren to attend the workshop.  This will be the last training session held until after the harvest, which should be in mid to late November.  Brethren will be busy harvesting the crops they have grown from the seeds that were provided for them from Healing Hands International and many of you who gave funds to help.  Please pray for good weather and for a good harvest. 

Training church leaders for Sudan is extremely important.  The new churches have been meeting for several months since their members were resettled back into their homeland.  The leaders of these congregations have gone through a learning experience and have faced many problems.  Relatives of the resettled members have their own religious groups and faith and expected their returning family members to become a part of their “family religion”.  When that didn’t happen it created some difficult situations.  So, it is time for all the preachers and leaders to come together for a time of study, sharing, learning and fellowship.   Two of the trained preachers who will be attending the workshop are Brothers Watson Okee, left and Oken Peter.  Both these men were preachers at congregations in the refugee camps in Uganda for several years before their return to South Sudan. 

This new government building is being constructed near the land in Magwii where the new Preacher Training School will be built.  Kennedy sent this picture to us to illustrate the kind of construction that will be used when all the details are worked out.  The training school will be an important tool in the gospel outreach as new churches are planted and the need for preachers and teachers grows.  We had hoped construction would have already started, but delays have come because of the lack of security in the area. 

Isaya reported last month that the United Nations has declared the Magwii region to be a Level 1 security area.  This rating means that things are normal and there is no threat from any source at this time.  However on June 16^th there was an armed clash between the LRA rebel group and the SPLA, the army of South Sudan near the town of Nimule.  Nimule is on the main road from Uganda to Juba and about 75 miles from Magwii.  That news didn’t do much to raise our confidence in the security of the area.  We pray these kinds of clashes will soon be stopped and that complete peace will return.

News reports coming from South Sudan tell of a cholera outbreak in some areas where our congregations are located.  Pajok, Owiny ki Bul and Magwii were mentioned.  If any of our brethren are affected, Isaya will let us know.  Cholera is a disease that is spread through water or food that has been contaminated with cholera bacteria.  It is easily treated but because it usually occurs in places where the people’s living and physical conditions are poor, it generally kills many people, especially the very young and the elderly.   Pray that this threat will soon pass.  The picture on the right shows an open sewer right beside the road where people walk and were food supplies are stacked for sale.  This kind of condition promotes the spread of diseases like cholera and many other life threatening illnesses and is a common sight in many third world countries.

The Juba congregation continues to grow.  On the left a number of the members have come together for a fellowship meal.  This patio area is where the Juba church meets and is located at Isaya’s home.  The membership at Juba will soon reach 100.  On the right, a young lady has just been baptized into Christ and added to the church at Juba. 

Children in South Sudan love to gather and study God’s word.  The Sudanese people have a strong faith in God and their families grow up with a faith that is active.  None of them ever question who God is and what He means to them.  These children are not subjected to things and activities that draw them away from a commitment to God.  This is an important time to be preaching the gospel in Sudan.  Thank you for being a part of this good work.  May God continue to bless all of you.

                                                                                                                        John Ed Clark

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May 26,2008

Dear Brethren and Friends of the Gospel Outreach to Sudan:

 

Today Brother Isaya left for Kampala, Uganda. It is necessary for him to travel there every few months to collect funds to operate the gospel outreach in South Sudan. Because of the U.S. Homeland Security restrictions, funds cannot be transferred directly to anyone in South Sudan without a special license. Hopefully, we will one day qualify to be licensed, but until that time, funds must be collected in Uganda. Pray for Isaya’s safety as he travels. 

 

Isaya will be away from Juba for about 30 days. During that time he plans to visit several of the congregations that have been established in South Sudan. Almost all the members of these new churches are relocated members from the congregations that were in the refugee camps in various places in Northern Uganda. He reports the congregation that had been meeting at the Madi Okolo refugee camp in Uganda is no longer there. All the members have returned to Sudan and are meeting with the new churches in Pajok, Obbo, Owiny ki Bul and Torit. It was good to hear the members are seeking out their Christian brethren and Isaya plans to visit and encourage them. 

 

The Juba congregation continues to grow. Last month 2 souls were baptized and added to the Juba church. Pictured here Brother Dominic Taban is teaching the Sunday morning bible class. Dominic is Isaya’s co-worker and serves well in the Juba church. Isaya indicates Dominic is a knowledgeable student of the word. He attended all of the workshops and training classes Isaya conducted at the Kiryandongo Church of Christ in Uganda before his relocation. 

 

In late June, Isaya and Kennedy plan to conduct a training school in Juba for all the church leaders in South Sudan. The focus of this training course will be to encourage and challenge the preaching brethren to concentrate on reaching out to many of the villages with the gospel. The hearts of the people are very receptive at this time.

 

This is the temporary meeting place of the Magwii congregation. This structure is located on the land where the Preacher Training School and Kindergarten will be constructed in the future.   Some have asked about the security situation in Magwii at this time. Isaya reports it has improved greatly. The U.N. has lowered the alert status to a Level 1, which is the lowest. There is no security threat at this time in Magwii.

 

 

Brother Patrick Okot is pictured here leading singing at a recent assembly at the Magwii congregation. Patrick is the close co-worker of Brother Kennedy and they travel together teaching and encouraging congregations all over the area. Patrick was a church leader in one of the Ugandan refugee camps before he was resettled in South Sudan.  There are over 40 church leaders working in South Sudan that were trained by Isaya beginning in 1999.

 

 

Land has been obtained for the church in Pajok. Their application to the local officials was approved and they were given 40,000 square meters of land. In our way of measuring, this is a little more than 3 acres of land. They plan to construct a new building as soon as the relocated families are back on their feet. The date they have set to start construction is June 2009. Please pray for this new church as they plan for the future.

 

The seeds donated to the brethren in Pajok, Obbo, Palotaka, Pogee, Magwii and Panyikwara have been planted and crops are now growing. We pray that the weather conditions will be such that a good harvest will come and the 500 families that received the farming tools and seed will be on their way to being self sufficient and able to help others as they have been helped. They have expressed many times their thankfulness for the gift provided for them. The timing was perfect.a We will keep you informed.

 

Brother Andrew Ocheng is one of the few remaining gospel preachers left among the Sudanese congregations in Uganda. He has asked that his relocation back to South Sudan be delayed in order that one of his children might receive the complete medical treatment needed for tuberculosis that was discovered in 2007. The treatments should be over by mid-August. Brother Andrew has made several trips into South Sudan to help in the relocation process of others. He will be moving to Magwii where he will be working to help establish the Preacher Training School and the Kindergarten on the church land there. Brother Andrew and his wife are faithful members of the church. He has worked tirelessly along side of Isaya for almost 10 years in the Ugandan refugee churches. He will be an important addition to the Preacher Training program staff in Magwii as it begins in late 2009. 

 

Please continue to pray for the Lord’s workers, the churches and for the country of South Sudan. All the success has come because God is blessing the work and because of the prayers and financial faithfulness of all of you. We need to always remember; the good work being accomplished is being done by our Sudanese brethren teaching Sudanese people. This is the work of evangelism at its best. We pray that God will continue to bless each of you who read this report and that you will know by all of us working together, God will continue His blessings and thousands upon thousands of souls will be in heaven because they had the opportunity to hear the message of Jesus and respond to it.

 

 

                                                                                                                        John Ed Clark

 

 

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April 16, 2008

 

Dear Brethren and Friends of the Gospel Outreach to Sudan,

 

As our brethren continue to return to their home lands in South Sudan they are brought face to face with many problems. One of the greatest is their need for good seeds to plant and tools to use to farm the small farms given to them by the local officials. With the help of Healing Hands International, along with many of you who read this report, we were able to provide assistance for at least 400 of our Christian families in several communities where they have been resettled. Isaya, along with other church leaders went to Kampala, Uganda and purchased nearly 7 tons of seed, 400 grubbing hoes, 400 pick axes, 800 machetes and 800 sickles. These vital supplies were divided up between five congregations and members from other places came to those churches to share in the distributions. In the center of the picture, Brother Joseph Taban, the minister at the Obbo Church of Christ is helping off load their share in the yard at their church building. Isaya reported it was very difficult to find trucks to transport the supplies from Kampala to the areas in South Sudan because of the prices of fuel and the continued lack of security on the roads. This kind of assistance is very important because it provides a way for our brethren to raise food for their families and to sell some produce to provide funds needed for other necessities of life. Isaya and Kennedy report the needs are massive. It is impossible for us to help all who need help, but we can share with our brethren who have left the refugee camps in Uganda and have returned home carrying all their possessions in their hands. Please pray daily that there will be a lasting peace and also that the rains will come to make for a good harvest.

 

This is the kind of makeshift shelters our returning refugee brethren must live in for a while. Standing in front of his shelter at Pajok, South Sudan is Brother Ponciano Komakec. He was a minister of one of the congregations that met in the Kiryandongo Refugee Camp near Bweyale, Uganda. He and his family will live in this shelter until they can raise corn and beans from the seeds they have been given and sell them at the local market and then what funds they have left over, they will purchase wood and straw to make a more permanent home to live it. The U.N. provides the returnees with reinforced plastic tarps to cover the straw shelters to keep the rain out. The U.N. also provides families with some corn and other grains for food. Isaya reports the amount of food provided is never sufficient and every family faces very difficult times during the first several months. There are other relief organizations in the area that provide some food and medical assistance. Hopefully, within a year of so, everyone will be settled in and able to take care of their family needs.

 

Pictured here are members of the Pajok Church of Christ. All of these brethren were members of the churches that were meeting in the refugee camps in Northern Uganda.  As the settled in Pajok, they applied to the local officials for land for a church build-ing and were given the land on which they constructed this small abhor to shield them from the sun until they are able to build a permanent place of worship. Pictured on the right, Brother Sisto Mwaka is shown preaching at a Sunday worship assembly recently. Sisto was one of the church leaders at the Kiryandongo Church of Christ in Northern Uganda before returning home to Pajok. The numbers of members in all the new congregations in South Sudan are growing each week as more members arrive home from Uganda. 

From the beginning of the work in the refugee camps in Uganda, Isaya focused on training church leaders. Two or three times each year since 1999 two week leadership training sessions were conducted at the Kiryandongo Bible Training School. After the training sessions men returned to their own churches better able to teach and build up their congregations. Three of these men are now in Pajok, South Sudan. Left to right: Sisto Mwaka, Okomol James and Ponciano Komakec. These men are experienced leaders and very capable to build a strong congregation in Pajok. 

Pictured on the left is Brother Isaya standing in front of a new thatched mud house in Pajok. Pajok was Isaya’s family home area before they fled in exile to Uganda many years ago. Now, those left in his family have returned to Pajok and his brother assisted him in building this small house for Isaya to stay in as he comes to that area to preach and visit the churches in that area. There will probably be at least ten or more churches in this area by the time all our members have arrived back home. Isaya, Kennedy and other traveling preachers will need a place to stay and this building will be very useful for their ministries.

Brother Kabaka Mutesa is pictured here baptizing a new sister into Christ. Her name is Nora and she is a student at the Juba University in Juba. Kabaka is one of the co-workers with Isaya at the congregation in Juba. Another co-worker, Dominic Taban taught the gospel to Nora. The church in South Sudan has a great future ahead. The people of South Sudan are very receptive to the gospel of Jesus. We have good preachers and as the new Preacher Training School is completed in Magwii, we will have many more good preachers. Please pray for the work and for the workers.

                                                                                                                   John Ed Clark