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South Sudan

Around Africa

By Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia

News from Malawi, South Sudan, Rwanda, Zambia and Tanzania.

Malawi

Central Bible School in Malawi was spotlighted here. The college’s library facilities are in need of improvement so a digital tools and training grant has been approved. This grant will equip each of the eight faculty members with a suitable smartphone, allowing them to install and utilise eVitabu as a valuable addition to the college’s physical library. To help the effective use of the platform, Dave or Geoff will be conducting online training for the faculty later this year.

Zambia

Pastor Lawson Limau is spearheading the development of an introductory course in theology and pastoral care, drawing from resources adapted from the eVitabu library. Recognising the potential impact of this initiative, APF has awarded Lawson an Africa Training Partner annual grant. This grant will enable him to deliver the pilot course to rural pastors throughout eastern Zambia during 2024.

Tanzania

Due to the ongoing demand for their teaching ministry, Heavenlight and Kesiah Luoga (pictured above with Victor Imanaturikumwe) have been awarded an African Partner Training grant for 2024. This grant will help them to conduct training workshops throughout the year, both locally and regionally. Recognising Heavenlight’s desire to expand his reach, APF has also approved funding for video recording equipment so Heavenlight can record training videos for social media and eVitabu. This includes a high-quality camera phone, basic lighting equipment, and a tripod.

Rwanda

The Let There Be Light solar project continues to shine brightly in Kigeme Diocese, Rwanda. By providing reliable light to clergy families and parishes, the project offers numerous benefits: brighter living spaces, opportunities for studying after dark, enhanced security, and even income generation opportunities. We recently sent additional funding to ensure the project’s sustainability by replacing batteries for some of the beneficiaries.

Our prayers continue for Rev. Victor Imanaturikumwe, the Legal Representative of Église Évangélique de la Bonne Volonté au Rwanda and a passionate advocate for eVitabu. Victor has a plan for competency-based training that complies with Rwandan government regulations for faith-based leaders. He is seeking funding to deliver this training programme and he is also assisting APF in finding a venue for a conference in September.

We also pray for Victor’s predecessor, Pastor Japhet Matugoma, who faces an urgent need to relocate his family home due to recent flooding and landslides (pictured above).

South Sudan

In recent weeks, APF approved a grant for the Saints Revival Committee in Aweil district to procure and distribute 600 local language Bibles. Also, Alex Sokiri of New Nation Church in Juba writes seeking support for the church school (pictured above). Founded for orphaned and underprivileged children living near the church, the school currently serves children in three classrooms. However, the classroom block front façade remains incomplete. With rainy season approaching, Alex is urgently seeking assistance to complete the front part of the school building to ensure the safety and well-being of the students.

April 4, 2024
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A heart for the unreached

By Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, UK

Lerato Lesoetha has a heart for Africa’s unreached people groups. Born in Lesotho, one of Africa’s smallest countries, she’s heading to Chad, one of Africa’s largest. She shared with APF something of her journey, which has also included time in Mozambique, Uganda , South Sudan and even the UK where she has been studying.

I was born and raised in Lesotho which is a very small mountainous country surrounded by South Africa. My passion for unreached people groups started about 13 years ago while I was watching a documentary on TV. The documentary highlighted just how so many people living in Muslim countries had never heard the gospel before and since then I have felt a strong call to be amongst African Muslims.

In 2019, I joined an African Inland Mission short-term team working in northern Mozambique. We served a rural Muslim community by teaching literacy, introducing children to Bible stories and training in sustainable farming. I thought this short trip would quench my hunger and I would go back to pursuing my career in international development. In fact, during this trip I saw that indeed “The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few” (Luke 10:2). My heart was convicted that I should spend my life labouring in the Lord’s harvest.

In 2021, I joined a year-long mission team based in Uganda but working primarily with South Sudanese people. What stood out for me from this experience was the fact that there remain so many unreached people groups and many more who still don’t have the Bible translated into their mother tongue.

In September, I will be joining an outreach team based in Oum Hadjar in Chad for a two-year placement. Chad is a large landlocked country in North Africa. It stretches from savannah in the south, through the arid Sahel region and deep into the Sahara Desert to the north. Oum Hadjar is a small town on the bank of the Batha River within the central Sahel belt. The area is sparsely populated. The population of the entire Oum Hadjar Sub-Prefecture is only about 14,500.

The main goals of our team will be to live relationally with the community. We will be learning Chadian Arabic and seeking to reach some unreached Chadian Arabs who live across the area. Through the help of the Holy Spirit, we will disciple and encourage the formation of house churches. Our team will also be engaged in English teaching and sustainable agricultural training. This is so important in this area as people’s livelihoods are badly threatened by desertification. Throughout our time we will be working closely with the Evangelical Church of Chad.

At present I am in Canterbury where I am finishing an MSc in Conservation and Rural Development at the University of Kent. As soon as I have submitted my dissertation, I will go home to Lesotho to be with my family for a few weeks before I leave for Chad in September. I am sure my studies will be very valuable as I serve the rural communities living around Oum Hadjar.

June 30, 2023
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Refugees Returning Home

By South Sudan, Uganda

For many of the millions forced to flee their homes due to conflict, returning home concludes an often traumatic time in exile. But often, rebuilding lives and livelihoods is far from easy. Huge challenges await many returnees.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 but life in the world’s youngest country has been marred by internecine warfare, atrocities against civilians, ethnic cleansing, sexual violence and the use of child soldiers. Since 2013, when President Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of attempting a coup d’état, a conservative estimate places the number of people killed in the fighting at 400,000. The actual number may be considerably higher.

The conflict displaced over 4 million people with about 2 million fleeing to neighbouring countries, especially Uganda. Fighting in the southern agricultural heartland led to famine and 6 million facing starvation. According to the IMF, real income has halved since 2013 and inflation peaked at well over 300% per annum. In February 2020, Riek Machar was sworn in as first vice president of the new unity government by President Kiir, formally ending the civil war. For

Pastors Alex and Harriet Sokiri oversee New Nation Church, a small network of South Sudanese Pentecostal congregations. We were delighted to hear that earlier this year Alex and Harriet had been able to leave their refugee camp in northern Uganda and return to South Sudan. Rebuilding their lives, however, has not been without some serious challenges, as Alex explains:

“It was in 2016 when the war in South Sudan reached our area and we fled to Uganda. We lived in Morobi refugee camp for three years. An agreement was signed between pro-government forces and the rebel militias and some peace has now come to our country. So, we have left the camp and returned to South Sudan.

“But coming back to South Sudan has not been an easy thing for us. Last December, our child Josiah became sick. He was having seizures in the night. So, instead of going directly back to South Sudan, we first travelled to Uganda’s capital city Kampala to seek medical advice. APF gave us a pastoral care grant which helped us with the cost of travelling there and getting a good diagnosis. Josiah is now being treated for epilepsy.

“We finally reached South Sudan in January 2020. When I visited our church in the capital Juba, however, I saw that the building was badly damaged. The roof sheets and timbers had been stolen. We worked hard, raised some funds locally, and rebuilt the church structure.

“But soon after this work was completed, the owner of the land told us that he did not want our church on his land anymore. He gave us until the end of June to leave or buy the land from him. We are praying for a solution.”

New Nations Church has congregations in Juba, Kajo Keji, Yei and Wudu in South Sudan and Morobi in northern Uganda. Whilst many of South Sudan’s refugees are glad to be returning home after years living in camps, returnees like Alex and Harriet often find living outside the camps brings new problems.

Please pray

For Alex and Harriet readjusting to life and ministry in South Sudan.

For an accurate diagnosis and treatment for Josiah.

For practical needs, like church building and infrastructure to be resourced.

For other returning refugees recovering from trauma and starting afresh in South Sudan.

Giving thanks that the political situation in South Sudan has improved.

That the fragile peace would hold and a long term and sustainable political settlement would bring lasting peace.

April 2, 2020
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