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7/25/2019 Cush Vision 1.16
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cush-vision-116 1/8
CONTACT US AT: [email protected]
SIM Sudan PO Box 79252, 00200 City Square, Nairobi, Kenya
See updates of South Sudan projects at:
www.sim.org
“Cush wi l l s tretch out her hands to God” (Psalm 68:31)
SIM South Sudan Newsletter
January 2016
I must preach. I must go and tell.
“When you are walking on the path and people ask you about the Bible you
are carrying, don’t be ashamed to tell them.”—Musa’s advice p. 5
7/25/2019 Cush Vision 1.16
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Mirriam Webster
defines peace as
“a state in which there
is no war or fighting.”
Ever since December
of 2013 when fighting
in South Sudan began I
have prayed for this
kind of peace. I have
prayed continuously
for this new nation, for
a cessation of violence
and war. This prayer is
reflected in the name
of our son; Josiah
means God heals. As a
family we pray God
would heal South
Sudan.
Recently my pastor
preached that true
peace isn’t the absence
of war, rather it is the
presence of God.
God’s presence came
to earth in the form of
a small baby, Jesus.
God’s presence is with
believers now in the
form of the Holy
Spirit. God’s presence
is peace. While I
continue to pray for
the fighting to end, I
believe more than ever
that South Sudan can
only be healed by the
presence of God,
Jehovah Rapha, the
Ultimate Healer. This
is our message to
South Sudan.
In the midst of war
and chaos God’s
presence is found in
the refugee camps. His
presence is found in
new believers, in
baptisms, in church
growth, in discipleship.
His presence is found
in the clinic and the
compassionate care
being ministered there.
For South Sudan to
know peace we must
preach Christ. We
must tell of His
goodness, of His
grace and of His
love. The stories that
follow give a glimpse
of how God’s presence
is being made knownin Doro, South Sudan.
M. Klay
Communications
Manager & Editor
Nairobi, Kenya
From the Editor: True, Lasting Peace
First Christmas
celebration for
the Ingessena
tribe in Doro,
South Sudan
Picture Credit:
Khamboi Ngaihte
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The first time I
met Maha*, a
new believer among
the Ingassana tribe, joy
shown all over her
face. Our friendship
continues to deepen as
I watch her encourage
her people to follow
Jesus. From our first
Bible study Maha was
hungry to learn about
Jesus and God’s Word.
Two months after
starting a Bible study inher camp, Gendrassa
camp, Maha is active in
teaching other women.
Initially I felt totally ill-
equipped to lead the
Bible study with theIngassana women.
New to Doro, I just
started learning about
life in the refugee
camps and my Arabic
wasn’t good enough to
teach! Yet, it wasevident God was
asking me to do this,
so He sent me Maha.
Though most women
only get to go to
school for a year or
two, she studied Arabic
for 10 years. She reads
the Scripture passage
beautifully after whichI follow up with basic
questions to help the
women summarize and
get the main point of
the verses. Then at the
end Maha re-tells the
entire lesson in Gaam,their mother tongue, to
make sure the group
understands.
Through a seminar
taught by my husband,
Maha is learning how
to study the Bible forherself and how to
teach it to those who
can’t read. When I go
on Christmas break she
w i l l h a v e t h e
opportunity to lead the
Bible study by herself.
It is encouraging to see
Maha take the lead. Ibelieve that as we
disciple and pour into
her during her time in
the refugee camp she
will be able to lead the
women believers and
share her faith. Then when peace comes to
her region of Blue Nile
State she will carry the
Gospel back to her
home land.
Bethany Fader
Discipleship &EvangelismDoro, South Sudan
Equipped
to Tell
Maha, 2nd from le, Bethany, center, and
ladies from the Bible study
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Riyad*, a Muslim from the
Mayak tribe lives in a refugeecamp near Doro. He developed
back pain two years ago and was
unable to walk. His family took him
to the local witchdoctor several
times but nothing changed.
Ultimately he was neglected because
his family could not afford tocontinue caring for him.
When our clinic chaplains heard
about him they went to visit. They
shared God’s Word with him. He
embraced the Gospel as he felt
God’s compassion from our two
chaplains. They visited him regularly
and provided food, a bed and a
Bible. They also encouraged hisfamily who are taking a more active
role in Riyad’s care.
Riyad found the hope he lost. Now
he walks with support! We pray the
Lord will continue to strengthen his
faith and his body.
Ahmad* and his wife, Sameea*,
both Muslims from the Mayak
tribe, heard about Riyad’s story and
how our chaplains showed
compassion to a man shunned by
his family and community. The
story about this bedridden man who
was now walking with support
intrigued them. They were also
curious about the book he was
given and the message on the audio
story teller that he listens to
regularly.
Sameea was unwell and so they
came to the clinic to get treatment
and hear about the god mentioned
in the storyteller. She had been to
other clinics as well as the
witchdoctor but was not improving.
She told her husband she was
certain the SIM clinic was the right
place and she would be made well.
While receiving treatment they met
our chaplains who shared God’s
Word and they believed in Jesus. It
was a joyous occasion to have both
a husband and wife come together
to follow Jesus. We pray that the
compassion we show to those inneed as the hands and feet of Jesus
will minister to others who hear
about it.
Healing Power of
God’s Word:
Chaplain Yasir sharing the Gospel.
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Madiha* came to
the SIM clinic
with her sick child. Her
son had already been
treated at other clinics
a n d e v e n t h e witchdoctor without
improving. She had
lost hope and wanted
to give up. We
encouraged her that
apart from medicine
there was the healingpower of prayer. She
did not understand.
She was neither
Muslim nor Christian
and had never been to
church. We asked if
she wanted to knowabout this God and
His son, Jesus. She
hesitated but agreed to
sit and talk with our
chaplain, Pastor Bulus.
After their session he
gave her an audio Bible
in her language.
After three daysMadiha returned a
completely changed
person. She was
radiant and beaming.
H e r s o n w a s
recovering and she was
excited about what she
had heard. Her brother
had also listened to the
audio Bible and was
willing to come to hear
about Jesus. Pastor
Bulus continues to
encourage and minister
to her. We pray that
she will know the
Truth about Jesus and
are glad for the
opportunity to share
with her the everlasting
hope in salvation.
Clinic storiessubmitted by:Dickson KaburuClinic ManagerDoro, South Sudan
W
orge, a leprosy patient,
recently moved to Liang tostay with family. His brothers would
not sit or eat with him for fear of
catching leprosy. Our team went to
Liang to conduct awareness
seminars with the church and
community leaders. They received
the teaching well and decided lepersshould no longer be stigmatized or
outcasts.
Unfortunately fighting reached the
village of Liang and Worge’s house was burned down. Now he lives in
Bunj just a few miles from the
clinic. Pastor Bulus, our chaplain,
invited him to church. Worge
decided to follow Jesus. Pray for
him as he starts his journey of faith.
Vicki BeattieLeprosy ProgramDoro, South Sudan
Pastor Bulus with a box of
amulets from patients who
now follow Jesus Christ.
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It is hard to describe
the humility I felt
when I heard Musa, aman who has only
been a believer for a
few months, give
advice to believers
from his tribe who are
only a few weeks old in
Christ. “Be ready forpeople to jeer at you
and ask you if it is
really true that you
became a Christian.
Some people will come
to fight you but don’t
fight them back. When you are walking
on the path and people
ask you about the Bible
you are carrying, don’t
be ashamed to tell
them. There will be
many people who wantto come to church but
they will be afraid.
They will even be
afraid of walking in the
direction of the
church. Encourage
them and be patient with them.” It
sounded like the Holy
Spirit was speaking the
e x a c t words that
He gave to Paul and
Peter for the earlychurch.
But what do I know of
these words? No one
has ever picked a fight
with me because of my
faith. My family has
never chased me away
because I am a
Christian. My friends
have never been afraid
to associate with me
because I follow Jesus.
What words of
encouragement could I
possibly give to these
new believers? I have
never felt so ill-
equipped for the task
as I have in the past
few months. And yet,
at the same time, I
have realized more and
more how awesome
God’s Word is.
Instead of trying to
come up with some
great advice or trying
to identify with these
new believers, my gut
reaction has become:
“What does God’s
Word say about this?”
We are slowly movingthrough scripture
together. Their hunger
f o r t r u t h a n d
connection with stories
thousands of years old
is testimony both to
the timelessness ofGod’s Word and to its
relevance to every
culture and every tribe
on earth. Wow, we
serve an Awesome
God!
After concluding a
week of teaching some
of these new believers
how to study, apply,
and teach God’s word
and one of them pulled
me aside yesterday to
excitedly tell me that
he can’t wait to go
back and teach the new
believers in his church.
We must teach this
good news!
Eli FaderDiscipleship &EvangelismDoro, South Sudan
We must Teach This Good News!
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How to Give$
Are you called to get involved? Praying, supporng and volunteering are all
needed. Your faith, language abilies and skills will be stretched, but you can
play a part in working alongside the South Sudanese.
To give nancially you can make cheques payable to SIM–USA, SIM-UK, etc. and send
them to the appropriate country oce (see below). Add a note to say which project
you want to support (quote the reference number below). This allows us to issue a taxdeducble receipt in some cases. To give on-line or for more informaon check out:
www.sim.org/donate
www.sim.org/index.php/projects
SIM Australia
PO Box 42
Penshurst
NSW 2222
www.sim.org.au
SIM Southern Africa
PO Box 30027
Tokai
Cape Town 7966
SIM East Asia
116 Lavender St.
#04-09 Pek Chuan
Bldg.
Singapore 338730
SIM France
Quartier Les Mians
FR-84860 Cader-
ousse
SIM Canada
10 Huntingdale Blvd.Scarborough, ON
M1W 2S5
www.sim.ca
SIM UK/Europe
Wetheringsett ManorWetheringsett
Stowmarket
Suffolk IP14 5QX
www.sim.co.uk
SIM New Zealand
PO Box 38 588Howick
Manukau 2145
www.sim.org.nz
SIM USA
PO Box 7900Charlotte, NC
28241-7900
www.sim.org
MISSIONARY
HOUSING PROJECT
98300
GRIEVE
MEMORIAL CLINIC
98018
HARVEST WORKERS
PROJECT
98400
UEC SECONDARY
SCHOOL
98019
CHURCH DISCIPLESHIP
& TRAINING
98103
From the editor: Names in stories have been changed to protect privacy, especially in
the case of Muslim background believers who are oen persecuted for their faith.
M. Klay, Communicaons Manager, SIM South Sudan
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P.O.Box7925
2
Nairobi00200
Kenya,Africa