South Sudan Update

What's been happening?

          As you may know there has been in internal conflict in South Sudan since December when fighting broke out between soldiers who wanted to oust the current president and those who are loyal to him.  The conflict has been mainly along tribal lines with the Dinka tribe being loyal to the President, Salva Kiir, opposing the Nuer tribe, led by former vice president Riek Machar, making up most of the rebel faction.  Given the tribal nature of the conflict most of the fighting has occurred in territories comprised of these tribes and in the towns of Bor, Bentiu, and Malakal with some initial skirmishes in the capital, Juba.  Talks between the two sides have been on going but no measurable progress toward peace has been made.  Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. 

Here is a fairly recent story http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27291154
And another helpful resource http://sudanreeves.org/

How is this affecting Empower Sudan?

         In the midst of the conflict we have turned our attentions to refugee relief in regions where we had people serving that were affected by the conflict.  

         Pastor John Monychol is our regional leader in the Upper Nile State, where the town of Malakal is located and where there has been a lot of fighting.  His home was destroyed and his congregation has spread to different parts of the country as people flee the fighting.  We have been partnering with him to provide food that He and his church are distributing among refugees in Upper Nile State.  

          The town of Nimule on the border with Uganda is far from the fighting but is on the way to refugee camps in Uganda.  As a result Pastor Tolbert, another local pastor we support, and his church have been assisting refugees on their way to Uganda.  We continue to try to provide food and what shelter we can.

          In all of this our vision and mission to Empower local church leaders remains the same.  People in South Sudan need hope right now and Jesus is that hope.  While we are focusing a great deal of our resources on the areas affected we continue to plant churches and minister to pastors in areas that we operate that have remained conflict free.

more on what Empower Sudan is doing here http://empowersudan.org/home/blog/
 

What about little Torit where I like to go?

          Thankfully the conflict has not reached Torit.  The majority of the fighting is in the North and Torit is in Eastern Equatoria State in the East.   There are very few Dinka and Nuer in Eastern Equatoria and since this is a tribal conflict they have very little interest in this region.  Eastern Equatoria remains under the control of the central government but there is no strategic incentive for rebel groups to go there, especially with their limited resources.  While Pastor Dominic and his church are heavily grieved by the conflict they report that things are normal on a day to day basis.   

What's Next?  Torit 2014 - Happy Birthday Me

          As I mentioned we are continuing to support pastors and church planters in the areas unaffected by the conflict so I'll be going back to Torit this September, just in time for my 32nd birthday.  This trip was scheduled for this month but we postponed it to see if it would be safe to go.  We have assessed the situation there and while there is always risk in traveling abroad we feel it is safe to travel to Torit.  I would not be going if I didn't think it was safe.

Think About Joining Us

           As always I'm looking for a team to join me.  We will be doing some Theology training with the local church leaders and Bible teaching with people in the village.  If you're interested then let's talk more about it.  I love sharing this place with people. As always I'll be raising support to fund the trip and there will be more to come in that department.  Until then MUCH LOVE!