Pacific Hills Lutheran Church - LCMS, Omaha, Nebraska

Anuak Update

Rev. Henry Kabasa has spent a considerable amount of time in Pochalla serving the Anuak community there. He, along with a local leader named Melo Oman, have started a new congregation right in Pochalla town and have been investigating starting a new congregation in Alari Refugee Camp around 10 km away.

While the “official” membership still remains small, it is not uncommon for confirmation / catechism classes to be attended by over 100 people from all denominations who are eager to hear the Word of God that they had been missing for many years. The Presbyterian Church used to be active in the region, but is not anymore; no training has occurred for a long time. So when we came offering training, many people have expressed interest to learn more. And all have been welcomed to the classes, though not all have yet expressed a desire to be confirmed in the Lutheran Church .

However, those who have shown an interest are very active! When Pr. Henry returned, he reported that the members had already begun building the Lutheran compound in Pochalla, even making the brick for the walls! This is something that is fairly common in Sudan , but uncommon in “richer” countries in East Africa where, many times, people wait until a foreign funding body provides money to build a church structure. Not here. Rather, the people are joyfully showing their love for the Lord by contributing considerable effort to build their church. We praise God for what He is doing in their hearts!

As Scott mentioned earlier, the Anuak Kingdom straddles the border between Sudan and Ethiopia separated by the river Akobo. The Alari Camp is filled with those Anuak who had been pushed out of their homes in Ethiopia with great violence in an attempt to get the gold that is on their land. This has caused a huge influx of refugees into Sudan and stretched resources there almost to their limit. To help with the needs, Christ Lutheran Church in Eagen , MN in partnership with LCMS-World Relief and LCMS-World Mission has started a project to dig wells in the camp to supplement the single, poorly-yielding well that is currently serving over 10,000 people. Imagine waiting at the line for a single, hand-pump spicket along with 10,000 others!

To date, $20,000 dollars has been raised for this effort. Unfortunately, there are no drilling rigs in the entire region to drill these wells. And to make it worse, no company will bring their rig into the area for less than 5 wells at $14,000 per well. This is actually an improvement. Scott has been trying to find a company willing to do this work, and some said only for 30 wells, others said only for 15 wells, and still others only for 10 wells. So, like Abraham, we eventually found one to do it for “only” 5 wells for a total of $70,000.

Another group has expressed its willingness to help in this effort – the Anuak Justice Council out of the Northwestern part of the United States . They will contribute $15-20,000. This still leaves a $40-45,000 gap in funding for which a proposal has been submitted to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, but no response has been received.

Please pray that this important human care project can go forward hand-in-hand with the church planting and leadership training activities already ongoing!

Rupbuot

Evangelist Simon Gatluak along with Rev. Titus Okoda have been busy in Rupbuot for a couple of months. They have been engaging in training sessions with the local leaders to provide them with a deeper understanding and appreciation of Scripture and the Catechism. So far, groups in 20 different areas have begun calling themselves “Lutheran” and engaging in Lutheran worship services. We pray that continued training would ground these brand new congregations that have sprung up so quickly so that they will not be like the seed that fell on rocky soil but had no root. Rather, we pray that they become well-established so that they can weather any difficulty.

One of the hopes for this new MTC is that they are self-sufficient very early on in their history. This has been hampered by a couple of factors. First, the grinding mill that was brought in came with the wrong parts. We will have to ship the right parts on the next plane which could be months away. Second, there is huge food pressure in the region. People are having trouble feeding their families, and when there is little food security, it is difficult to people to do anything more than try to find the next meal – which might not be forthcoming for many days. So please pray that the grinding mill gets running soon to alleviate some of the work of the women, and also that the food situation improves so that people are not threatened with starvation.

ELCS Discussions

For a little over a year, Scott has been in dialog with Rev. Andrew Mbugo Elisa , the President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan (ELCS) regarding strengthening our partnership. Both Scott and Rev. Elisa have seen that the time is becoming right to further increase our joint efforts at establishing a strong, confessional church throughout Sudan . This has been difficult to do in the past due to the war and tribal differences among the different groups. Therefore, a meeting took place in April between Scott, Rev. Claude and Rhoda Houge (our fellow missionaries), Catherine Wangari and Rev. Elisa to discuss the “ways and means” of our partnership together. Rev. Elisa expressed his desire that there be one Lutheran church in Sudan , and we heartily agreed. To make sure that this becomes true not only in name but in reality, we are now planning a conference for the end of June where leaders from all LCMS-World Mission work in Sudan can come together to find ways to become a united church under the ELCS. This would be an exciting situation as the current 61 congregations of the ELCS could over double with the addition of 78 LCMS-WM planted congregations in the South. Pray that the Lord of the Church would unify His Church in Sudan under a common confession and common structure.

Praise Reports

The church in Pochalla is becoming established and growing.
The response from Rupbuot and the villages surrounding it has been amazing.
LCMS-World Mission work in South Sudan is on the way to being fully integrated into ELCS work.

Prayer Requests

The many congregations in Rupbuot may become firmly founded upon the Word of God.
That wells may be dug in Alari Refugee Camp among the Anuak to alleviate their suffering.
That the process of unification begun between LCMS-WM and the ELCS may continue without a problem.

To support our work financially, you may send a tax-deductible gift with our name included on it to: LCMS World Mission, 1333 S. Kirkwood Rd. , St. Louis , MO 63122-7295

To be added or removed from this mailing list, send an e-mail message to scott.yakimow@lcms.org with the word ADD or REMOVE in the subject heading.

There are many opportunities to serve as short-term or long-term volunteer missionaries. Check out the current list and download an application at www.lcmsworldmission.org. Click on “Get involved.”

Tembea na Mungu

LCMS World Mission (www.lcmsworldmission.org)

Tembea na Mungu Rev. Scott & Miriam Yakimow, East Africa (scottyakimow@africaonline.co.ke) / Volume 3 / Issue 5 / March-April 2005 LCMS World Mission (www.lcmsworldmission.org)
Anuak Update Rev. Henry Kabasa has spent a considerable amount of time in Pochalla serving the Anuak community there. He, along with a local leader named Melo Oman, have started a new congregation right in Pochalla town and have been investigating starting a new congregation in Alari Refugee Camp around 10 km away. While the “official” membership still remains small, it is not uncommon for confirmation / catechism classes to be attended by over 100 people from all denominations who are eager to hear the Word of God that they had been missing for many years. The Presbyterian Church used to be active in the region, but is not anymore; no training has occurred for a long time. So when we came offering training, many people have expressed interest to learn more. And all have been welcomed to the classes, though not all have yet expressed a desire to be confirmed in the Lutheran Church . However, those who have shown an interest are very active! When Pr. Henry returned, he reported that the members had already begun building the Lutheran compound in Pochalla, even making the brick for the walls! This is something that is fairly common in Sudan , but uncommon in “richer” countries in East Africa where, many times, people wait until a foreign funding body provides money to build a church structure. Not here. Rather, the people are joyfully showing their love for the Lord by contributing considerable effort to build their church. We praise God for what He is doing in their hearts! As Scott mentioned earlier, the Anuak Kingdom straddles the border between Sudan and Ethiopia separated by the river Akobo. The Alari Camp is filled with those Anuak who had been pushed out of their homes in Ethiopia with great violence in an attempt to get the gold that is on their land. This has caused a huge influx of refugees into Sudan and stretched resources there almost to their limit. To help with the needs, Christ Lutheran Church in Eagen , MN in partnership with LCMS-World Relief and LCMS-World Mission has started a project to dig wells in the camp to supplement the single, poorly-yielding well that is currently serving over 10,000 people. Imagine waiting at the line for a single, hand-pump spicket along with 10,000 others! To date, $20,000 dollars has been raised for this effort. Unfortunately, there are no drilling rigs in the entire region to drill these wells. And to make it worse, no company will bring their rig into the area for less than 5 wells at $14,000 per well. This is actually an improvement. Scott has been trying to find a company willing to do this work, and some said only for 30 wells, others said only for 15 wells, and still others only for 10 wells. So, like Abraham, we eventually found one to do it for “only” 5 wells for a total of $70,000. Another group has expressed its willingness to help in this effort – the Anuak Justice Council out of the Northwestern part of the United States . They will contribute $15-20,000. This still leaves a $40-45,000 gap in funding for which a proposal has been submitted to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, but no response has been received. Please pray that this important human care project can go forward hand-in-hand with the church planting and leadership training activities already ongoing! Rupbuot Evangelist Simon Gatluak along with Rev. Titus Okoda have been busy in Rupbuot for a couple of months. They have been engaging in training sessions with the local leaders to provide them with a deeper understanding and appreciation of Scripture and the Catechism. So far, groups in 20 different areas have begun calling themselves “Lutheran” and engaging in Lutheran worship services. We pray that continued training would ground these brand new congregations that have sprung up so quickly so that they will not be like the seed that fell on rocky soil but had no root. Rather, we pray that they become well-established so that they can weather any difficulty. One of the hopes for this new MTC is that they are self-sufficient very early on in their history. This has been hampered by a couple of factors. First, the grinding mill that was brought in came with the wrong parts. We will have to ship the right parts on the next plane which could be months away. Second, there is huge food pressure in the region. People are having trouble feeding their families, and when there is little food security, it is difficult to people to do anything more than try to find the next meal – which might not be forthcoming for many days. So please pray that the grinding mill gets running soon to alleviate some of the work of the women, and also that the food situation improves so that people are not threatened with starvation. ELCS Discussions For a little over a year, Scott has been in dialog with Rev. Andrew Mbugo Elisa , the President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan (ELCS) regarding strengthening our partnership. Both Scott and Rev. Elisa have seen that the time is becoming right to further increase our joint efforts at establishing a strong, confessional church throughout Sudan . This has been difficult to do in the past due to the war and tribal differences among the different groups. Therefore, a meeting took place in April between Scott, Rev. Claude and Rhoda Houge (our fellow missionaries), Catherine Wangari and Rev. Elisa to discuss the “ways and means” of our partnership together. Rev. Elisa expressed his desire that there be one Lutheran church in Sudan , and we heartily agreed. To make sure that this becomes true not only in name but in reality, we are now planning a conference for the end of June where leaders from all LCMS-World Mission work in Sudan can come together to find ways to become a united church under the ELCS. This would be an exciting situation as the current 61 congregations of the ELCS could over double with the addition of 78 LCMS-WM planted congregations in the South. Pray that the Lord of the Church would unify His Church in Sudan under a common confession and common structure. Praise Reports The church in Pochalla is becoming established and growing. The response from Rupbuot and the villages surrounding it has been amazing. LCMS-World Mission work in South Sudan is on the way to being fully integrated into ELCS work. Prayer Requests The many congregations in Rupbuot may become firmly founded upon the Word of God. That wells may be dug in Alari Refugee Camp among the Anuak to alleviate their suffering. That the process of unification begun between LCMS-WM and the ELCS may continue without a problem. To support our work financially, you may send a tax-deductible gift with our name included on it to: LCMS World Mission, 1333 S. Kirkwood Rd. , St. Louis , MO 63122-7295 To be added or removed from this mailing list, send an e-mail message to scott.yakimow@lcms.org with the word ADD or REMOVE in the subject heading. There are many opportunities to serve as short-term or long-term volunteer missionaries. Check out the current list and download an application at www.lcmsworldmission.org. Click on “Get involved.”