I recently met Isaiah while I was in Aweil, South Sudan. He was captured by the Arabs during the war while trying to sell fish. He was beaten and tortured and expected to die. Miraculously God saved him and after several days was set free. His miraculous release from expected death led him to faith in Christ. Since that time he has opened 59 churches. The Bishop of Aweil asked me if I could buy him a motor bike as he has to travel great distances to oversee these churches. I said if he or his congregations could raise £100 ($150) and the congregations could also pay for the petrol and maintenance of the bike I would do my best to raise the rest.
Abraham Makir, a very tall Dinka from South Sudan, helped me run a 4 day pastors conference in Aweil. We had a great time of encouragement. The bishop and the pastors’ appreciated the teaching and we experienced great blessing from their testimonies often of great courage and faith. One pastor rode on a bicycle for 8 hours to reach a road with vehicles and then a further 3 hours in a vehicle to attend the conference.
Bishop Wilson of Ibba is doing his very best to improve the low level of education in his diocese. There is only one primary school in Ibba and that is the church primary school called St Peter’s which has no government funding. Although about 800 children attend St Peter’s the church could only afford to pay three teachers this year. Agnes, who is standing next to the bishop, is a qualified teacher who has come from Uganda to help the bishop to teach both adults and children but he has no money to pay her. I said I would try to raise funds to pay Agnes for one year and also for two other qualified teachers who had come from Yei.
Bishop Abraham of Aweil took me to this church and asked me for help. I could see it was very important to him as it is the first church that has been built by a local congregation since he became bishop but they cannot afford the zinc sheets for the roof. The pastor was one of the lost boys of Sudan who walked to Ethiopia after his village had been attacked and destroyed by the Arabs. He became a child soldier but was later converted. He came back to Aweil as a pastor. He sold one of his cows to help build this church. I said that for every sheet a local person from Aweil purchased I would purchase two. 26 people have said they would buy a sheet.
Every blessing,
