Healing workshop for women in Juba

Last week we landed in Juba Tuesday evening after two days of travel from a conference in South Africa. Wednesday morning I left early to go find St. Thomas parish of the Episcopal church, where my friend Lucia was organizing a Healing Hearts, Transforming Nations (HHTN) workshop for women. It was the third and final day of the workshop, and I regretted that I had not been able to be there for the first two days, to be present for discussions about divisions and pain they had experienced.

Lucia started on Wednesday morning by inviting people to share testimonies of what they felt or how they saw God working as they gave their pain over to Jesus the previous day during the cross workshop. One woman described the feeling of lightness and freedom she felt after giving over her pain and burdens to Jesus, knowing that he welcomes and carries them (Isaiah 53:4). Another woman, Mama Doruca, shared that the pain she had written on her paper, prayed over, and nailed to the cross was the sickness of her son. He had been sick for several days, and she was hesitant even to leave him the previous day to attend the workshop. But when she returned home in the evening, he was healed! A third woman stood up to give thanks to God because she had been sick for nearly two months, often experiencing dizziness and falling down. She had been chosen by her church to attend the workshop, and she really wanted to attend despite the challenge of her sickness. Another woman from her church was assigned to accompany her and help her in the event of an episode of the sickness. She attended the first day, but was hesitant to eat lunch for fear of getting sick. She attended the second day, and was able to eat without any feeling of sickness. Now she was praising God for giving her strength to experience the workshop and protecting her from this sickness for the whole three days. We praise God that they saw God at work bringing physical healing – often a side-effect of emotional healing.

I taught that morning about giving and asking for forgiveness, and then Lucia facilitated a session on Standing in the Gap, or corporate repentance. Participants were eager to share testimonies of forgiveness, but seemed reluctant to ask for forgiveness for wrongs done by their own people. Lucia invited me to come and confess to demonstrate the principle that she had tried to explain. I knelt on the ground, and began to describe some of the ways that my ancestors, Europeans, British, and Americans had exploited them and their land through colonialism, slavery, corporations taking resources, etc. As I spoke out some of the injustices committed against them, I grieved as I saw their faces acknowledging the truth and the pain that it had caused. One woman, as representative for the group, came forward, knelt on the ground with me, and offered forgiveness as she hugged me. It felt like a meaningful moment of honesty, acknowledging our connected brokenness.

The final session is the Celebration of the Holy Nation. The women took seats in a large circle and each put on a paper crown, symbolizing their participation in the Holy Nation, looking forward to the banquet of the Lamb, together with members of all tribes and nations. Members of specific tribes were called forward, and the rest of the group spoke out some aspects of their culture or talents that everyone admired. “They really respect their women.” or “They are loyal and will never betray one of their group, even if you are a guest.” or “they make the best peanut sauce!” were some of the descriptions. They asked me to stand, representing Americans and Westerners. “They are the reason we have cars and buses in South Sudan!”, or “They taught us how to read”, or “they are generous, and give help to others in need” were a few responses. But the one that I heard multiple times was “They helped us to believe in Jesus. They brought us the good news of the Gospel.” This felt like redemption – after acknowledging the pain that my culture has caused in South Sudan, I rejoice to also see the fruit of the good, from many people with hearts of sacrificial love.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 

1 Peter 2:9

Praying in Hope

 Women kneeling in prayer on the road

We knelt on the pavement, three long lines of women. One women at a time led in prayer, acknowledging our need and crying out for God’s intervention in South Sudan. The rest of us joined in, praying silently or quietly, and I could feel the collective passion as we publicly prayed together. Women from different denominations took turns leading specific prayers – for soldiers who are hungry and underpaid, for youth who are sucked into the gang and drug culture, for leaders implementing the peace agreement, for the economy and jobs, and for our churches and families. It was about ten o’clock in the morning, but the sun was already hot. Lively worship interspersed the times of prayer, and several women who had been passing by got in line to join the prayers.

The opening of the prayer march

After praying and singing at the starting point for nearly an hour, we marched about 2 miles on a narrow dirt road to a village called Kwarijic, singing along the way and stopping three times to pray. A woman washing clothes in the stream waved in encouragement as we passed, and barefoot women carrying bundles of long sticks on their heads smiled in greeting.

The women approach the village of Kwarijic

We gathered in the village’s Catholic Church, continuing our prayers and worship, and encouraged by a word from the local priest about prayer connecting us to God’s infinite power. The women’s theme this year is Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” These women reflect that verse well – I was encouraged by the hope expressed, rooted in faith and God’s faithfulness. One woman exhorted everyone to get up at 1 A.M. to pray – because that was an hour when they could find quiet and focus. When I was invited to give a word of greeting, I extended greetings from the many churches we visited last year, and told them that they are an example for us in America of commitment to prayer.

Agnes Wasuk, Director of Women’s programs at the South Sudan Council of Churches, has been organizing these ecumenical prayer gatherings for 6 years – a beautiful expression of unity and faith. For real change and healing in South Sudan, it will take not just the decisions of political leaders, but also the unity and commitment by people at the grassroots. After being away for six months, I was excited to join them again, especially because the increased atmosphere of peace around Juba meant that they could hold the prayers at a church outside of the city. When I reached home in the afternoon, my whole body felt tired, but I was energized and inspired by the sense of hope and grateful for the gift of joining these women in prayer.

Sharing tea and bread in the shade near the church