Last week our church partner, the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SSPEC), was busy distributing food through all of their congregations. When Pastor Philip opened the the shipping container and I saw the long rows of 10 kg sacks, I was truly amazed. How would they distribute all of these? Three different congregations came that morning, two with a rented truck, another with a small utility vehicle. I could see joy on their faces in the midst of the sweat as they loaded the heavy sacks. Sacks of corn flour and lentils were carefully counted, with more than a hundred sacks going to each congregation.
that was filled with sacks of flour and lentils.
In Juba, SSPEC bought more than a thousand sacks of corn flour and several hundred sacks of lentils. Funds were also sent to around twelve different locations around South Sudan where there are groups of congregations that will also purchase and distribute food.
Loading trucks to take to the congregations
On Sunday, I worshipped at the Lologo congregation, and got to witness their distribution to the congregation. After the service, people waited patiently until their name was called and they were given their distribution. Bags of lentils were divided between families by joyful mothers. Neighbors around the church and those in the community known to be particularly poor were also called to receive a portion. Even young people who attend the church without their parents were given a full portion for their families.
Dividing lentils into portions for each family
I talked to two women as the collected their food. Christina Odiel, 40, is a widow with five children. She used to have a job, but said that now she is not working. I asked how she survives, and she said that she depends on help from others to eat. Later, on the way home I asked Pastor Philip how someone could survive like that. “Allah kariim” (God is generous) – he said. “You will find that a lot of people survive like that in South Sudan – they survive by “Allah kariim”. Somehow God provides. The other woman, Rosalyn, has seven children, the youngest of whom is 8 years old. Her husband is alive, but he married a second wife and left her on her own. She said that many times she and her children go the whole day without eating anything. She makes crafts with beads and sells them, but often she does not sell enough to buy food. She said that this flour and lentils will last her family a few weeks because they will make it stretch by not eating it every day. Both women expressed their appreciation for those who sent the support for this food. They pray that God would increase the help and resources to those generous people, so that they would continue to help others.
Christina and Rosalyn with their food allotment
We grieve over the man-made famine in this fertile country and the suffering that results from the insecurity in the country. So many people are displaced from their homes because of fighting, and have had to leave their fields or work. Others are in their homes but rebels or raiders have plundered their fields. Millions are living in UN camps within South Sudan or near its borders. They are given food, but usually it is not enough to feed their families for the whole month and people still go hungry. A recent UN report says that more than half the population are currently “extremely food insecure”. The general population is really suffering from the ongoing conflict and insecurity in South Sudan.
But in the midst of the suffering, I have heard so many expressions of thanks from South Sudanese for the people that generously help them and care about them in their suffering. Shenango Presbytery in Pennsylvania is one of SSPEC’s partners who seeks to connect in meaningful ways and share together in the work of God’s Kingdom. The congregations of Shenango gave generously and collectively to the effort of providing food relief in South Sudan, as a way of showing their sympathy with the suffering of their brothers and sisters in a distant land.
A young boy waits for his mom to return for their food allocatio
No comments:
Post a Comment