South Sudan: The Birth Place of Orphans

     Sunday felt like he was the scum of the earth. He grew up in refugee camps as a Sudanese orphan.  Camp life was very difficult especially as an orphan.  He had to figure out how to support himself in another country where the culture and language were different and where people often never thought of others and were consumed themselves with trying to survive.
     When he was about 13 he left camp life only to find that city life was sometimes even worse.  A pastor in Kampala City in Uganda found him totally destitute and offered him a helping hand and counsel.  It was not much but Sunday was given some food, counsel and was provided with some education.  Sunday believed he would never become anybody significant because he believed he was nobody significant.
     The pastor taught him that he could have a position in Christ, he could be a child of God and have a new identity.  Sunday could not believe that that could ever happen to him, but as he grew in relationship with his new community and the pastor re-enforced that Sunday had potential, he went along for the ride.
     It was time for him to move back to his own country of South Sudan.  The pastor bought Sunday a ticket to fly with Mission Aviation Fellowship.  Sunday had only seen these planes in the sky so when he went up into the sky himself – he was terrified that he would fall out of the sky.
     This experienced changed his life. God used it to move him forward in faith.  He realized that if he could fly in the sky he could do anything – and be anybody that God wanted him to be.  He finally grasped his identity in Christ as a child of God, he embraced the benefits of this new identity and shared them freely with others.
     Life in South Sudan was very difficult for Sunday but he, as a humble servant of Christ, committed to help people and orphans. The community noticed that Sunday was a spiritual leader.  He is now a bishop and serves thousands of people.
     There are many more details to Sunday’s story that I did not share as they were too disturbing and too graphic.  Last time I saw Sunday he was living in a refugee camp in Northern Uganda because his home in South Sudan was destroyed. He was not able to go back. He said the following in an interview the last time we were together; “I was born in war, I married in war, I have had children in war, and now I may die in war.”  This may sound devastatingly negative but as Sunday serves South Sudan beside Avant Ministries God is opening the doors for great ministry. In the refugee camps he is promoting health, peace and spiritual vitality within the context of Short-Cycle Church Planting. Here is a link to hear from Sunday yourself.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO3-pW7w9W8.