March 29, 2009

Dear Friends,

Reconcile Peace Institute students discussing biblical principles for trauma healing.

Greetings from Yei, South Sudan. We have just completed week seven of the three-month courses at the RECONCILE Peace Institute, and our hearts are filled with thanks to God for how well it is going. We were graciously provided with scholarships for 27 Sudanese leaders, 10 of which are pastors or evangelists, and our students are “the best”! The instructors have commented that they’ve never taught students that were so eager to learn. They are thirsty for knowledge on healing the wounds of war and working for peace.

I believe one of the reasons that the students are so motivated is that they come from areas deeply torn by inter-ethnic conflicts that urgently need their skills. While here at RPI they have had plenty of chances to practice these skills, as it seems as though every week we have been confronted with some sort of tragedy due to continual conflicts. We have had several students and staff grieving the deaths and abductions of loved ones by both the Lord’s Resistance Army and inter-ethnic violence, an LRA attack on the outskirts of Yei that caused people to sleep in the city square for protection, and inter-ethnic fighting between the Murle and Nuer peoples in Pibor County in which at least 750 people were killed and 100 are missing or abducted. John’s home village was completely destroyed, and two of his cousins are still missing.

John Ngarben (second from left) with children in his trauma healing group.

John Ngarben is a committed Christian, the son of the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Sudan in Pibor. When he was 10 years old and on his way to Makakaal to attend school, John’s family was brutally attacked. In order to save their lives John volunteered to serve as a child soldier. As a child soldier, John went through years of cruel mistreatment, including severe hunger before losing his leg in a land mine accident. He now serves the Murle community in Pibor County as a teacher and a RECONCILE Key Mobilizer. Naturally, the news of the raid on his village hit John hard. But what has been amazing about him is, like the other students who have been hit by the news of tragedy, John has increased his resolve to study hard and throw himself into the field work that we began last week.

We had received reports that children were deeply traumatized in two areas on the edge of Yei that were attacked by the LRA, causing 11 deaths and many abductions. In response, we initiated a six-week trauma healing program using the draft of the children’s version of “Healing the Wounds of Trauma,” which Debbie co-authored. Every Tuesday and Thursday, 14 of us go out to do a program at an orphanage and a community centre with 50 children. We help them deal with the trauma through stories, discussions, games  and Bible stories. It’s a great learning experience for the students, and the children have been very responsive. Please keep our students and these dear children in your prayers—that the program might continue to go well—and pray that the peace this country so longs for might soon be realized.

In Christ,

Debbie

The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 32