Arriving in the north of Uganda, I couldn’t wait to give Wiki the help collected for her. On April 21, after dinner, we finally found a car and went with the pastor and his assistants to the Bidi-Bidi camp. This camp holds 270,000 people and they are all refugees from Southern Sudan. When we were approaching the camp the sky became dark and thick clouds formed. Shortly after, the rain started to pour! I was lucky to sit in the cab of the truck but my friends with pastor Alfred sat in the back of the truck and got all wet.
Vicki happily greeted us and invited us to her shack and she had water standing in her entrance. In a small, dark room, we sat down, and Vicki began to tell her story.
“I grew up with four brothers and sisters in Loa, in Southern Sudan. My parents live in Juba with my brothers. My sisters fled to Uganda, just like I did. Unfortunately, none of them know God! At the age of 18, I got married and gave birth to 4 children, three boys and one girl. After 12 years of marriage, my husband left me. In 2017 he was killed by rebels, unfortunately he didn’t know Christ.
In 2010, after our divorce, I began to seek God and accepted Jesus as my Savior. In 2013, after the outbreak of the civil war and the bombing of Juba, my children and I fled to the south of the country in Nimule. I had to leave my home and my work as a hairdresser. When the war reached Nimule, we fled to the Bidi Bidi camp in northern Uganda!”
The life of the widow, especially with the amputated hand is very complicated. Today, she cuts grass in the camp and tries to sell it to earn something. Her eldest son, who is 19, helps her when he can. He built two houses for his family. We were glad to hear that at least the UN doubled the food ratio per person and again gives out 12kg (26lb) of beans and people no longer starve as they did before.
When we asked how we can help her, Vicki replied: “I want to go to the hospital to get a prosthesis for my arm. With a prosthesis it will be easier for me to learn how to sew. If I had a mechanical sewing machine, I could sew things and sell them! ”
I handed her an envelope with the words: “This is from your brothers and sisters in the United States. They care about you and they wanted to help somehow. ” She modestly took the envelope, put it on the bed and said: “I thought that God left me behind and forgot about me.”
Ministry in Uganda – President of New Fields Ministries Willi Dick
The news has repeatedly reported that South Sudanese are starving. Every person I’ve met desperately needs food, medicine, and security. Desperate people who heard about the food delivery to the churches were ready to attack us! The number of those in need exceeded all our capabilities. As usual, we loaded 12.5 tons of food products. Many from the crowd testified that they had not eaten for the last several days. We could not feed everyone, and therefore the help was designated for the members of the church only. The rest of the crowd of ca 1500 people did not disperse and demanded to help them even though their names were not on the registration lists! This was a difficult test for me and the church’s help committee. God gave us wisdom, and we announced that the food delivery was exclusively for vulnerable people, such as widows, disabled, elderly and schoolchildren. Thus, we distributed food and non-food products to people in need. And thanked God that everything went well.
The church in Southern Sudan in the state of Nimule was founded in 2000. Now Pastor Lozo Jofri is working here, he is a citizen of Nimule. About two years ago, he fled to the Ajumani refugee camp in northern Uganda. Not so long ago, he was asked to return to reopen the church. We thank God that he is doing well, and the church in Nimule is growing. Pastor Lozo is doing his best to reestablish other churches that were abandoned because of the conflict. To date, four Baptist churches are open again. Despite the economic difficulties, the number of returning believers is growing daily. Pastor Lozo, in a private conversation, shared with me that his family had not eaten for two days. He planned to send his family back to Uganda to feed his wife and children. I told the relief committee about the request of Pastor Lozo, and they unanimously decided, to include him and his family in the food distribution.
Our brothers and sisters were touched to tears and we thank everyone from the heart for the food delivery to the needy churches in Nimula. Please extend our gratitude to all the churches in the US for the timely assistance to feed thousands of South Sudanese refugees. We sincerely love you!
Viki is 40 years old and a widow. The Lord blessed her with 4 children. Her husband was serving in the army and later was found drunk and dead in his home in 2017. After that they weren’t able to afford to live in Juba, the capitol of South Sudan, they moved to Nimule which is located in the Southern part of the country. She bought food in Loa and brought it to the market in Juba in order to sell it. On the way home, the truck that she was driving in turned over and several passengers were injured while others were killed. Viki was badly injured, and her right arm needed to be amputated.
The Civil war reached the Loa area in July 2017. Viki and her children fled to the border of Uganda and were hiding in the woods. They crossed the White Nile on a boat and were left without food and water and they were forced to drink dirty flowing water. Now they are living in a refugee camp in Bidi bidi, Uganda. Here she turned her heart to the Lord and joined the church. She is trying to earn money, so she could buy food for her children. Viki is thankful for God for His mercy and asks for prayers for her family.
The director of the Migiale Baptist Association, Clement Niombo, expressed a huge gratitude for the assistance with the refugees from Southern Sudan in the Cerva Camp. This is the second truckload of food we sent to this newly founded camp.
We loaded the truck on December 29 and on the next day at 10 am in the morning we were already unloading it. A huge number of people were expecting our arrival. Church leaders and government officials were both expressing their gratitude to all those who participated in the help for the homeless. We unloaded 100 bags of corn flour, 100 bags of beans, 50 cans of oil and 50 boxes of soap and salt. About 1600 people were able to receive food packages for their families. We distributed the soap to the elderly, invalids and pregnant women.
The present people could not resist to overwhelmingly thank us for the help prayers. May the Lord bless you for your help.
Our first visit in Uganda was in May 2017. The thought to go there again never left my mind after I left. We saw horrible pictures of hunger, poverty, inhuman conditions of life and a thirst for God’s word.
Our trip began with difficulties. At the airport security, they found a knife at one of our team members. He didn’t know it was there. The police were called and after long conversations they let him go with the condition to appear in front of a court for further investigation.
Before our arrival, we learned that we would not be able to visit one of the camps ins South Sudan because of the armed conflict in that area. A unit of soldiers reached the refugee camp and started to shoot randomly at the refugees and didn’t even stop with women or children. Many fled to bordering Kerwa Region in Uganda.
The camp in Kerwa just opened a few weeks ago. We purchase 12 tons of food, 700 bibles, and medication. More than 1500 people were sitting under tree branches and waiting for us from the early morning.
People rejoiced and praised God for the help that arrived on time and for the Word of God that they received. Thank you, everybody, who helped and cared about the refugees here in Uganda. Our brothers and sister from South Sudan undergo a very difficult journey. They lost everything that they once owned. They are tired from a war that already lasts for more than 60 years.
Please pray for the awakening for South Sudan, for the end of the war so that the two rivaling tribes would stop killing innocent civilians.
In September 2017, the secretary of the Baptist Union of Kenya Peter Olonapa and head of the Southern Sudan Baptist Union Edward Dima visited churches of the north-west coast in the United States. The Lord abundantly blessed their participation in various divine services and family evenings.
On behalf of the ministry, I want to express my great gratitude to all who took us in for the night, fed us, and helped to resolve unforeseen problems! I also thank all the ministers who opened not only churches but also their hearts for our guests.
This month we are shipping another load of food to believing refugees who are in the North of Uganda. We also continue to build canopies in the camps. A group of helpers is flying to Kenya to finish building the church.
Pray for this ministry, that our help would be pleasing to God, and bring blessing to the needy!
