When one of the lead facilitators of an important ministers’ training I attended here asked, “…why are there no women here?” his query seemed to suspend airflow in the room briefly. Our befuddlement was salvaged by a quick response from one participant, urging him to proceed without waiting for an appropriate answer on this worrisome question.
No excuse could suffice for the absence of a single local female in that meeting. But were they considered and invited? Were they needed there? Who really qualifies among them to attend anyway? In a meeting where the youth, church growth, discipleship and children are on the main menu, it’s sad to imagine that local women were absent.
Brothers and Sisters, we have a largely unengaged battle field before us here in South Sudan. This is another Macedonian Call! Who’ll come to our rescue?
We are in dire need of Women whose heart the Master has touched; disciples of Christ to whom women here can run to for godly counsel. Our future is doomed without local mentors who have been through it and withstood the heat, arising from the complex issues that bedevil today’s Woman.
Let me attempt to give you an idea of what we are wrestling with here.
Early this week, I had this chat with a pastor friend, who told me he was just returning from seeing his brother whose wife passed away.
“Was she sick?” I inquired.
“Well yes, she had a mental illness for some time and just committed suicide… she left the man with five children.”
“It seems the case of suicide deaths is on the rise here…?”
“Yes my brother, we have an average of 65 cases like this every year here… many of them are married women with children and a good number of young girls too…” he added.
During the debrief session after our evangelism thrust last Sunday; Rose, a heavily pregnant and yet energetic young leader in the church commented thus:
“It’s a pity we don’t have a lot of our women coming to go on evangelism with us. Many women in the villages are suffering seriously and looking for help. Since we started this evangelism I’ve seen that we have a big work to do amongst the women…”
Others concurred with her, sharing their experiences with women they’d encountered who were drunks, possessed of demons, with illnesses that have defied doctors’ help, in bitterness etc.
A 12yrs old girl was delivered of her baby girl just over a week ago.
Abortion is on the rise.
Some hospitals here now offer the service for quick money.
Many young girls are dropping out of school due to unwanted pregnancies.
Many women are being treated for depression.
I’ll not talk about the rape cases, the abuse in the schools, the prostitution and so on. No one can minister to a woman better than a fellow woman. So where are the women? I mean local hands!!
When one of the missionaries here, a qualified medical doctor lost her baby during delivery, she connected fully with the women folk around her.
She told me her story, which ended like this:
“When I returned home, the women came running from everywhere but when I told them what had happened, they mourned with me. One put her hands around my neck and said, “…now that you know what we’ve been suffering, you are one of us.” This opened doors for my ministry to them.”
“If the war alarm gives an unclear signal, who will prepare for battle?” (1Corinthains 14:8 my paraphrase) We are at war on all fronts but it seems the church thinks otherwise. Many are doing ministry that’s not people focused.
* Do you have a heart laced with grace and yearning for solution to Women issues?
* Do you lead a thriving Women ministry with abiding fruit?
* Are you concerned for the next generation of Women leaders and wish to mentor some unto maturity?
* Can God use you and/or yours to stir up a response for His fame and Kingdom here?
* Are you burdened enough to seek a solution with and for us? Can you share this with some women in your church or network and solicit help for us?
* Can you sacrifice a few weeks of your life sooner than later to come bring joy to a desperate woman here?
If your answer is yes to any one of the above, please feel free to connect with us. Let’s plan your trip to South Sudan together. You could be Jesus in flesh and blood to someone in need here.
Kingdom Exploits With Uche 
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