Category: Refugee Crisis

I’m still chewing on my trip to Uganda this season, which had me neck deep in the pains, concerns and sorrows of some dear friends from South Sudan.

Before leaving home, I imagined it’d be tough for many of them who’d fled to safety in the refugee camps in northern Uganda. Well, as it turned out, tough was an understatement. 

It’s one of those seasons when tears are a daily dessert, as pain from various life matters gnaw at the soul with violent thrusts that send reason on exile.

Many questions are asked with little or no answers offered. The frustration is off the charts. What is seen, sensed and said form a mixture that’s a harsh reality for many. The hurt is deep, trust is broken and we arrive at the point where groans overtake words and a smile seems a senseless thing to wear.

For the IDPs in South Sudan and those counting themselves fortunate to have escaped from the troubled areas; the complexity of it all doesn’t make for easy counsels. An end to the crisis seems far-fetched.

My visit to the Rhino refugee camp where the children from Dreamland and other South Sudanese were settled broke me. It was my first trip to a refugee camp.

I must confess that I was distressed by the disorder there, the hopelessness expressed in the faces of many people, the lack of organization and infrastructure; the sight of children gathered under the trees and high shrubs, sleeping, playing games on the dirt floor, shooting the breeze while waiting for the next meal. It seemed unreal.

I was overwhelmed by the well over 40 degrees centigrade heat inside the polythene tents, the challenge of leaks when it rains, the poor ventilation and sanitation.

I learned that the UNHCR set up refugee camps in line with the social status of the refugees in their home countries. Would that suggest the total lack of order seen at these camps dominated by South Sudanese?

This is a new era in the life of the children from Dreamland, their care-givers and many others here. I’m wondering how these children and the older ones among them are processing their current situation? How soon can they adjust and begin to recover? What will it take to finally resettle them physically and emotionally? Time is of the essence. 

Amidst the protocols at these UNHCR Camps restricting external visits, how can one best connect with these children and others there and help maximize their time? What partnerships need to be nurtured to make this happen?

A ministry in Kitgum, Irene Gleason Foundation (IGF), led by John Paul, is offering the Dreamland children a place there. I believe it will be far better than this camp. We await his report.

Application for their release to relocate to Kitgum has been filed by Pastor Stanley at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kampala. We are convinced that these children cannot thrive in this environment without deliberate and swift changes. Lord Jesus, undertake for us!

The older girls among them have all the makings of womanhood and eyes are looking. Someone may start baiting them. We need to move from fighting off the hawks and ensure that the good seed sown flourishes. The older boys nurse various ambitions; some spoken, some hidden. Minds and hands have to be purposefully engaged. Can you help?

Three close disciples shared their plans and dreams with me, as they press into this new territory. It was clear they need a spiritually and emotionally healthy community to thrive. I’ve asked them to build such a community by being ambassadors of peace there.

They’ll need support.

Our investments in them while in South Sudan will be tested for its worth. I’m convinced God has released some of them to chase Him and engage the Kingdom at another level. It’s another chapter.

We’ll continue working closely with some, to help them stabilize. Reaching the youth is integral to what we dream and dare to do as a ministry. Education, sport, music, the arts and all that attracts the fancy of young minds are tools we’ll continue to deploy. With an eye for kingdom expansion pressing northward, these youth are our arrowheads. 

We are trudging along in faith, hoping the heart finds strength with each step and stop, to pump prayers upward until heaven manifests on earth with those unwavering assurances of God’s presence. 

G.K. Chesterton said, “One can sometimes do good by being the right person in the wrong place.” This encourages me!

It’s a new chapter in the same book. I’m looking forward to seeing what the Lord has planned.

As we seek His grace and wisdom for new partnerships and strategies needed here, may our prayers and corporate efforts bear enduring fruit.

Thanks for praying for Pastor Tom and family. They tarried awhile in Koboko to mourn and receive the comfort of family and friends. They are thankful.

It got worse for my friends at the Rhino camp in Uganda on Tuesday 11th October, as Pastor Tom lost his daughter so suddenly. 3year old Joy was rushed out of the camp to Arua General Hospital, 90mins drive away.

We must have missed them on the way, as I arrived at the camp with some friends that made it out of Yei, to hear that Joy was sick. After connecting with the children, some friends there and visiting a few locations, I was set to return to Arua. Pastor Tom decided to ride with me so he could see his daughter in the hospital.

20mins away from Arua, we got a call that Joy had passed away. When we arrived at the hospital, Rebecca, Tom’s wife was beside herself with grief. She’d roll on the grass, crawl, stand, dance from side to side, stomp, seeking a posture or response that could best assuage or express the pain.

When she saw me and cried my name, I cracked inside. Helpless and gritting my teeth as hard as I could, I fought back tears there. “Not here, not here” I kept saying to myself.

Rebecca wailed, “Joy, why didn’t you fall sick on Sunday when Uche came and prayed for the sick at the camp? The other little girl he prayed for was healed, why didn’t you fall sick on Sunday?” “Joy you’ve fallen sick before, and it lasted days and you recovered; but today, you didn’t give us a chance to help you, why? Joy why? God why?”

I held her, prayed over her, and comforted her as much as I could. My words and prayers seemed too banal. As genuine as my empathy for Tom and his family was, I couldn’t enter their pain, their loss. Only God can. God soothes our deepest hurts when we let Him. His Spirit is here for such moments as these; to comfort and to restore hope.

This photo taken two days before Joy passed shows some of the Dreamland children, Joy’s dad Pastor Tom and little Joy on the right corner in her mama’s arms. Please pause here and pray for Pastor Tom and his family.

As we mourned and wept, we needed to address the challenge of a burial site for Joy. God showed up 48hrs later and rescued the situation.

We couldn’t take her back to the refugee camp. The children there should be spared this sight and memory. Their grueling journey to the camp had its own traumatic impact. This may be too much.

How will each of these 130 children deal with this catastrophe? How will they grieve? Can they process this well enough to heal? Is it time to start a trauma counseling session for them? What will it take? How do we go about it? I wish I had ready answers.

I’m learning that some tragedies don’t need quick fixes. Children are delicate, needing careful attention and expert intervention in times of grief. These kids need help now. Who has what they need?

For anyone struggling with loss of any kind, a strong social support group can contribute positively to alleviating some of the most challenging aspects of grief. But that’s if the group is gracious enough to own the issue(s) and embrace the broken pieces of the grieving, as they manifest.

I remember the experience Dr. Esther Kiyingi, a missionary of CMFI South Sudan shared with me some year ago. She left Yei for Uganda to go have her baby but lost the baby due to birth complications in the delivery room.

On returning home to South Sudan, the women rushed out to welcome her and the new born. She told them what happened. Their ululations of joy instantly turned to wailing.

She said, “…one of the women came to me, put her hand around me and said, ‘now you are one of us'”. This was a kind of initiation, by which her person and purpose could rest among these women and thrive.

1Thess 4:13 says we are not to sorrow like those without hope. This suggests that some behaviors and thinking patterns after a loss could be helpful or harmful. As I reflect on mourning, I’m wondering what the better path to travel while mourning is. Among the helpful options out there, how can one know which suits them best without groping long-term in the cesspits of grief?

Time is not a healer, God is. We must spend time meaningfully while grieving and hope to learn now or later, why and how today’s tragedy was heaven’s intervention and righteous response to a cry for help, mercy, justice…, for all who love Jesus.

God’s wisdom will always vindicate Him. He yearns for His children to trust Him and learn to huddle tightly in times of sorrow.

Lord, heal Pastor Tom and family. Teach us to trust you and show us how to be better healers in this broken world.