Kingdom Exploits With Uche

In a few hours from now, I’ll be airborne, headed back to Yei via Nairobi – Kenya and Kampala – Uganda. Thanks to Brother Scott Davis for sacrificing much to set me on my way once again.

Someone asked me recently, “What do you fear the most about your mission in Sudan?” Without thinking very deeply, I replied “Nothing.” I was wrong. I have since noted some things I truly dread about going to Sudan, and a lot more on the consequences of my choosing to stay home and mind other duties.

To start with, I don’t like long rides, even on the best of roads. The video clip and the photos speak silently on the condition of our roads in Sudan. It’s roughly 80km from Aura in Northern Uganda (where you leave paved roads and enter dirt roads) to our base In Yei, South Sudan. As short as the distance is, that road trip takes many hours to accomplish on any given day. One is certainly guaranteed five hours of a dust bath in the dry seasons, which I think is tolerable; considering the hours and sometimes days spent riding on mud during the rainy seasons. The fear of getting stuck in the mud lingers in every traveler’s mind per mile. Sometimes you don’t know what’s causing a particular holdup and an attempt to find out the problem could mean an hour’s trek to and fro the source.

Though some parts are now being leveled out, thanks to the efforts of the UN, whose presence in South Sudan has been a great blessing but there’s so much damage to contend with. I wonder when we’ll be delivered from these perilous roads. We once did 50km/h on one stretch and I celebrated it. I wish to see more development when I arrive.

We have flights into Yei from Nairobi and Entebbe very regularly. The dirt airstrip in Yei can handle two 19-seater aircrafts at once but with all the heavy load of supplies one travels with, the cost per seat is high. 

What would happen if I chose to stay home? My fears are encapsulated in this one question. It’s not really in the bad roads or the dangers that could prevent me from ever returning home each time I go.

Or what do you think?

My first impression
of Yei was mixed. It reminded me so much of my village, Ogidi in Anambra State,
east of the River Niger in Nigeria. It also gave me a vivid idea of what many
churches, schools and homes looked like before and after the civil war. The
Sudan civil war ended in 2005 with bombed out schools, churches and homes all
over the south. 

The few surviving structures were riddled with bullet holes and
wounds of various sizes, reminding whoever cared to note, of the horror that
once ruled these parts. But one will notice the colonial touch from the kind of
buildings that served as homes and offices of the masters back then. London was
not a bad name truly. Those guys from Europe really intended to make Yei home
away from home.

I arrived Yei for the first time on the
4^th of July 2005 in the company of Pastor Stanley. We drove in by
road from Bazi where we had camped for 5days with some other friends from the
USA, ministering to locals and distributing food to the people in Bazi. More on
this Bazi outreach later.

The sight of
deminers working with great care, just 6 meters from our gate unnerved me
immediately on arrival. War was still fresh in many minds. Chills ran through
my spine as I imagined what could be that must not be. The sign, “Walk
along the Path” posted around the town in several places could be
interpreted, Mines!! The guys were all well kitted and worked together to
unearth the “thunder in the ground” as some call it. I didn‘t wait to
see if they succeeded.

Yei is located 68km
from the Ugandan border to the North and 160km from Juba, the Capital of South
Sudan on the north east axis. What makes the town strategic is that it is the
first major town you arrive at, coming from Uganda or the Congo northward in Sudan. Many
returnees transiting to various parts of Sudan after the war hang around in Yei
for a few days, looking for means to get to their destination and many times,
they preferred to settle. 

Thus, this town holds a vast collection of native
Sudanese, people from least reached and unreached areas. We are targeting their
students as our tools to reaching their unreached. It must happen!

Before the civil war
broke out in 1983, Yei was a booming business town because of its proximity to
the Ugandan and Congolese borders. To get into the inner part of south Sudan,
most traders had to pass through the town. 

The result was that it became a key
trading center for farmers and traders from the hinter lands and those from
Uganda and Congo. Hoteliers flooded the town. Guest houses called “Lodge” and
huts for rent provided ready shelter for wayfarers; while drinking bars and
shops offering mixed goods are on every corner. We are back to that life now.
In fact, we’ve gone beyond that with the arrival of movie centers, where all
kinds of movies and of course, the British Premiership league football could be
viewed for a fee.

Civil servants and
other high ranking government officials posted to Juba come over to Yei to
unwind quite frequently. Yei is so different from Juba, which is hot and humid
almost all year round.

The population of
Yei is put at 45,000 after the war in 2005, counting women and children. Since
then, it now hosts over 75,000 people over 70% of whom are youths. The
growth and expansion of the town within four year is encouraging. 

There’s an airstrip where 19seater
airplanes can land comfortably. We have electricity, powered from a generating
plant from 7am till 12night daily. Two FM radio stations operate here and one of them is ministry based, granting Christian programs free airtime very often. With four cell phone networks around, there’s a scramble for
customers. 

You can even get a free SIM card from some.  The government is currently fixing major roads
and trying to plan the town’s streets. Most places are known by
the name of the villages near them. Streets are yet to be named as they’ve
not been intentionally created. We tread more on pathways than streets. Healthcare is still a challenge but more private hospitals are coming in.

Yei is pretty
safe. Though we’ve had a few unsecure moments with LRA (Lord’s Resistant Army)
rebels of Uganda; who are hiding in forests of Congo, and invade villages near
and around Yei when our soldiers doze off on duty. Some have lost their lives
and a few abducted during the attacks. Nonetheless, this place is safe.

Yei has over 20
primary schools and 9 secondary schools. It’s a joy to note that all but one of
these secondary schools has a Scripture Union fellowship that meets weekly to
pray and worship. 16 different denominations are resident in Yei with many churches. There’s
a pastor’s forum that meets often with a goal to sharpen one another. 

Many
ministries and NGOs are here too, each with its own vision. There are three
orphanages in Yei, with over 300 kids.

Yei and the
surrounding villages are virgin lands for ministry. The needs are real and must
be engaged for the Kingdom’s sake. 

The challenge of youth development, orphans,
women empowerment, vast uncultivated fertile lands and church growth stare us
in the face with an intimidating gaze. Now’s a good time to engage.

Feel free to get in touch
and let’s know your passion and pursuit. We could work together. There’s surely
a place for your experience here in Yei. Ask me, plan to come, you’ll be
amazed. 

I met Pastor Stanley Lo-Nathan, the Director of Sudan for Christ Ministries in June 2005. It was on the recommendation of Greg Ford of Global Quest Inc. Greg is a friend of the leaders of my church in the USA, Victory World Church in Norcross, Atlanta, Georgia. When I shared with them in 2004 of God’s leading to North Africa, they suggested I link up with Greg who has ongoing work in Sudan. When I met with Greg he said, “Uche, I’ll have to get in touch with Pastor Stanley in Yei, Sudan. If he wants you with him, I will get across to you but first, finish your training at the school of ministry.” I was at VWMTC with Victory World Church at the time.

I connected with Pastor Stanley on my first mission trip to Sudan. We met in Entebbe Uganda and drove in the company of other mission-minded folks from the USA to a small Southern Sudan village called Bazi for our outreach. It was an unforgettable experience. Stanley and I later left for Yei where our bonding continued. It was clear our passions aligned and other things flowed naturally. He’s a man I’ve grown to love and respect.

This is his heartwarming story.

I traveled to Cairo Egypt in 1990 with several other students from South Sudan on a government scholarship to study. After I graduated I could not come back home because of the war. Like many of my colleagues, we didn’t have anything to do, there were no jobs; the only jobs available were to work as house boys for the Egyptians. They were real taskmasters just like Bible days. The work was too much but I had no choice. Frustration drove me to alcoholism.

In 1994 UNHCR opened up their offices to help hundreds of the Sudanese people from the South who were caught up in Egypt to apply for refugee status. I submitted my application with a lot of lies to prove that I was a political refugee. During the confusion and frustration of those days, I received Jesus as my Savior in 1994.

I received the call of God in my life in 1995 and I began to preach. The same year, I was called to the UNHCR office for my interview for the asylum. I did not go because all the information I gave on my application was false. I had applied before my salvation experience. The Holy Spirit spoke to me that now I am saved I cannot defend the lies I sent in. After that many doors to travel to the USA and Canada came but I could not travel because God had removed the desire and quest to travel abroad by all means from my heart.

After I got saved, I was introduced to a church where 90% of the congregation were foreigners. Most of whom were from America, Canada, and other parts of Western Europe. I became the leader of the Sudanese people worshiping in that Church. The pastor of that church, Pastor Dave Petrecue who has gone to be with the Lord was from Canada. One day the pastor called me to his office and told me that the Canadian Ambassador asked him to send all the Sudanese families worshiping in his church to the Embassy because interviews will be conducted for them and those who are successful will be resettled in Canada.

I was called to screen all the Sudanese families immediately. I did, and within four months all these people were resettled in Canada. Many of my friends, including myself, were amazed that I did not include my name on that list. That list was like the List of Life, of Prosperity, a list of HOPE. However, I have never regretted the decision.

In 1996, I began to nurse the vision to return home to Sudan and to plant churches and Bible schools. So in 1997, I joined Victory Bible Institute in Cairo to prepare and equip myself to be a blessing to my people. I graduated in June 1998. During the Bible school days, God spoke to three of my colleagues to join me in the mission to Sudan. We departed Egypt in 1998 traveling through Uganda. Our plan was to stay in Arua, a border town in northern Uganda, where we will be ministering in refugee camps before we would finally venture into Sudan. The civil war was still raging at this time and Sudan was a death zone.

We didn’t know at the time that God was setting us up on a pioneering ministry to break the ground for other ministries to follow. When we arrived in Uganda, we were detained at the airport in Entebbe for 8 hours before we were finally released; their reason was that we were spies from the government of North Sudan. The relationship between Uganda and Sudan was bad, such that both Embassies were closed. After a couple of days’ rest in Kampala, we headed north to Arua, and just one night in Arua, we were arrested and locked up by the police. In the cell, we were stripped bare, our shoes and all the money in our pockets were taken. Up till that moment, none of us thought of returning to Egypt, though some of us had a return ticket.

I have never been in a police cell since I was born, it was a shock to all of us but thank God we were together. We sang and prayed and the presence of God was and will always be in the police cell. The first day, the inmates were rough, demanding money or they would beat us up. Thank God by the following day they became our friends. But the worst was yet to come as the police told us on the third day that we were to be deported to South Sudan, we were afraid at first but then we didn’t have any choice, so we trusted God, after all that was where He wanted us to be.

The police made sure we traveled all the way to the border. On arriving Yei, the SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) authorities arrested us on the allegation that we did not have proper documents to enter South Sudan. Our passports were taken and we reported at their office every day for one month to make sure we were not enemies of the Movement. Yei was not safe, we lived in bunkers most of the time, fighter planes dropped bombs twice or thrice daily and many people we knew died some of them were our disciples. God kept us alive and He continued to use us.

Two years later it became easier for foreign ministries and churches to come to Yei and we thank God for the grace He gave us to go through all the pains we experienced for His cause and glory. We have since hosted many foreign ministries. Our ministry, Sudan for Christ Ministries has always been a platform for ministry expression. We welcome those that want to come to South Sudan to fulfill God’s call on their lives. We would be willing to assist them in any way possible to see Jesus honored with their visit and our partnership.

Pastor Stanley is married to Vicky.  Vicky heads the ministry’s nursery and primary schools with over 540 kids. They are blessed with three lovely children.