The JustAndy Blog

Civil war ravaged Southern Sudan for over twenty years, leaving devastation, death and destruction in its wake. Along with this damage, however, the war has left great hope among those who survived and who look forward to a bright future for their emerging nation. Hearing the stories of what the Sudanese experienced during the war, was one of the most remarkable parts of our visit.

Sudan’s political upheaval is largely a result of a nation that is supposed to be shared by two distinct people groups that could not be more different from each other. The Arab muslims have occupied Northern Sudan since the Mohammedan invasions of the 8th century. Southern Sudan has always remained the territory of black Africans. When the colonial powers of Western Europe mapped and divided the lands of Africa into colonies, they paid little attention to the potential problems that their artificial boundaries could create.

In his acclaimed work The State of Africa, Martin Meredith pointed out that “When marking out the boundaries of their new territories, European negotiators frequently resorted to drawing straight lines on the map, taking little or no account of the myriad of traditional monarchies, chiefdoms and other African societies that existed on the ground… In some case, African societies were rent apart… In other cases, Europe’s new colonial territories enclosed hundreds of diverse and independent groups, with no common history, culture, language or religion.” (pp. 1-2) Meredith quotes Lord Salisbury of telling an audience in London, “We have been giving away mountains and rivers and lakes to each other, only hindered by the small impediment that we never knew exactly where they were.” (p. 2) This is evident in Britain’s decision to unite two polar opposite people groups into the single nation of Sudan.

Since Sudan gained its independence in 1956, the government has operated from its predominately Arab-run capital in the North, Khartoum. The trouble is that almost all of Sudan’s vast natural resources reside in the South. The Southern Sudanese have long complained that the North has exploited their resources and used the resulting wealth only to develop the North. When the Sudanese government declared Islamic Jihad against the South, it began an aggressive and violent campaign to forcefully Islamicize the people of of Southern Sudan. This decision precipitated Sudan’s long and bloody civil war. Eventually the South rose up to defend themselves against government forces. Led by John Garang, the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) eventually rose up to defend the people of Southern Sudan against the government forces of the North.

In 1990, the government sent a large army into the South in an effort to invade Northern Uganda and use it a base for further military campaigns in the region. When the people of Luwolo learned of the approach of the governmental force, the elder of the village walked down to a nearby stream and prayed. When he finished his prayer, he predicted, “If this land belongs to us, the government’s army will not cross this stream. If they do cross this stream, the land is not our possession.”

While the people of the community fled to the surrounding hills, the SPLA army emerged and managed to surround the enemy. As the North’s commander approached the stream, his vehicle was struck by enemy fire and he fled on foot. The SPLA gained a critical victory that day and the North’s army never did cross that stream.

Thirteen years later, in 2003, the war persisted in Sudan. In the area of Luwolo, there was a tree that had long ago fallen. The children used to sit on its fallen log. One day several children discovered this same tree standing upright. It was a frightening site to many people, because everyone knew that the only the day before it was fallen. When they called the same elder to come and see, he predicted that as that tree had fallen and stood again, the district of Luwolo and Kajo Keji, although marginalized and ravaged by war, would rise again. He predicted that in the time of peace a town would spring up in that area and that people would gather to be part of its development.

This phenomenon, confirmed by international journalists, is coming to pass. Peace has come to Southern Sudan, Luwolo is developing and the beginnings of a town are developing there. This tree, known as the “Peace Tree” has since fallen again, due to Termites. What remains of the Peace Tree serves as a reminder to the local inhabitants of how far they have come in such a short time.

My grandmother died last week, while I was in Africa. It was incredibly difficult to not be able to be there to say goodbye or even to attend the funeral. I wrote this letter to be read at her funeral:

While fully confident that God’s timing is perfect and that His providence never fails, I cannot begin to understand why He chose to take Granny home at a time when neither Rebekah nor I could be there to say goodbye. Over the past few weeks I cringed every time I received another email from Missy, fearing that it would confirm Granny’s death, forever settling that I would never see her again. I cried out to God to preserve her life. I longed for that time in March when I would be able to return and see her again. Were it not for my being stuck in the heart of East Africa, I would have been there for her and would be sharing in the grief of friends and family at the funeral today.

Although I will never see her again in this life, I know that I will see her again in the life to come. In our special times together, Granny shared with me about her genuine faith in Jesus Christ. She trusted in Jesus, believing that His death had paid the full price for the penalty of sin. Now this same Jesus has freed Granny from the presence of sin for she lives in a place that He prepared for her in heaven. Living eternally in the presence of her precious Savior, she will never again taste the pain caused by the sin of our fallen world. She has received a new body with perfect health that can never fade. Every hurt and pain that she has ever experienced has been healed by Him who gave His life for her.

While it is comforting to know that death can only mean gain for Granny, we who remain behind in this life will grieve our loss. She truly loved us and we all felt it. I’ve lived far away for so long but in those special visits that we had together, she expressed her heart for us as her grandchildren so vividly. I thank God for the gift of her life. I have long considered myself blessed to have a grandparent alive on both my mother and father’s side of the family. Now Granny is gone, leaving a void that can never again be filled.

I’m so grateful for the way that she loved my father and sought to lead him down the right path. Over the years she has shared her memories of my father with me and I will treasure them forever. He died when I was so young but by Granny and his sisters have helped me to learn more about his life by sharing with me how much he meant to them. I trust that their long-awaited reunion in heaven has already been beyond wonderful. Although their graves lay side by side in this world, their souls reside in a much better place. I long for the time that I too will be with them.

I’m weeping as I write this. It seems so impersonal to merely write an email at such a critical time of life. I hope that my family can understand how badly I long to be there today and how much it hurts to be so far away at this time. Please know that I am grieving with each one of you and that I share in your loss.

Thank you for being there for Granny as her life ebbed away. I’m sure that you made her feel loved during her dying days. I do not know why God chose now to take her home but I do know that everything He does is right and that I can trust Him. I thank God for Granny and all that she meant to every single one of us. May she now rejoice as she rests in heaven. I believe she would say to us with the Apostle Paul, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philipians 1:21)

A fortunate turn of events landed us an unexpected opportunity to travel to Sudan. When we started filming for the African Children’s Choir in Kampala, Uganda, they asked if we would be willing to join them the following week to film their work in Sudan. Money raised by the children’s choir has been going to help the people of Southern Sudan since the late 90’s while Sudan was still at war. Having desired to visit Sudan for a very long time, I was thrilled to accept the invitation to take a trip to Sudan.

The difference between Sudan and Uganda was immediately noticeable upon crossing the border. Sudan’s roads are not passable for anything but a 4 wheel drive. We drove through streams and up and down though bumps that only the toughest of vehicles can handle. Our 45 kilometer trek took over two hours to drive.

In addition to the roads, one of the first things you notice in Southern Sudan is that it is very under-developed. This is not surprising considering that Southern Sudan has been at war with North for over 20 years. The recent peace agreement, reached a little over two years ago, has finally brought reprise to the region.

Upon arriving at Liwolo, located in Kajo Keji County, we were welcomed warmly. Prior to beginning our tour, rain suddenly begin to pour on the area. They told us that every time visitors come who are welcome on their land, it rains when they first get there. They have many examples of this happening and believe that it is a sign of God’s blessing on the visit. Hearing this, we were relieved that it rained for us and glad to see how much they welcomed us. They even warned another party, before we arrived, that they better not travel because it was about to rain!

When the rain subsided, Charles began to show us around Liwolo. Charles is a learned and articulate man who has long worked in education. He is Sudanese and is the Field Director for HAAS (Humanitarian Assistance for Southern Sudan). This is the organization that Music for Life and the African Children’s Choir has partnered with to help their development. As he passionately describes what has been done and the ongoing goals of his organization, it is evident that Charles is passionate about serving his people.

Since the late 90’s HAAS, the African Children’s Choir, and a few other donors have partnered to start 13 schools, a teacher’s college (one of the few of its kind in all of Sudan), a medical clinic that is only within a large radius for the region, dormitories for the college and boarding school students, a library, homes, increased agricultural production and much more.

As I walked through all of this development and saw mud huts with thatch roofs, sticks tied together to form a fence around compounds, a complete lack of conveniences like electricity, water and plumbing, it reminded me of being on a frontier. Its an area that war has kept from development yet the people who have suffered so much are motivated to change all of this. I believe that it will be exciting to see how much this area changes over the next several years! We need to pray with our Sudanese brothers and sisters that God will preserve the peace of their land and protect them from further war and exploitation from the North.

The reality of immense human suffering tends to be obscured by our distance from it. The greatest divide between us in the West and the worst tragedies of our time is not merely measured by miles but by circumstances so completely foreign to our experience that we can hardly relate. Getting up close and personal with tragic situations, and the people effected by them, can put a personal face on what is otherwise seen as a vague humanitarian crisis. I recently met a young man who did this for me and I would like you to meet him as well.

Jeffrey was born and raised in Northern Uganda. He was very young when the Lord’s Resistance Army, known locally as the “rebels”, stormed his village. One of his uncles scooped him up and hid him in a burlap sack and tried to carry him away. From the small holes in the sack, Jeffrey watched as the rebels brutally murdered his other uncle who had been a favorite to him. Unable to escape, Jeffrey was abducted by the rebels and forced to join their army.

While among the rebels, Jeffrey witnessed inconceivable brutality. One elderly man was demanded to carry more than his aging body could manage and when he unable to do so, they threw fuel on him and burned him alive. A rope was once draped across a raging river and the children were ordered to cross it hand-over-hand. Many of the children could not make it and fell into the rushing river without anyone to help them. He witnessed children who were forced to kill other children or be killed themselves.

One day Jeffrey saw his chance to escape, ran for his life and hid in a tree while the rebel soldiers searched for him. When he returned to his village he found nothing left but ruins. With no family to care for him he despaired of life. One day a woman found him and recognizing his pain and need, she took him in. She found a place for him among the children of the Otino-Awa Children’s Home and this is where we met Jeffrey. He has made great strides but continues to receive counseling to help him through the trauma that he experienced at such a young age. Jeffrey is only one of thousands of children who have faced similarly tragic circumstances. What is sad is that the vast majority of them will never receive the kind of support and help that Jeffrey is receiving now.

The LRA was founded by, Alice Lakhwena, a self-proclaimed prophetess and political activist. Joseph Kony succeeded her as the rebel leader and has waged war against the Ugandan government since 1986. While the LRA claims to be defending the rights of the people of Northern Uganda, the reality is that these are the people on whom they have inflicted so much suffering. They lack a defined political agenda but embrace a policy of terror. Without the popular support of the Ugandan people, they developed a strategy to reinforce their army by abducting children and forcing them to become killers. For thousands of children like Jeffrey, this has caused immeasurable devastation.

The LRA finally reached a peace agreement with the Ugandan government in August of last year. Now that it has come time to negotiate the terms of that peace, however, the agreement is breaking down. The International Criminal Court has indicted Kony and some of his chief officers of crimes against humanity. This creates a delicate situation, with convicted criminals seeking to negotiate not only for their cause but for their ongoing freedom. Recently when LRA troops appeared near Juba, Sudan, where the talks are scheduled take place, they learned of a nearby encampment of Ugandan soldiers and promptly disappeared.

Although the government of Northern Sudan has long supported the LRA’s cause, the rebels believe that the emerging government of Southern Sudan is sympathetic to the Ugandan government. This has caused them to demand that the peace talks take place elsewhere, in more neutral territory. Kenya has rejected their request to host the talks in Nairobi. Meanwhile, the Ugandan government continues to insist that the peace negotiations take place in Juba, Sudan. There is fear that if the if the agreement is not reached soon, violence will once again break out in Northern Uganda. It is the daily story on the front pages of Uganda’s papers. For the sake of Jeffrey and countless children just like him, let’s hope, pray and labor to see that this does not happen.

Capturing a film on the Aids crisis in Africa has opened my eyes to a tragic reality. We are alive during one of the most serious pandemics of world history. According to Susan Hunter, in Black Death: A History of AIDS in Africa, by 2003, over 28 million people had died of AIDS. This number is expected to jump to over 100 million by 2010. Africa has borne the harshest blow of this worldwide crisis.

Melissa Fay Greene’s book, There is No Me Without You, describes the amazing story of a widow from Ethiopia who after losing her husband and her oldest daughter, despaired of her life. She came back to life when the local Church asked her to take in a few orphans whose parents had been killed by AIDS. As she began to care for the children, more and more AIDS orphans surfaced in need of a home and parental care. By the early 2000’s there were over 1 million AIDS orphans in Ethiopia alone. Many of these orphans had no one to care for them. Common fears and misconceptions about AIDS caused most of them to be abandoned and rejected by society. Having lost both parents, many older children worked to care for their younger siblings in the absence of any adult assistance. Children would set off from their villages to walk into the cities, searching for money or food. Countless children were found sitting alone on the side of the roads. A generation of parents and families is being destroyed by the deadly AIDS virus.

In view of such an overwhelming crisis, the most tragic reality that I face is that I have lived through the worst years of AIDS devastation and haven’t hardly noticed or done a thing about it. A common critique of Christians is that they dismiss the problem of AIDS as the mere judgment of God upon immorality. From our Western perspective it is easy to see things this way. AIDS seems more like an affliction of the fringe rather than the whole of society. It is impossible to come to Africa, to see what has happened here and to retain such a narrow view of this crisis. The problem of AIDS demands our attention. While there is certainly a strong connection between immorality and the spread of AIDS, this does not give us license to dismiss the needs of a world in the grip of this deadly pandemic.

As I consider this accusation that people in the West, and particularly Christians, don’t pay much attention to resolving the problem of AIDS, I’m sad to say that I’m guilty as charged. Sure, I talk about the problem of AIDS in Africa and what can be done about it, but I’ve never lifted a finger to help create any positive change. This is changing, however. Children like Matthew, the HIV-positive little guy on the left pictured above with his brother, have motivated me to look beyond the surface of this problem. History will remember the AIDS crisis as one of the worst pandemics of all time, if not the worst. In the face of such need I will not be found sitting idle, insulating myself with Christianese answers that do nothing to bring a solution.

“Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.” (Acts 11:29-30)

From the earliest times in the history of the Church, the precedent has been set for churches to care for another, particularly in time of need. Recognizing that the persecution and resulting distress of the church in Jerusalem was stronger than elsewhere, the churches of other cities resolved to send support to them.

Certainly these other churches had their own needs. It would’ve been easy to justify that they could not afford to take any of the money out of their own collection to help anyone else. The attitude of Christ’s Church, however, is to be one of generosity. One which looks to discover and meet the needs of other believers who are in need.

As I travel throughout Eastern Africa and see the desperate needs that Christians have here, I am convicted by how complacent I have been about the needs of Christians abroad. Its much easier to simply give my tithe to my local church and not to think about anything else. How could I be so blind to the enormous needs in other countries? Christians are working extremely hard in critical situations both physically and spiritually all around the world, but we in the West frequently don’t even take the time to learn about them, much less care.

I truly hope that Mission Focus enables a change of perspective that results in more giving, praying and going to support God’s people abroad. May that change start with me.

I have met the most unbelievable people staying at Nairobi Backpackers! Its like every time I say hello to someone, I discover another incredible and interesting person! Let me tell you about a few of them:

Rob
I just met Rob tonight as he was getting off the internet. He mentioned that he was glad he was able to catch up on his work emails. I asked him what he does for a living so he told me that he was leading a trek to the top of Mt. Kilemanjaro! When I mentioned that I was interested in climbing Kilamanjaro, he told me about a local guide who could give me a good deal. He informed me that now is a wonderful time to go because there is more snow at the peak than he has ever seen. I learned that he’s a freelance travel guide from Austria and gets hired to take people all over the world. What an amazing job! He also told me all about Zanzibar and got out the map to show me the best way to get there! Rob is one cool guy!

Caroline
Caroline is a brilliant and sophisticated doctoral student at the University of Washington. She is originally from England and has carefully retained her English accent. When talking to new people I enjoyed telling them that she was from Seattle and then watching her immediate clarification that she was actually from England. Caroline studied the Aids epidemic in her Master’s program, making her a fantastic source of information. She also has interest and knowledge about many of the issues in Africa today. She is on her way to Sudan where she is working on research for doctoral dissertation about Sudanese women who helped to negotiate peace from the grassroots during the long war in Sudan.

Vera
Although she is white, Vera is a native of Zimbabwe and his lived in Africa all of her life. This fact has earned her the right to have a biting sarcastic wit and sense of humor in matters related to Africa. She made us laugh our heads off as she described various conversations and experiences that she has had in Africa. She has led game hunters into the bush for years. She has a hardened and tough sense about her that has earned the nickname of “black rhino” from the Africans. When I’d come back from the World Social Forum in the evenings we would sit around and have the “anti-social world slummit” with Vera. Behind all of the jokes and laughter though, it is evident that Vera cares about the needs of Africa… she just has her own way of addressing them. She currently lives in Zanzibar where she runs a five-star resort.

Ludwig
Ludwig is one of those all around nice guys that you only find every once in awhile. He is an engineer from Germany and came to work in Nairobi as an intern for an NGO. As he described some of the experiences that he faces at work, it is evident that it must be hard for him to work in this atmosphere. He seems to patiently grin and bear it, however, and keeps on working hard no matter what happens. When I encountered him in the city center the other day, he invited me out for cappucino. He always seems eager to help and I like that about him.

Kevin
Kevin is an illustrator from Brighton, England. He does his pencil drawn illustrations from his studio off a city street, so that people will stop by and talk, making art a more social experience. Every year for the last 20 years, he has taken October to April to travel somewhere else in the world. He takes pictures wherever he goes and then brings them back to England to use them as the basis for his illustrations. He showed me his work online the other day and his drawings are intricate and stunningly realistic. I would love to get some of his work someday. He was always up for a good conversation, and whether we were discussing India or his horrific safari with the Australians that he swears must have been Steve Irwin’s family, it was always entertaining and a good laugh!

Celina
One of the few Americans that I have met here in Africa, Celina is from Los Angeles. She came to Nairobi to attend the World Social Forum before heading to Ghana where she will be working in a refugee camp. She seems to have a genuine heart for the needs of people and in particular for Africa.

Ken
The owner of Nairobi Backpackers Hostel is a man named Ken. Having spent his career in the British army, and after working for many years in Africa, he decided to stay and run the hostel. He doesn’t need the money but says that he’s had the chance to have a lot of experiences in life and he simply wants to help young people have that opportunity. He’s working on developing an affiliated group of backpacker’s hostels from Addis Abbaba all the way to Cape Town. He learns the names of the people that come through his hostel quite quickly and he’s been very helpful to our group.

DJ
DJ Church is a teacher from Canada. He is very interested in current issues and knowledgeable on many different subjects. He has decided to take several years off to travel the world. He’s also a writer and has begun writing on various themes that he encounters along the way. He’s an excellent writer and very interesting to talk to about things that matter. Fortunately, we met him in Nairobi and are staying at the same place as him in Kampala.

Nairobi Backpackers, with all of its interesting guests, has been an amazing place to stay!

I’ve started working on graphical links to point people to our website and here’s my first one. If you want to use any of the buttons that I create on your blog or website, please just let me know!

Sometimes my life seems like a series of goodbyes. Wherever I go, I become attached and never stay long enough. Our time in Sri Lanka came and went to so fast. As I said goodbye to the children at Samudra Sri, the children’s home, I realized that although I may never see them again, I will never forget them. They did not seem as needy as the Indian children. They were more shy in general and harder to get close to. Maybe we just needed to reach out to them on a deeper level. They really seemed to respond when we did.

I had so much to do before leaving tonight but I just had to spend some final time with the kids. I went into the boys dorm and hugged and tickled them. Ravindu wanted to just hang with me. Chamarra would not leave my side. The kids began to give me gifts. When the others saw, they all wanted to give me something. They have so little that I felt terrible to take anything from them. I knew that they merely wanted to give to me, however, and to not take their gifts would’ve hurt their feelings. Most of them gave me a little plastic animal. One little guy gave me his toy car. Ishara gave me a pen. Others gave me sea shells that they had no doubt long collected. Then at the very end, little Chamarra, not wanting to be left out of the giving, gave me his box of crayons. I’m crying as I think about how much this touched me. These little guys have nothing in this world but the people who love and care for them at Samudra Sri. I was so afraid that I had not taken the time to get close to them while I was there but in my final moments with them, they showed me so much love through their little gifts. It makes me weep.

Lord, care for these children. Help us to tell their story in a way that is vivid and powerful. May their stories touch and change lives. May each and every one of them grow up to know you. Lord show them your love. Though their parents and everything they knew was taken from them by war, the tsunami, poverty, death or for any other reason, may they always knows that You are their Father.

Leaving the children tonight was more than just another goodbye. It was a sad departure. I wrote on my profile that the thing I was least looking forward to on this trip was having to say goodbye at each place and this has truly turned out to be the hardest part of the trip. How do you answer a precious little child who with a pleading look in his eyes, asks, “You go to America, then you come back to Sri Lanka?”

These last few days we’ve had the opportunity to travel to the Southern coast of Sri Lanka in order to film and take support photos for the children attending the AED schools at Galle and Tangalle. Two things stand out about this area of the country. First, it is a beautiful area lined with miles of pristine beaches. Second, it is an area tragically struck by the tsunami of 2004. Many homes and businesses still lay in ruins. Driving through this region has helped me to clarify the reality of what these people suffered.

Driving by, however, could never teach me as much as what I learned from a man named De Silva. As I climbed out of our van to take a few quick pictures of buildings destroyed by the tsunami, he approached me and wanted to talk. As we engaged in conversation, it was obvious that he had a story to tell. He took me into his home and showed me how the entire back half of it had been destroyed. They had since rebuilt this part of the home but the front was still significantly damaged. In broken English he told me about not only about the damage done to his home but also to the surrounding area.

At first I thought maybe he was doing all this to ask me for money. As he told his story, it became more evident that all he wanted was for people to know what had happened to Sri Lanka in the tsunami. He asked me to tell this story with my camera and to help get support for Sri Lanka. This is exactly what I intend to do. DeSilva helped to remind me one more time of the importance of the task that we’ve undertaken, to capture the film and photos of those who have a story to tell that may never otherwise be heard.