Sudan: The Next Journey

Dear Family and Friends,

Many greetings to all of you! It is amazing to think that it is already May. Last month (April), our theme among the Empowering Lives Staff in Kipkaren, Kenya was "Victory and Celebration," and we were sure blessed to witness many victories for which we praised and thanked God. This month's theme is "Love in Action." We are beginning the month with putting God's love into action in the country of Sudan. We begin the journey tomorrow (May 3rd) from Kenya to Southern Sudan with a dynamic team of nine (five Kenyans, three Americans, and one South African).

We will be partnering with Stephen Reech, director of Empowering Lives Sudan. In September 2005, Stephen returned to Sudan after many years as a refugee in Kenya to his original home in the village of Kolmarek to begin a ministry of empowerment to his people, the Dinka. In February 2006, a team (including ELI Staff Juli McGowan and Don Rogers) went on a scouting trip and returned with stories which opened all of our eyes here in Kenya and broke our hearts. The idea of taking a medical and pastors team began to come into view. As soon as the idea was mentioned, God quickly began opening the doors, and on May 3rd (tomorrow) we are headed to Kolmarek in Southern Sudan until 9th May.

I am so excited to be a part of this team. It is going to be an adventure of discovering unknowns. Some of our team members have never even flown on a airplane before! We are all excited for this opportunity to minister to the physical and spiritual needs of the people of Southern Sudan. We are also excited to go with our notebooks and pens and listening ears to learn all we can about the Dinka tribe and the challenges they are currently facing. I will have a lot more information to share when I return as this is a new journey for all of us. Please keep our team in your prayers during this next week. If the satellite system works, we will be sending updates during our trip to this same blog address.
Also, if you would like to learn more about ELI Sudan's Director, Stephen Reech, please visit the following site, http://empoweringlives.blogspot.com/2006/02/steven-reech.html.
Thank you very much for your prayers and support!
Blessings,

Allison "Chebaibai" Tjaden
ELI - Health Ministry

Note: The team consists of five medical workers: Juli McGowan -ELI, Bernard Kiptoo -ELI, Julius Kemboi -ELI, Rachel Ototo -Turbo Clinic and Mark Lochte -Hillside Community Church), two pastors: David Tarus -ELI, Peter Maru -ELI, one primary health care trainer: Allison Tjaden -ELI, and one journalist:Adele Booysen -ELI.
The medical team will be conducting mobile clinics. David and Peter will conduct pastoral training sessions, Allison will do teaching on primary health care. Adele will be collecting stories on the new ELI School, Orphan care, Training Center construction, and Reforestation Project.
Kolmarek is in Southern Sudan, (far from Darfur - the region that's been in the news more recently for the ongoing genocide.) In fact, there are no usable roads between Southern Sudan and Darfur.
The team will be sending updates whenever possible, and those will be posted on this site.