The Scent of Water

by Hannah Teague, Creative Director; with Denise Sciuto, Associate Director

For decades, civil wars, famine & political instability have ravaged Sudan & South Sudan. At this moment, South Sudan, the world's youngest nation and center of Africa's largest refugee crisis, struggles to survive. There are perhaps few places with a greater thirst for hope. Yet even here, the promise of new life lies in the earth—waiting for resurrection.

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Sudan & South Sudan bear the marks of every kind of brokenness, groaning with the pangs of a creation that longs for renewal. Seeking to understand this region’s complexities uncovers more questions than answers. Unexpectedly, there is deep joy here, too, held in the tension between heartbreak and the hope of rebirth.

Associate Director Denise Sciuto recently returned from Sudan and Uganda where she visited Frontier Fellowship ministry partners—a group of pastors engaged in church planting, education, leadership development and refugee care among communities without access to the Gospel. They’ve withstood personal and national tragedies, the uprooting of their lives and setbacks to ministry. They’ve also experienced the provision and presence of God in ways that have only increased their commitment to the work that lies ahead.

Our partnership in Sudan began in 2008 with support of a primary school in a predominately Muslim community. This outreach later expanded to include Bible studies until nearby conflict spread into the village, forcing people to migrate elsewhere.

Our partners remained active, however, redirecting their efforts to run an orphanage and assist with distribution of relief supplies in areas most aid workers were unable to reach. This service to their Muslim neighbors opened up opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus and begin interfaith studies of the Quran and Bible.

Then in 2011, everything changed. After two civil wars (1955–1972 and 1983–2005), followed by a tenuous peace agreement, Sudan’s southern region voted to secede and became an independent republic. This split meant that ethnically southern Sudanese people—including 80% of our partners—were obligated to repatriate to the newly formed South Sudan.

The partners who remained in Sudan carried on their work in spite of mounting pressure by the increasingly Islamist government. As pastors continued holy book studies between Muslims and Christians, new Christian communities began to form. Our partners saw a need for theological training and developed a program at a former agricultural school to equip new leaders for ministry.

This Bible school became Frontier Fellowship’s primary means of involvement in Sudan. The three-year program is focused on leadership development for emerging communities of Jesus followers. The school offers theological and pastoral training to young men (with some learning opportunities for their wives) in a customized format based on students’ abilities. Inclusivity of all educational levels, tribes and religious backgrounds makes the school uniquely accessible and effective.

Meanwhile, what seemed like a hopeful start for South Sudan soon crumbled amid ethnic violence between the Dinka and Nuer people groups, plunging the nation into a civil war of its own in 2013. This conflict, in addition to ongoing border disputes with Sudan and a 2017 famine, has created a massive humanitarian crisis.

The statistics are staggering: thousands of people have been killed, more than 2.2 million have fled South Sudan for refuge in neighboring nations, and another nearly two million are internally displaced. Eighty-three percent of refugees are women and children, and more than 75,000 are orphans or unaccompanied minors (UNHCR).

By the time they arrive in refugee camps, most refugees have experienced severe physical and psychological trauma. Even after reaching the relative safety offered by the camps, they still face the threats of food insecurity, malnourishment, exploitation and disease.

Into this desperate situation stepped our partners. After relocating from Sudan to South Sudan, they continued their church planting efforts among unreached people groups and invested in the discipleship and unity of South Sudanese churches. Once the war broke out in 2013, several of these pastors were displaced from their homes—some fleeing on foot to nearby countries.

Finding themselves uprooted yet again, these resilient men began asking God what work He had for them next. As they looked at the refugee camps around them, they realized many nomadic tribes and remote people groups were no longer out of reach. Seeing this new access to once-distant communities as an open door, our partners and their wives began engaging their refugee neighbors.

Trauma care underscores their ministry. After studying a variety of trauma-related materials, our partners created a simplified program that could be easily taught and passed on. This model is especially effective among refugee women, empowering them through personal transformation to help others experience healing.

These unexpected ministry opportunities in the refugee camps led our partners to establish a pastoral and vocational training center in Uganda. A four-month program equips ministry leaders (from primarily Muslim backgrounds) in theology, trauma counseling and business development to prepare them for sustainable ministries when they return to serve their communities.

Back in Sudan, the Bible school carries on its work despite ongoing social and governmental pressure. While it remains an openly Christian institution, its Muslim-majority context is a generally inhospitable environment. This tension is familiar to our partners, who appear undaunted by the added challenges to their ministry. Even as the school faces significant financial struggles, teachers voluntarily work without salaries as they continue training new leaders.

The school recently welcomed more than 300 refugees from South Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, giving them space to stay and access to well water and open land for gardening. When some expressed interest in educational opportunities, teachers began offering night classes free of charge.

Sudan remains in a season of economic and political instability. Rising inflation led to demonstrations in late 2018 as people protested the exorbitant costs of basic supplies and services. A number of industries went on strike, and the government issued states of emergency and curfews amid growing criticism of the president, creating a subdued and tense mood throughout the country.

Our friends demonstrate the words of 2 Corinthians 4:7–11: hard pressed but not crushed, suffering yet carrying the redemptive message of the cross. While their nations’ futures remain uncertain, their vision and tenacity propel them to follow Jesus with joy, believing that His message of reconciliation can regenerate everything broken by sin and its effects.

Dare we dream of a day when Sudan and South Sudan experience freedom from conflict and lasting peace between neighbors? When the vulnerable are no longer oppressed by the powerful and the land is cultivated instead of plundered? A day when ethnic diversity is seen as a gift, not a threat, and hungry stomachs are full?

We don’t know how much struggle and suffering are yet to come for these nations. But we believe in a God who makes the dead alive (Ezekiel 37:1–14, Ephesians 2:5), turns hearts of stone to flesh (Ezekiel 36:26) and causes ancient roots to again nourish young shoots (Job 14:7–9).

Even at just the scent of water, He can bring new life once more.