Reality, Reproof, and Prayers for Redemption

From Eyes to See:

*see previous post to learn more about Eyes to See

“I woke up this morning disoriented and then terrified when I remembered where I was and when the stories from the previous couple days finally caught up to me in the pitch black of early morning.

Last night we sat in the little dining house hearing the latest update on the movement and activities of the LRA…

Somewhere between 400 and 500 brutally killed since Christmas… one of those the father of a worker here… news of a house mother’s 12 year old daughter being taken as a sex slave just 3 months ago…

They are reportedly headed toward Yei, but usually cross a bit further south of the compound and city. Some of Mama Lily’s words rang in my ears as I tightly shut my eyes and tried in vain to shut it all out.

Quoting a Sudanese she once appealed to during the war wondering what she should do if the compound was attacked and the children ran, he matter of factly answered, “We have been in war for 20 years. The chickens, the goats, and the children all know what to do – Run. And when it is over they find their way back.”

The first day we were here, she told us, “During the war, the older children used to sleep with their backpacks on.”

Quoting a Ugandan communicating his anxiety to her over recent LRA movements, “Why wouldn’t they come here? We have everything they want – children, food, and money.”

“I just can’t let myself think about that too much,” she sighed at the end of our dinner conversation last night.

I tried not to think about it either but found myself wondering if I should pack my own backpack. I then thought about the relief I would feel when we boarded that plane and felt an instant reproof in my heart. Who am I to feel relief that my one life might be spared while knowing that the lives of 140 children and countless others are still in danger?

I then began to pray for the protection of those here at Harvester’s, for Pashaneyi’s cell groups scattered throughout the surrounding villages and for the salvation of many more, and for the extinction of the LRA. Mama Lily’s words came back again, “I feel so sorry for those boys who were brought into this life as children and know no other.” She’d said something similar when talking about the SPLA soldiers and mentioned the fact that many organizations are coming to work with the orphans and widows but no one she knows of is working with the ex-soldiers. I amended my own prayer and now pray for redemption. May God rebuild the ruins in this land and in these hearts.

As I sit here typing this up, I am reminded of yesterday’s Sunday school lesson. I walked up as one of the older boys was in the middle of telling the children the familiar story of Joseph and Mary fleeing to Egypt when they received news that Herod was murdering children looking for the Christ. At the end of the text, he drew out this application for the kids, “Joseph and Mary depended on God in every dangerous situation and you can too.”

I’m sure I heard the same lesson sitting in my Baptist Sunday school room in American multiple times, but it sounds quite different as I now listen through the ears of these Sudanese children.”