UPDATE FROM MIDIGO, UGANDA…
 
The youth were so hungry for God’s word; the worship sessions were just awesome!  The theme was MORE PURE THAN GOLD taken from Psalm 19: 9-10 with Bible expositions from the life of Joseph in Genesis 37-41.

My wife Elizabeth talked about purity and we had a study on how Joseph was able to overcome temptation.  There was godly sorrow as many cried out to God in repentance and pledging allegiance to follow Christ by His strength. 

The counseling lines were long as many opened up. Praise be to God for the working of His Spirit!!!  We taught about having a quiet time and all 200 participants spent time on their own reading Gods word, meditating and praying. 

It was great seeing the whole church compound filled with people each talking to God in their own language.  The workshops were great and we showed movies at night, which were very enriching.

We had a former Muslim believer called Yusuf give his very moving testimony of surviving death several times from family members and the physical persecution he had to go through.  We had an altar call and 10 youth walked forward to be prayed over for their salvation.  The next morning as I completed the bible exposition another 20 came forward for prayer.

A total of 40 youth have acknowledged Christ as Lord and Savior for the first time.  I rejoice that so many lives have been touched and transformed.  The counseling sessions have been packed with mostly youth asking various questions and asking for prayer.

Please continue to pray that the new believers will be strengthened to grow in the grace of God and thank you for standing in the gap in prayer.

Hi everyone thank you for your prayers. I have had five days of temporary deafness as I had to take quinine for malaria. I feel much better now.

Despite my weak physical state last week, my friends from Arua continued with the eye camp. I had an opportunity to share with the patients who were mainly elderly a day before the surgery started about the love of Jesus Christ. “the eye surgeon can only open the physical eyes but they needed the spiritual surgeon, Jesus Christ to open the eyes of their hearts”. Some of them had been blind for years. In total 14 people received their sight back.

I met one old man this morning beeming with a huge smile walking by himself without the usual help by a family member. He was indeed excited to be able to see again after 4 years of blindness. “Safe harbor sponsored this camp”

Please continue to pray for their complete recovery from the surgery and their salvation.

Thank you,

Support Divinah

Divinah’s Testimony

I was saved when I was in high school.  Before I joined high school I used to attend junior Church every Sunday and learned to memorize different scriptures from God’s word from my Sunday school teachers.  At that time I didn’t know the real meaning of the scriptures, but God helped me to understand when I received Him as my personal Savior.

Every verse that I memorize has ministered to me to this day. In the junior Church my teachers also used to share about the missionaries who are sent to different parts of the world to preach the Good News.  It was at that time I felt that I should be among them.  In 1996, when I completed high school, I attended a youth conference entitled, “Africa reaching Africa.”  The conference was based on Mathew 28: 19 and 20.  It also encouraged us to pray, go and give.  I felt that God was touching me to reach out to the people of Sudan since I had been hearing about their suffering.  I prayed that God would open doors.  Instead God wanted to prepare me and I had the chance to attend Bible College in 2001, four years later. 

In 2003 my second year in college I went to a mission school in western Kenya.  God taught me the reality of missions, since I had never gone on any mission trips before that.  I graduated in July 2004 when God opened the door for me to go back to western Kenya for my internship.  During the last year in college I had applied to Church leaders to give me a confirmation as a Sudanese missionary, but they were really wondering if they understood correctly what I was implying since it was not something simple to be released to a foreign country as a lady. But God answered my prayers in 2006 and brought me to Nyinbuli, Sudan.

I am now working as a pharmacist, something I didn’t know when I first came.  I praise God because He has taught me many different things.  My main mission for the people of Sudan is to know Christ.  I would like to reach them spiritually, physically, and socially.

Thank you and God bless you.

The clinic building is now finished!!  It looks really nice and is much fancier than we ever planned.  Isaac and Reuben from Kenya made nice finishing touches as they plastered and painted.  We dedicated the building to the Lord last Tuesday with the community and representatives from Safe Harbor California.  The plaque we put up states, “Testimony to God’s Faithfulness” and has Isaiah 58:11-12 written out on it.  

A three year task accomplished! 

So far we have not been affected by the arrest warrant for the President and we will keep serving until God leads us to take a break.

Ayak’s mother insisted on taking her daughter out and became violent at which point we released her letting her know we were not responsible if Ayak died.  We can rest in the fact that Ayak was able to experience love while she was with us and she realized God is stronger than witchcraft.  She would come to us and as us to pray as well as ask for the light to come to push the darkness away.  We spent many hours holding her and praying for her.

Hi Everyone!

Greetings from Midigo, Uganda.  The last two weeks have been very exciting for us and the whole community of Midigo.  The news that the operating theatre is working at last brought so many visitors both small and great. 

I have been overwhelmed by the number of people who had been chronically sick with surgical conditions yet had no place to turn to for care.  We started doing simple procedures three to four weeks ago as we tested the facility.  When our staff person, Annette, returned from orientation in anesthesia, we decided to open the facility for some surgical procedures and ALL Obstetric and Gynecological interventions. 

I walked over to see some patients yesterday, those we had performed surgery on Wednesday, and it was all joy for the family members and patients despite the pain.

One particular woman had moved all over seeking medical attention for three years and had given up hope.  She had a painful ovarian tumor and was not able to pay for the operation. 

She had her surgery last Wednesday and she is full of joy!  I was blessed to share the love of God with her; how God loves her and has given her the opportunity to receive this free surgery.  I reminded the family that the same Jesus who had provided funds for the free surgery wants to provide free eternal life for them.
So far over 40 patients have received treatment from the operating theatre.  The lines of people seeking care are endless.  However our main focus right now is on the pregnant women’s  health to reduce the death rate of mothers dying from obstetric complications.

Thank you for your prayers!  Continue to pray for the sustainability of this work.  That the Gospel will continue to be shared in this facility as people receive care and most importantly, that the community will see Jesus and NOT us as a ministry.  

The roof is on and the doors and window frames are installed!  It looks and feels like a permanent building. The sense of accomplishment could really be seen on the guys faces when we said that someday they could show their grandchildren and great grandchildren the building they helped build. 

Since houses here are made out of mud brick they have to be rebuilt every 5 or so years so having something last for long means a lot to people here.  We could use the building now if we had to but we want to wait until the finishing touches are put on it before moving in.  We have reopened the clinic and hope to not have to close it again. 

We praise the Lord for how few people who have been really sick during this time.  We were only seeing emergencies and we had relatively few of them, which enabled all of us to help in the building.   

It was quite a shock for the top government official to see all us medical people making blocks one day. He didn’t really understand that we closed the clinic so we could do the work that the community refused to do.  May he and the community see God’s faithfulness to love them even when they don’t deserve it?

Dave, Natalie, and Faith are returning back to America after serving here for two months and Abraham, Divinah and Debbie are home for the holidays.  It is quiet here but things are going relatively smoothly considering I was the only one to remain on the ground. 

It was an odd feeling to say goodbye to everybody and not be able to go to the airstrip to see the Charity and Titus arrive since I was caring for two very sick patients.

We currently have a 4yr old girl, Abuk, with Tetanus.  When she came I groaned as Tetanus is such an awful disease and very labor intensive.  Knowing it would only be three of us on the ground for the next month I pleaded for God to either heal her or let her die quickly if she wasn’t going to make it, I’ll admit it was a selfish request.  God in His mercy is healing her quicker than we have ever seen a tetanus case heal.  Her jaw is starting to open so we were able to take out the feeding tube yesterday and she is only having a few bad spasms each day. 

Thank you Lord!

Greetings family and friends,

I would like to thank you first for all the love and prayers as Teresa and I have traveled out of Sudan to Kenya for her further treatment after being bit by a snake.

We were hoping that they could save at least part of her foot. However, after meeting with the three surgeons of the mission’s hospital, it was decided that she would need an amputation just below the knee to ensure all the gangrene infection that was starting would be gotten.

The next morning Teresa went to surgery. After 8 days we were released from the hospital for her to continue healing from home. Teresa has to wait for the wound to heal for three months before being fit for a prosthetic. Abraham, the Sudanese Pastor working with us, and his wife have graciously opened up their home in Kenya to her for the three months. Yesterday I took her to stay with them. In March or April she will then be fit for a prosthetic in Nairobi after which she will return to Sudan.

 Please keep Teresa in your prayers as she continues to heal and as she’s homesick already. Pray for the Lord to prepare her not only physically to return to Sudan, but also spiritually, emotionally, and mentally as going back even with a prosthetic in her culture will be very difficult.

It’s been fun to watch Teresa as she experiences life outside of the village for the first time. All I can say is I have a lot of explaining to do when we get back to Sudan…..

Teresa has been asking me why the donkey’s in Kenya look so funny… I don’t know the Dinka word for Zebra.

Teresa and I watched Ratatouli…. I haven’t been able to explain what a cartoon is as she’s wanting to know how we got rats in the States to be able to talk and cook.

I will be in Nairobi until the next scheduled flight in December, when I will then return to Sudan.

Thank you for your prayers and standing with us in this ministry.

Remember the rest of the team on the ground as they are working on putting on the roof of the new clinic building this week.

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Angela Eiman and I were called by the Lord to Nairobi, Kenya to minister to and have fellowship with the Safe Harbor staff.  Little did we know the purposes our great God had in store in addition to these.  Our days here in Nairobi have been full of miracles. 

We were completely spoiled at the Mennonite Guest House by not only the staff but also by Cindy, Charity and Peter. Our first night there, we heard of a medical emergency: Deng Aguer, also known as Gabriel, (Rebecca Kusunoki’s birth father in  Sudan) had a strangulated hernia with an obstructed bowel and required surgery, and it was expected that he would survive for at most a few days.  As there are no provisions for surgery in Deng’s local area, and with a medical evacuation flight for Deng beyond Safe Harbor’s calling and financial resources, Deng’s situation looked very bleak, leaning on our own understanding.  We immediately began to pray for the Lord’s wisdom and His hand of healing, but always for His will. We never could have imagined all that He would do, and is continuing to do.  

One of our prayer partners asked: would it be possible to accelerate shipments of building and medical supplies for the Nyinbuli clinic, bringing in materials that would be needed for the October Construction Team, in such a way that a flight could go into Charity and Cindy’s airstrip right away?  Perhaps Deng could be taken out on the same flight.

The Lord knew!  Supplies and materials for the October Team were already on hand, and at the Nairobi airport! The supplies could not make it on a prior flight due to weight restrictions, so the supplies had already been approved by customs and were ready to go. 

Funds were reasonably tight at this point, but the Lord knew! He moved on donors hearts and provided financially for the flight via donations given through Safe Harbor that had been designated for the Nyinbuli medical clinic. The Lord provided transportation through MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship).  They have been so faithful in their service to the Lord and to Charity and Cindy, and were willing and able to rearrange their scheduling to make a flight available to bring in construction supplies for the clinic that were waiting to be flown in, and bring the patient out for surgery. 

We know it is the Lord who puts these things on the hearts of His people and we praise Him for it all. 

Although Deng Aguer was in severe pain, he tolerated the flight well and was on to his next leg of the journey, where private funds would prayerfully be found for his medical care. 

Our Lord also delayed the departure of Edward Chol, a Safe Harbor employee, so that he could accompany Deng Aguer on the way to the hospital in Kijabe and remain there with him for translation purposes as well as giving updates and overseeing his care. With Peter Kariuki driving on the long and bumpy road to the hospital, Deng Aguer traveled the most dangerous part of his journey and seemed to tolerate it well. Since Kijabe is only about one hour from Nairobi, Edward is able to return to his home periodically.  At the hospital they were able to do an ultrasound and operate very quickly.

The surgery was successful and the doctors were able to convince him to not remove the feeding tube which he must have for maybe another two days.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and we ask that you would continue to pray for Deng Aguer as well as for Cindy and Charity.

These two sweet servants of our Lord came out of Nyinbuli for much needed  R & R which turned out to be Research & Rescue rather than Rest & Relaxation.

Please continue to pray for the refreshment that only the Holy Spirit can provide.

Thank you again and God bless you.

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