Pastors from international Christian ministry, Every Home for Christ, spent seventeen days in Renk to assess the situation and support their colleagues on the ground.
Amongst the passengers who boarded the flight back from Renk on Thursday 6 July was Pastor Deng Anum Deng and Pastor George James Kong from international Christian ministry, Every Home for Christ (EHC). The pastors were returning after spending seventeen days in Renk where their organisation has a church plant reaching the diverse communities of Upper Nile State.
Every Home for Christ has had a presence in Renk since 2018 when a church was planted by Pastor James. Now based in Juba, the pastors made a visit to Renk to assess the situation and support their colleagues on the ground as Pastor Deng explains.
"Because of the crisis that is happening, we went up to visit the church we started in Renk in 2018. The church needs support because there are people arriving from Sudan who need some assistance."
Pastor Deng shared that the conditions he witnessed were concerning. "We visited various camps for returnees and refugees outside the town. The situation is very bad. There are a lot of people who need shelter, clean water, food and medicine. Most of them are children," he said. Help was slow to reach the refugees amassing in Renk causing conditions in the camp to deteriorate according to Pastor Deng. "When the refugees first came, there was no shelter, they had to wait several weeks for organisations to come in. While they were waiting the rains came and flooded the camp. It is miserable. You can see how vulnerable they are."
When the refugees first came, there was no shelter, they had to wait several weeks for organisations to come in. While they were waiting, the rains came and flooded the camp. It is miserable.
Despite the challenges, the Renk team is committed to outreach and carrying out discipleship as well as supporting those coming over the border from Sudan, a majority Muslim country, where many people are yet to hear the gospel.
David Mamush, EHC Director for Sudan and South Sudan thanked MAF for flying the pastors. "I take this opportunity to appreciate the partnership between MAF and EHC. We thank MAF leadership for strong partnership and for the commitment to support local church pastors and rural missionaries. We're indeed grateful for the recent development of the returning the two pastors from Upper Nile. This is a huge milestone to our ministry," David said.
We thank MAF leadership for strong partnership and for the commitment to support local church pastors and rural missionaries.