Our new initiative is well under way in South Sudan after launching at the end of 2021. The “Improved Literacy through Trauma Healing & Peace Education” program has been specifically designed to help children overcome trauma so they can go on to lead healthy, productive lives.
The civil war may be over in South Sudan, but the effects remain. As many as 19,000 children were kidnapped or recruited to join the armed forces, and many women and children were also brutalised. UNICEF believes that three quarters of South Sudanese children have never known anything but war.
When a community is traumatised, the children suffer. They are often without a voice, and sadly their emotional wounds go untreated. This can lead to a significant risk of PTSD and depression. Most of these families have had no support in dealing with the experiences of war.
The aim of the project is to equip parents and teachers to:
- Reflect and come to terms with what happened.
- Reflect on what God says about suffering and how His word can bring healing.
- Identify behavior caused by trauma and apply strategies to engage.
- Recognize signs of childhood trauma that impact behavior and learning.
- Facilitate healing groups in schools and the wider community.
The project’s aim is to be operational in 20 schools in South Sudan over a period of 6 -12 months. It will be implemented using a model of biblical and mental health principles, adapted to the local community.
Depending on funding availability, the program will include healing activities such as storytelling, poems, music and skits using materials from the Bible Society’s Trauma Healing Institute. These tools will be used to train and equip teachers, peer leaders and parents to facilitate their own trauma healing sessions.
Please show your support! Help us provide these precious children from South Sudan with the skills to deal effectively with trauma, so they can recover and live a normal life.
It is wonderful to see the progress of Community Transformational Groups (CTGs) across Africa. The Rwanda model has been such a success that AE is now looking to incorporate it across all 11 national teams.
Members generally come from some of the most impoverished and vulnerable communities in the country. Many are women who have escaped a life of prostitution to gain new skills and earn an income. They are given an opportunity to start a new life in groups that are learning to make cleaning products and develop sewing skills.
CTG’s engage with beneficiaries to emphasize both the value of economic goals, as well as social and spiritual empowerment. These groups build a sense of worth in members by helping them to act and realise their God-given potential. The conditions in severely impoverished communities have always been a barrier to the poor in developing necessary life skills.
CTG’s aim to change this by giving people hope. They often build on existing programs so that graduates have support to build their own businesses. This support is vital in achieving the attitudinal change needed for people to take action on their own behalf.
Most teams are using current programs to form new CTGs. The recent focus has been on providing vocational training aimed at empowering women. South Sudan has also had some success in partnering CTGs with churches (pictured), who are embracing the concept of being a part of transforming communities.
CTG’s do so much more than build financial independence. They promote a sense of belonging, and teach people to work together for the greater good. The benefits are shared throughout the entire community and bring people a much-needed sense of purpose. Through your generous support, people living in poverty are finding their way towards hope and building a sustainable future.
The Mombasa West Mission in Kenya is the first one to be conducted in the year 2021. The mission is scheduled for 1st to 11th July. The mobilization of missioners and preservation facilitators took place in the month of May. The AEE Kenya team intends to host 300 visiting missioners in 9 zones. The rest of the missioners will come from within Mombasa. This month, there has been a series of continued mobilization and trainings.
The Kayonza Mission in Rwanda was scheduled for 20th – 27th June but following the Volcanic eruption in the neighboring DRC, the mission was postponed to 15th – 22nd August. Preparations for the same are ongoing. At least 127 homes are targeted to be trained to conduct Home Based Evangelism (HBE). Though this is an ongoing activity, 42 households were reached in May this year using HBE and 9 people accepted to follow Christ.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), preparations for the Mont-Amba Mission, which is set for 16th to 24th October, are ongoing. Mont-Amba is located South East Kinshasa in DRC. AE DRC Team conducted School of evangelism in the targeted location of the Matete, Ngaba, Kisenso and Lemba districts and a total of 276 participants from 99 local churches were trained. Currently, the team is mobilizing for prayer and funds for the mission. Earlier, 19 different local churches were equipped for further church members’ mobilization in the target area.
AEE Tanzania is set to have its mission between 22nd and 29th August in the capital city, Dar es Salaam. The team has been meeting the Pastors, equipping them through trainings towards the mission and conducting prayer for the 2021 Mission. Mobilization of evangelists and partners to participate in Dar Back-to-God Mission has as well been ongoing. In the month of May, a group of intercessors from different Churches gathered to purposely pray for the mission preparation and all programs at AEE-Tanzania.
In September, AE Uganda will have a mission in Jinja from 19th to 26th. The AE Team conducted a Vision Casting seminar for the mission where 52 leaders from Jinja City attended. This meeting brought together both the Anglican church leaders and Pentecostal church leaders in one house for the same purpose bridging the gap and dealing with misunderstandings that have always been there. Mobilization teams have been established and tasked to draft their strategies to aid achieving the mission targets. An overall steering committee with 18 members was constituted in May to help oversee the preparations. AE Uganda facilitated a training held in Entebbe for 120 evangelists by our partners in ministry who are planning a citywide mission in that city. The training was organized by the Joint Pastors Network in Entebbe city.
AE Southern Africa Region (AESAR) which is comprised of the Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe teams is set to hold a mission from 19th – 25th September in Zomba, Malawi. AE Malawi held three training sessions in Zomba ahead of the mission where 85 people were trained. The second phase of training the same group was set for the month of June. In April this year, task team leaders for the Zomba Leadership Mission were successfully appointed and a meeting with Church leaders in Zomba to review mission plans was held.
The AE Zambia team continues to go through the AE Manuals to adequately prepare for both the Kitwe and Lusaka mission scheduled for this year and next year respectively. The AE Zambia team visited Kitwe at the invitation of the Maranatha Pentecostal Assemblies of God church to help with the mobilization of the church for evangelism. Close to about 100 church members turned out for the evangelism outreach in Kalulushi.
In Ghana, the AE team is preparing to have a mission in Lome, Togo from the 15th to the 25th of October. An online meeting with the leaders in Togo was held earlier to aid preparations. The leaders were also able to meet the working committees in person. A HBE online training is scheduled for 30th June.
Preparation is ongoing for AE Ethiopia’s mission scheduled for 22nd – 26th December in Kotebe, North East of Addis Ababa. Last month, the AE team held a Home Based Evangelism training as part of the preparations steps for the mission.
Santino Yuot, a former refugee and leader in the South Sudanese community in Australia, has a passion for the gospel in his home country which has been enhanced by studies at Sydney Missionary and Bible College.
AE provided funding towards Santino’s trip to his hometown Wedweil in the northern part of South Sudan (Aweil State) at the end of last year. This area was reduced to rubble during the war with Sudan and remains extremely poor and neglected. A staggering 92% of the population live below the poverty line and many have never experienced proper schooling. The government has been unable to provide even basic education services, and Santino has also been working with other NGOs to rebuild the local school.
Many became Christian during the war and became committed to preaching the Good News despite not having even basic Christian training. Santino has a passion to train these men and women to be able to deliver a faithful bible-based message. As almost all South Sudanese identify as Christians the government schools have Christian Development studies as part of the curriculum. So training Christian teachers to know the gospel clearly will have a multiplying effect on all their future students.
Santino used the NT 1 module of PTC (the Gospel of Mark) and 2 Ways To Live materials to train both pastors and teachers. He recruited several other ministers to present the material both in English and Dinka using the recently repaired classrooms.
As pastors generally do not receive salaries and some had travelled up to two days on foot from other states, food and dorm accommodation was also provided.
Please pray with us:
- Pray for preparations to teach 300 pastors in South Sudan in early 2021 as restrictions are lifted
- Pray for Santino’s family as he commits to this process in a six month period in South Sudan
- Pray that pastors will grow well in their understanding and application of Bible truths, and that they would effectively minister and disciple new generations of leaders.
Prayer is such an important part of supporting African Enterprise. It’s one of the gifts you can give Africa – your time in prayer. And Africa needs your prayers now more than ever.
A couple of months ago when we compiled our Prayer Diary for May, June and July, we did not know the challenges that we would be facing. As always we look at our calendar and prepare the prayer points around the mission activities happening during that month. This time however, what we planned three months ago has changed enormously from what we are currently facing. The number of coronavirus infections are increasing drastically daily in Africa and more than ever we need to pray for our teams and the people in Africa.
As our CEO, Ben Campbell mentioned in the Prayer Diary:
“Please pray especially for the vulnerable refugee populations, and other marginalised communities, that have less access to help. In all things, our hope and confidence remain firmly in the Lord! As Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) says: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” May God bless, strengthen and encourage you today, as you continue to pray for the salvation and healing of people in Africa. “
Throughout June and July, please join with us in prayer for all of our AE Teams. They are all facing unprecedented times. We will keep you up to date with all the latest articles and responses from our teams as far as possible on our website and facebook page.
Updated prayer requests will also be uploaded to the PrayerMate App.
We are also in the last few days of our Prayer and Fasting Season ending on Pentecost Sunday with a Global Day of Prayer.
Additionally, let us know if you are interested in starting or joining a prayer group. It can be among you and your friends, families, colleagues or members of your church. You can meet face to face or online and as frequent as you want. Let’s gather in the name of Jesus and pray for Africa. Please send an email directly to ae@aeint.org if you would like to be part of or to start a prayer group.
Thank you for spending time in prayer for African Enterprise.
Across the Western world, mental health and the impact of traumatic events on our wellbeing, is increasingly a field of study that’s prioritised and valued.
Sadly, in a lot of the African regions where African Enterprise is based, many in the community acutely feel the affects of trauma but aren’t supported in recovery.
In South Sudan, students struggle with the realities of war and violence, losing loved ones, and the devastating effects of sexual abuse. In many cases of trauma, displacement from family is a factor, and teachers find instances of school dropouts, truancy or violence are linked to these experiences in the students’ lives.
Up until this point, despite the prevalence of trauma-based distress, no healing or debriefing interventions have existed within the institutions for teachers and students. Those affected have lacked the skills to process and recover from their trauma, and as a result, cycles of violence and absenteeism have remained.
In October African Enterprise met with a number of school officials to propose the idea of a Bible based healing program in collaboration with Bible Society South Africa. Built on a foundation informed by current mental health best practices, this model is ideal for grassroots communities and designed to lead to sustainable long-term trauma care.
Celestine Juma from the Jubek State Ministry of Education said, “The State ministry of education is going to support this project as it will help our learners in a great way seeing that many are still struggling with various traumatic experiences that greatly hamper their learning & teaching abilities… many children can benefit and receive healing [from this program] and live whole lives free of trauma and its side effects.”
African Enterprise are now seeking resources to hold a Trauma Healing Workshop for a number of counseling teachers in Juba, South Sudan. The training days will equip teachers to recognise the signs of trauma, and help students express their experiences through stories, games, creative arts and other activities. After the workshop African Enterprise will also work with the counseling teachers to undertake weekly trauma healing activities in the selected schools.
If you’d like to find out more about this project and how to support it financially please go to: https://africanenterprise.com.au/missions/
