MAKE WAY PARTNERS MINISTRY gives the following update on what is going on in Sudan. It is horribly graphic and so evil. May God turn their hearts and protect His own and the innocent.
Friday, June 3, 2011
New Attack in Sudan
Lual Atak called me yesterday to let me know the Islamic government has re-employed the rebels out of Uganda (LRA) to expand their terror upon Sudan. Sudan is the largest country in all of Africa, and so the Islamic government has traditionally aligned themselves with this rebel group to flank Southern Sudan. They are the ones who captured 300 children (mostly orphans) from our village the first year we began building Hope for Sudan.
On Wednesday of this week, the LRA attacked another village near our orphanage Hope for Sudan; this is our newest orphanage in Sudan currently caring for about 40 orphans while we are building room for more. Hope for Sudan is also where our American missionary couple Kevin, Shalene, and baby Abigail live.
<!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>Although we cannot confirm numbers as yet, we do know many were wounded, some were killed, and others were captured—drug off as the spoils of victory. Lual Atak said, “It is really so very terrible! They gathered all the little children together and started killing their people right in front of their eyes. The children were so terrorized. The LRA then made the children begin killing their own parents. After the slaughter, the boys were forced to carry large metal barrels, and the girls were forced to fetch water to fill the barrels. They then had to build fires around the barrels. While the water began to boil, the children were forced to hack up their parents and fellows bodies and throw their dismembered parts in the boiling water. After sometime, the children were forced to eat their own parents and fellows flesh…once the LRA knew the children were so traumatized they would do anything, kill anyone, and not try to run away, they left the village with their new soldiers and sex slaves.”
A BBC article documents pieces of this sort of attack: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15117683,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-environment-4553-rdf
We are working diligently to secure a backup site for these orphans if the LRA targets our village next, which is their history. Another issue we are working through is the fact that we have a team of American college students who are set to leave the US in just a few days to spend their entire summer at Hope for Sudan.
I praise God for how He continues to resurrect Lual Atak’s childhood as a boy soldier by keeping him closely connected to those from whom he won favor through his faithful service. He keeps us well informed as he communicates daily with military generals making decisions. So far, no ambush at his orphanage, New Life.
As we have said all along, all these things have been ruminating during the last six years of “peace.” All along my soul has cried out, “You say, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.”
Now here we are. We plead for your broken hearted prayers as we limp through the gnarled path of leadership, seeking wisdom in chaos. I often feel as though I am sticking my hands deep into the muddy holes of a riverbed, hoping to pull out a whale of a fish for dinner, while full well knowing that what I grab hold of just might be a python of a snake that will crush the very life out of me.
Thanking God for the Resurrection,k Posted by Kimberly L. Smith