Today in the Mission Yearbook - Small Beginnings

Promoting health in all areas of life in South Sudan during the coronavirus

Mission co-worker Kristi Rice asks women in South Sudan about their hopes and dreams for the group.
(Photo by Elijah Luak)

Before coronavirus took over our thoughts in South Sudan, I joined a meeting of women to talk about community development. Women gathered in a circle after the church service, many of them holding young children on their laps. I started the discussion by reflecting on John 10:10, where Jesus expressed his intention to give us “life, and have it abundantly.”

What does that mean?

As a mission co-worker with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) working in the area of community health evangelism, I explained that means God cares about all aspects of our lives — our eternal souls, certainly, but also our bodies, relationships, work and minds. If one part of our life is unhealthy — such as a conflict with a family member — that will have an impact on other parts of our lives. So how can we all improve and promote health in all areas of life?

My colleague Elijah passed around a weaving that was in process. He asked the women to tell what they thought it was, or what they noticed. Several women suggested that it was a basket or would become a woven bag for carrying things. Some said they knew how to do this type of weaving.

When something is at its beginning, there are many possibilities. Something that looks small and insignificant at its beginning can become something big, beautiful and of great use with slow, steady progress. With that perspective, we asked the women to share some of their dreams. What impact could they have as a group? Some of their top dreams included:

• Adult education (many of them have not gone very far in school; they would like to learn to read and write)
• Employment (perhaps through a store where the women can sell their handcrafts, or a farm)
• Spiritual strengthening (including prayer, Bible study)
• Trauma healing training
• Health awareness (e.g., about diseases, including cancer)

We then looked at each of these top goals or hopes the women had for projects. We asked what would be required in terms of material or human resources for each. What resources did they have available? Finally, we asked them to vote for which of these should be tackled first. Voting was a challenge because all projects had value and felt like priorities to the women.

They decided that creating employment would be the highest priority task to tackle first, especially through trying to open a shop or having an incoming-producing cooperative that could help them sell some of the beautiful beadwork that the Anyuak tribe is known for.

The women thought about some ways they could save to get some capital for opening a shop. We talked about the planning and training that might be needed before they opened. The women, most of whom live in the neighborhood and do not have consistent work, are eager to collaborate. We talked about the need to continue to meet, to learn and plan together. Please pray for God’s wisdom and provision for these women in Lologo. And now that coronavirus has made meetings risky, pray for wisdom in how we proceed.

Kristi Rice and her husband, the Rev. Bob Rice, are Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers serving in South Sudan since 2017 and prior to that for seven years in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kristi is an economic and development adviser for the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church. She supports projects that help meet the financial goals of the church and improve the health and well-being of communities, including the exploration of community health evangelism. Bob serves as an instructor at Nile Theological College, where he teaches theology and biblical studies courses. Subscribe to their letters. Consider supporting their work.

 Kristi Rice, Mission Co-Worker, South Sudan

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Courtney Hemmelgarn, Office of the General Assembly
Jean Hemphill, Board of Pensions

Let us pray:

Lord, we thank you for the growth of our church. Continue to bless, guide and inspire us all to serve you faithfully so that the world may turn to you in praise. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Prayers for peace keep marching on

Women of South Sudan are ‘joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer’

Women kneel along the road in prayer in South Sudan. (Photo by Kristi Rice)

May 2, 2020

We knelt on the pavement, three long lines of women. One woman at a time led in prayer, acknowledging our need and crying out for God’s intervention in South Sudan. The rest of us joined in, praying silently or quietly, and I could feel the collective passion as we publicly prayed together. Women from different denominations took turns leading specific prayers — for soldiers who are hungry and underpaid, for youth who are sucked into the gang and drug culture, for leaders implementing the peace agreement, for the economy and jobs and for our churches and families. It was about 10 a.m., but the sun was already hot. Lively worship interspersed the times of prayer, and several women passersby got in line to join the prayers.

Women share tea and bread in the shade near the church. (Photo by Kristi Rice)

The Rev. Bob and Kristi Rice

After praying and singing at the starting point for nearly an hour, we marched about two miles on a narrow dirt road to the village of Kwarijic, singing along the way and stopping three times to pray. A woman washing clothes in the stream waved in encouragement as we passed, and barefoot women carrying bundles of long sticks on their heads smiled in greeting.
We gathered in the village’s Catholic church, continuing our prayers and worship and encouraged by a word from the local priest about prayer connecting us to God’s infinite power. The women’s theme this year is Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” These women reflect that verse well — I was encouraged by the hope expressed, rooted in faith and God’s faithfulness. One woman exhorted everyone to get up at 1 a.m. to pray — because that was an hour when they could find quiet and focus. When I was invited to give a word of greeting, I extended greetings from the many churches in the U.S. that we visited last year and told the women they are an example for us in America of commitment to prayer.

Agnes Wasuk, director of women’s programs at the South Sudan Council of Churches, has been organizing these ecumenical prayer gatherings for six years as a beautiful expression of unity and faith. For real change and healing in South Sudan, it will take not just the decisions of political leaders, but also the unity and commitment by people at the grassroots. After being away for six months, I was excited to join them again, especially because the increased atmosphere of peace around Juba meant that they could hold the prayers at a church outside of the city. When I reached home in the afternoon, my whole body felt tired, but I was energized and inspired by the sense of hope and grateful for the gift of joining these women in prayer.

Kristi Rice, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Mission Co-Worker in South Sudan, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Sharon Castillo, Board of Pensions
Lee Catoe, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Father, thank you for our churches. Please help us to welcome everyone as you would. Holy Spirit, please teach us how to serve together in generations. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.