October 2008

A Personal Message from John Ed Clark

When discussing the church in Ethiopia, the conversation always mentions the leadership of John Ed Clark of Fresno, CA. John Ed, an elder for the Woodward Park Church of Christ, has been the primary liaison between the U.S. and Ethiopian churches for 40 years.

In addition to helping lead American participation in thework of preaching the Gospel in Ethiopia, brother Clark took on the responsibility to help start the New Testament church in South Sudan about 10 years ago. Even though he did not really have the time,due to his work in Ethiopia, he also began working with South Sudan “because no one else would.” Below is a statement from John Ed concerning the recent transfer of leadership of the South Sudan work from the Woodward Park church in Fresno to the Mt. Juliet church in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.

“The work in South Sudan was started in 1997. That year brother Isaya Jackson, along with two brethren from Sunset International Bible Institute,made a survey trip to the refugee camp in Uganda where Isaya had once lived.

They were able to teach there. Several were converted, and the church was planted. On that trip, Isaya made the commitment to return to his homeland of Sudan to live and to share the Gospel with his own people.

In 1999, Isaya moved to the Kiryandongo Refugee Camp outside of Bweyale, Uganda. During the next eight years, 18 congregations were established in several Ugandan refugee camps.The refugees were all waiting for the time when they could return to the land they were forced to leave many years before. Thousands of people obeyed the Gospel during this time, and several men were trained as preachers and church leaders. Everything was in preparation for the time when the Sudanese people could return to their homeland. That time finally came; and, as the people were returned to South Sudan, they took the Gospel and the 18 congregations with them.

Today the door for the Gospel is wide open in South Sudan. No other people on earth are more receptive to the gospel than the Sudanese people.

With this great opportunity came many challenges, though, which caused the Woodward Park congregation to recognize that we may not have the time or resources to lead the work in Sudan because of our heavy involvement in the Lord's work in Ethiopia.We started looking for a strong congregation to assume the oversight of the Gospel Outreach to Sudan.

The elders of the Mt.Juliet Church of Christ in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee have agreed to take on this work and are committed to working with all of you who have been so faithful in your support. I ask for your continued faithful participation as they now assume the oversight.

The need to make this move was brought into sharp focus in August 2007 when I was diagnosed with Lymphoma.I have had surgery and radiation and am being tested to determine other forms of treatment I may need to manage this disease seems to make regular reappearances. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.”

If you would like for your congregation to hear a presentation of the exciting work currently being accomplished by the Lord in South Sudan, please contact Don at (615) 470-5032 or at don.humphrey@comcast.net.

Only a Plastic Bag

More than two million people from the southern part of Sudan fled their homes during the terrible civil war in their homeland. They fled to avoid being massacred and lived in refugee camps in neighboring countries such as Uganda.
The bright side of this horror is that the Gospel was preached in those refugee camps, and many New Testament churches were established. When a peace accord was signed in 2005 that eventually allowed most of the refugees to return home through the help of the UN,many had been away from their homes as many as 25 years.
Most of our Christian brethren were able to return home from the refugee camps by 2007. However, they then faced many problems related to just staying alive. All they could take home with them was what they could carry in a plastic baga few plastic dishes and a few articles of clothing.
The UN did give each family a small amount of food and a plastic tarp to protect themselves from the rain before dropping them from a truck near their home villages.
After this, they were on their own. Caring Christians, along with the generosity of Healing Hands International, were able to provide assistance to at least 550 resettled Sudanese Christian families. In nearby Kampala, Uganda, nearly seven tons of seed, 400 grubbing hoes, 400 pick axes, 800 machetes, and 800 sickles were purchased.
These were divided among five congregations, and members from other congregations came to those churches to receive and disburse a share of the items. The seeds and tools would allow them to raise enough food to keep themselves alive.
Those helped are now open to the Gospel because they know that the followers of Jesus care about them, just as Jesus showed.

South Sudan Statistics

South Sudan has “the worst health care situation…in the world,” according to the IMAWorld Health organization. They add,“The vast majority of people in South Sudan have never had health services of any kind.”

• A system of health care does not exist in the country. More than 75 percent of the people have no access to medical care of any kind. Ninety-nine percent of those from Southern Sudan and Darfur who were born before 2005 have no birth certificate.


• The life expectancy of the Sudanese is less than 56 years. Twenty-five to forty percent of children die before their fifth birthday.


• Sudan also has less of an education system than any other country on the planet. None existed at all in South Sudan before January 9, 2005. This is a country with many needs, both physical and spiritual.