News & Views
Sleeping in Trees: The Orphans of Sudan
Former Orphan and current Director of Indigenous Ministry for Make Way Partners, James Lual, speaks with a group of orphans in this photo from the Make Way Partners website.
Their land was ripped apart by war. They were driven from their homes by Muslim slave raiders. Most of their parents have been murdered and their villages have been burned. Hundreds of Sudanese children live in the desert and the bush, struggling to survive. They sleep outside every night on the ground. If they are lucky, they will be able to find a tree to provide protection against hyenas and other wild animals. They are hungry and thirsty, surviving on wild berries and other food that they forage. Sometimes they cannot find enough water to drink. Most of these children have never slept in a bed.
Sudan was once considered a Christian nation because they were colonized by Great Britain. However, after the British pulled out in the 1950's, they left a power vacuum. With no clear leader, the country was thrown into turmoil. The Muslims in surrounding nations took this opportunity to invade. The Muslim invaders took over half the country, but the Sudanese people rallied and kept the other half. This conflict has torn apart the nation, impoverished the people of Sudan and left thousands of orphans. Most of these orphans are currently fending for themselves.
Sudanese orphans excitedly gather in lines before the start of the school day. Oklahoma Wesleyan University helps to support these and the rest of the 400 children enrolled in the new day school.
A Christian organization, Make Way Partners, is dedicated to helping these children. Make Way Partners supports an orphanage in Sudan which is run by James Lual, a former Sudanese orphan himself. They are currently providing food and clothing for the orphans, and working on building dormitories for them.
Oklahoma Wesleyan student Whitney Terry-Smith and some other students felt that God called them to help these orphans. They started the Sudan Project last year to help Make Way Partners raise funds to build dormitories for the orphans. Last year, through God's grace and the sacrifices of many students, $8,000 was raised and sent to Sudan. Ground was broken on the construction of the dormitories in May 2006. However, the Sudan Project team still needs to raise more funds to continue working on the dormitories. The team's goal is to see these children properly housed.
Construction of dorms began in May 2006 for the New Life Ministry Compound which houses a church, school, and haven for slaves, as seen in a photo taken from the Make Way Partners online photo gallery.
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"The first semester when God told me to do this project, it was pure obedience," Terry-Smith said. "I would see all these people on TV like Mother Teresa and they would be so broken for the people. So many people assume if they don't have compassion that they aren't called."
"But then second semester I don't know why, but God broke my heart and I felt such compassion for the kids," Terry-Smith said. "But it took several months of pure obedience, and then He broke my heart. The obedience paid out."
Others felt the call to become involved as well.
"Sudan had always been on my heart," Ruth Kunkle said. "In high school, my choir director had told us about the situation in Sudan and we collected blankets to send to Sudanese refugees. However, despite my background and my call to missions, I hadn't been able to get out and actually help others. This was a perfect way to get involved."
A young girl surveys the destruction of her war-torn homeland.
The Sudan team wants sacrificial giving to be the center of the project.
"You can ask yourself: 'What can I give up that I like?'" Terry-Smith said. "You can not buy a drink at a coffee shop, not make a Quicktrip run or go to Taco Bell. It's not that there's anything wrong with doing these things, we just need to ask ourselves if there is something better we could be doing."
"That's why I am involved in the Sudan Project," Steven Ellison said. "It gives me a chance to sacrifice and to use my God-given talents to help others."
The Sudan team does not want anyone to feel condemned because they are not doing enough.
Make Way Partners’ Executive Director, Kimberly Smith, holds baby Elijah, an orphaned infant she adopted after he was found starving and near death. Today, the boy is thriving thanks in part to prayers and support from OWU students and others around the world.
"We want people to be encouraged, and that is why we share these things," Terry-Smith said. "It can be discouraging to wait for the feelings before you do anything, or to try to base your faith on feelings. I just want people to find the joy that comes when you give up something. When I sacrifice something, I feel more joy than when I had the thing I am sacrificing."
There are several ways students can become involved in the Sudan project:
- Commit to pray for the project, either privately during your devotions, or come to the prayer meeting at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday nights in the Rose Garden.
- Give an immediate love offering.
- Commit to give an offering every month.
If you have any questions about the project, see http://www.makewaypartners.org or contact:
Whitney Terry-Smith
205-531-6613 or ext. 447
whitneys@makewaypartners.org