“I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord,…” (Psalm 40:9-10)
I am Rev. William Jada Daniel Loro, the current moderator of Equatoria Presbytery in the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan.
I have been treated for the Hepatitis B virus since 2015. According to the doctor who first prescribed the medication in Egypt, I should have regular checkups at least every 6-12 months to monitor the effectiveness of the medication and to do an abdominal scan. I was late for my checkup due to financial constraints. By the grace of God, the church where I am serving helped me with money to do the checkup in Khartoum. I left Juba on Saturday, the 8th of April 2023, one day before Easter, reaching Khartoum that evening. On Sunday morning I celebrated Easter in one of the Episcopal churches near where I was staying. The following day I went to the hospital with my friend Michael Angelo Modi. The checkup went well, the doctor commenting about the really good test results. The only test remaining was the viral load, which the Al-Faisal specialized Hospital doesn’t have, so the doctor sent me to the nearby Al-Fidel Hospital. There I was told to return after one week to collect the results. So on Saturday I went to Khartoum city to meet my friend Michael, and to get the results. At 9:00 am I received a call from where I was staying that there were gunshots in the Souba area, where Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been based. Before the conversation finished I heard gunshots in the military command site not far away. Immediately people begin to run in different directions, especially to bus stations. I and my friend tried to reach our bus station. Unfortunately, since drivers had fled to safety, there were no busses. We wondered what to do then. We ran to Khartoum Christian Center (KCC), a Pentecostal church. KCC was the center we used to worship in before the separation of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011. It is closer to the presidential palace than to the RSF command area. The area was controlled by the RSF, but the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) was fighting them. We knocked on the gate, but the gate keeper did not open for us. Near that church there was another hospital. Someone from the hospital saw us stranded at the gate and called us to enter the hospital, because bullets might hit us, as firing was now everywhere.
An unusual kind of RMNI team traveled to Torit and Juba, S. Sudan March 9-23, travel inclusive. With us was Arnold Polk, designer of a unique block-making machine. Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church funded this unit, and it took over a year for it to arrive on site. It uses only a little cement in each block and no mortar between blocks. Once the footer for the foundation is laid, blocks can be rapidly laid. The walls of a large one-story building can be in place in one-three days, depending upon size. Then blocks are covered inside and out with stucco. Plumbing and electrical lines are placed within the twin holes of each block. More information about this amazing technology is on Arnold's website. Pictured is the first block made at Torit and a small training structure.
Joe Huebscher and I traveled on to Juba to work with the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan for a two-day seminar, while fourteen people were trained on the block machine in Torit. We enjoyed very much the interaction with the audience in Juba. We taught on how local churches can be self-sufficient, and Joe taught on how to start a small business. We also visited churches in Yei and Morobo. We appreciate very much working with Patrick Oting in Torit and with William Jada in Juba.
Our fifth trip to S. Sudan was characterized by unseasonably hot weather. By God's grace we came through it, and were able to complete our assignments. Here's a small example of the block machine's work.
2011 South Sudan MinistryWe spent time with Ellen Fox, at the Torit hospital and invested time in a budding partnership with the Presbyterian Church of Sudan, headquartered in Juba. The interlocking block machine pictured is due in S. Sudan by year's end. This will enable teams interested in building projects to get involved. We have two church buildings and a prison chapel that we'd like to complete, by God's grace.
This year's S. Sudan Team pushed some limits to assist in church planting in Eastern Equatoria Province, near Torit. Church planters have received training and we were able to assist through outdoor teaching and preaching, as well as through door-to-door evangelism. In the process we had an adventure. The Spirit went before and provided in every situation. The best witnessing opportunities were set up by people who were high on alcohol, for example. We hope to return in 2011, so please ask the Lord if you should be on board next spring. If you'd like to get involved in supporting one of the four church plants, three of which are located where there is no active church at all, please contact us.
This year's Southern Sudan ministry focused upon teaching and evangelism--particularly upon both personal and open-air evangelism. By God's grace 80 made professions of faith in Sudan and Uganda. We had freedom to preach at Torit's city center and to share Christ with shop owners and passers-by. Conditions at Torit improved significantly since 2007.
We also had a wonderful opportunity to help equip church planters and evangelists, and to participate in both house-to-house evangelism and in outdoor preaching at Ntenjeru, Uganda.
The trip went so smoothly that only at the end of the did it become clear why--two churches had prayed for us around-the-clock.
This, our second ministry trip to southern Sudan, was more rigorous than our typical trips to (East) Africa. Southern Sudan is recovering from a civil war that lasted for over 20 years. Our Sudanese coordinator is a graduate of two Bible colleges and longtime friend. He heads the Presbyterian Church of Southern Sudan, under which we serve. We were able to serve those who have been under-served, due to war, for a long time.
We found the city and area around Torit (Eastern Equatoria Province) much as we expected, except that it appears to be burgeoning economically. We were able to present seminars to men in Torit and in Kajjansi, Uganda on church leadership, marriage and personal finances and to women on getting to know God, and to many children about salvation, prayer and African geography. RN David Haley treated almost 590 patients at clinics, mostly young children. We also evangelized, seeing about 27 professions of faith. We plan to post a slide presentation of the trip soon, but in the meantime, check David's journal of the trip.
Two impressions arise from our June visit to Lohutok, Eastern Equatorial Province. First is God's common grace imparted to a culture. It would have taxed our founding fathers (and mothers) to have derived such a system of social checks and balances and orderly government. Second is God's provision. He provided safety, good food and our health was disturbed only briefly by various ailments, except for one serious ankle break. A medical evacuation flight landed within 2.5 hours (it's a 1.5 hour flight from the airport base). Then an anonymous donor in America advanced all the funds needed for the hospitalization and medical evacuation flight. The needs of the Lopit tribe are significant. How help can be given without damaging what is godly in the culture is challenging, as it is to any "undeveloped" culture.
At Malakal in April, 2017, church leaders beseeched us to send doctors to treat trachoma-- rampant in the camp--and which is the leading cause of irreversible blindness globally1. Children are disproportionately afflicted. As the flyer below indicates, we’re recruiting an eye care professional team to go there for 9 days. So far only one other American, an ophthalmologist, is willing to go. The Christian Eye Network has generously posted the need for eye care workers2.
It appears that we’ll have to hire professionals from Ethiopia and perhaps Juba to go to Malakal, which is expensive. With about 30,000 in the camp, we need a large team, particularly if we can also do cataract surgery. We plan to bring hundreds of new Foster Grant reading glasses3.
I hope to teach at Malakal, if I’m not needed to assist the eye team, and will provide teaching materials for evangelism and teaching countering cults for use at Grace Theological College in Juba, so that it can be taught without me having to be there. Please pray for a sufficiently large and capable team. Many NGO workers are at the camp, as well as UN personnel, so the risk may seem more than is actual.
1http://www.who.int/trachoma/disease/en/
2http://christianeye.net/ministry/featured-items
3Purchased through www.RestoringVision.org. Some will also be distributed at the Westside housing location.
Dear Friends,
By God’s grace, the mobile eye clinic mission was accomplished. The team of 6 eye care professionals had screened over 2000 people and completed 208 cataract and trachoma surgeries. A cataract surgeon and eye nurse stayed behind for 5 days to continue surgeries and to do post-operation exams. We also dispensed many hundreds of pairs of reading glasses in both the UN camps at Juba and at Malakal—for example, over a two day period we gave out 400 glasses.
(Since 2010, the South has wisely refurbished this tank.)
Just when it appeared that South Sudan would peacefully emerge as a new nation on July 9, the North Sudan government invaded the disputed Abyei area of South Kordofan State. This area is both fertile and oil-rich. The North's pre-emptive strike was taken when the US has been distracted by the Arab Spring, particularly Libya, and when the UN peace mandate was set to run out on July 9, leaving the better-equipped Sudanese Armed Forces of the North almost unchallenged in their aggression.
The North has stated that it wants all Southern Sudanese to leave the North. Southern sympathisers in South Kordofan state, which is in North Sudan, have recently suffered heavy aerial bombardment and artillery fire to drive these black Sudanese into the Nubia Mountains. Unless the Africa Union or the USA intervene, the North will once again pillage and usurp the resources of South, kill black civilians found in the North and flaunt world opinion. Northern President Bashir is already wanted for war crimes in Darfur, by the Hague. The South is relying upon world opinion to protect them from the T-55 tanks of the North, not willing to be enticed into a new civil war, undoing the due process they have followed toward nationhood since 2005's Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
The North seems to be restrained only by what it is either rewarded to do or forced to do with regard to Darfur and South Sudan. Its commitments are otherwise unreliable.
Please pray for justice, peace and equitable sharing of oil resources by the North and South, and for military intervention against the North, if all else fails, as advocated by former US Envoy to Sudan, Roger Winter. Below are links to articles on this unfolding crisis, beginning May 22, 2011.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF--Northern army) take Abyei town , May 22, 2011.
The SAF and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA--Southern army) fight in South Kordofan, (source: Reuters - June 7, 2011)
"Ethnic cleansing" of the Nuba tribe by North Sudan from South Kordofan, June 11, 2011
"Agreement" at Addis Abbaba to withdraw troops from Abyei, June 14, 2011
The Deputy President of South Sudan calls upon the UN to intervene, June 15, 2011
Statement of President Obama on the situation, June 15, 2011
Insightful expert comments in addition to President Obama's, June 15, 2011
The Nuba aggression displaced 60,000 people, June 16, 2011
Former US Envoy to Sudan, Roger Winter, calls for military intervention against the North, June 16, 2011.
Ceasefire announced in South Kordofan, June 16, 2011.
The UN authorized 4,200 Ethiopian peacekeepers to protect Abyei, June 27, 2011
North-South Buffer Zone established, together with talks to resolve outstanding issues, June 28, 2011
The Satellite Sentinel Project tracks movements of the North's military and its actions. It clearly documents Northern aggression.
She traveled to South Sudan with us on three trips ... and then she stayed, starting in March 2010. Here are her reports.
Lohutok Village located in Lopit Mountains
I am reading two very good books that have blessed me tremendously, and highly recommend for leaders in the church. The first is God’s Design for the Church by Conrad Mbewe, and the second A Vision for Missions by Tom Wells. Much of the information will help us in Lohutok as we move forward in building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16). It is quite evident that Christians in the village have no foundation based on the Gospel message and the Word of God, or they are heathens because they do not know Jesus at all. They truly believe they are Christians because they like to go to church, they have a Christian name, they read the Bible, and/or they have been baptized. The leadership of the church has committed to work with the membership as a group, as well as individually, to share the Gospel and make sure that everyone knows what it means to be saved. This reminds me of Reverend J. D. Scott when he came to pastor Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Crestas Terrace, North Versailles, PA (https://mtcarmelbaptistnv.org/ ). He began his ministry there with taking the congregation through the salvation message. Some of the older members opposed saying they had been members of this church for over 50 years. His response was “God will hold me accountable.” There is one person that I know of who became a Christian because of that Bible Study…that person will tell you that that is when s/he got saved!!!
One Sunday morning in African Inland Church a young mother came forward to have her newborn baby dedicated to God and the Pastor asked me to help. I joined them in front of the church and quickly asked the pastor where was the father. When it came time for me to share in this experience, I first asked the mother where was her husband. Then I said, this dedication needs the participation of both parents because this momentous commitment needed their combined effort and faithfulness. That parents are pledging to give back their child to the LORD (Psalms 127:3). In order to do that the parents are to bring the child up in a Christian environment. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 says that parents must love God first and foremost and then pass that love onto their children which enables them to begin learning how to put God first in their lives. Children imitate behavior from the parents, learn Christian values from the parents and learn the love of God first from the parent. Parents are promising to do everything they can to nurture the child in the ways of God. I promised to conduct a Bible Study at this woman’s compound for 1 month twice a week. Please pray for her and her husband along with others that do not understand the Gospel message and the ways of God.
My Aunt Marva died this year. She was one of the persons that did not want me to go to Africa—basically because of safety. Some years back I got in touch with her and she became an inspiration and encouragement to me. When the villagers found out about her death, they came to my home morning and night for 7 days. I was so shocked, but had been praying for opportunities to spread the Gospel that would make a difference. Well, this funeral gave me an opportunity whereby people made comments and asked questions about God. Some people would call God bad because He permitted this person to die. One old woman said to me “But you prayed for my brother—why did God let him die anyway?” We then talked about how sin came into the world bringing separation from God and death and that everyone has a date (Psalms 139:16). After discussion I would ask the question “Where do you stand if you were to die on this day?” Another important misbelief is that we are God’s creation, therefore we are all God’s children…WOW!!! This went right to the heart of the Gospel message and the atmosphere was completely different than that of regular village funerals. Please pray for the missionaries in Lohutok and all over the world to continue faithfully in doing HIS will.
God blessed me by meeting with Jim Sutherland in Juba, South Sudan and I enjoyed it so much!! He told me that research is being conducted and so far, over 180 African Americans have been located that are doing foreign missions all over the world. African Americans come together every year for the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention held in the United States. Carey was the first African American to return to Africa to spread the Gospel. When I was in my early twenties, I attended this convention in New Orleans and that is when one of the missionaries, who at that time was ministering in Liberia, said to me that “God is calling you to be a foreign missionary.” Pray that God will raise up more African Americans to do HIS Will of spreading HIS Word to the uttermost parts of the world.
God is so good!!! I ended the year completely exhausted. Many problems to solve concerning the Girls’ school before the new term begins in the middle of February [2011]. Our school had a visit from seven department heads of the Ministry of Education, based in Torit. They are seeking ways to use more untrained teachers. I think this is a serious mistake! Most of my teachers are untrained and if they also lack love for the girls along with a good understanding of the importance and value of education, then success in providing quality education is very difficult. I want to put a plan together and present to the education ministry for approval. I pray for open-mindedness and a willingness by the Education Ministry to launch a special program through our school. Please pray for the following:
Porridge for one meal a day for students
Add the next level (primary five) to the school
Reduce my teaching load at the Girls School
Hire a new teacher with a heart for children and teaching
A meeting with the head of Planning (Education Ministry)
For wisdom for a strategic plan that will be acceptable to the ministry
Change a few policies of the school that hinder the girls
Direction in teaching Biology at the Senior Secondary School
Ellen Fox will seek and do the will of God
The challenges have not hindered my desire to serve in Lohutok. I still find joy in teaching and I look forward to teaching not only English Composition at the Secondary School but also Biology to senior one and senior 2. All my efforts to start a Bible study for women have stalled. I continue to go to the designated area and pray for the women as they pass by. I have prayed for old women, pregnant women, sick women, and girls and boys on their way to school. I pray seeds are being planted to rid the villages of alcohol abuse, physical abuse to wives by husbands, poor health practices and a yearning to know how Jesus can change their lives. The AIC [Africa Inland Church] church in Lohutok sponsored a Lopit all-night prayer meeting for the referendum and they asked me to speak. I told them that real freedom was found in Jesus Christ. Southern Sudan is very excited about the referendum, so I ask you to bathe the resulting outcome and the aftermath in prayer. I look forward to seeing the 2011 Team from RMNI!
Thank you for all your help in making my stay in Lohutok comfortable. I am beginning to think seriously about purchasing a motorcycle. God Bless you!
Everything is going well even though we have a few challenges with the school. Attendance is down largely due to discontinuing the feeding program however, we look to restart serving porridge this term. The girls are a joy to teach and although progress is slow we still have some accomplishments. All the girls have memorized the school motto which is Proverbs 1.7 and John 3.16.
The community had a visit from the newly elected commissioners and were thrilled to see girls in school. They sang, quoted their motto and recited facts about Africa and Sudan. The commissioners remarked how delighted they were to see what may be a catalyst to changing the present culture of girls destined to marriage and cultivating. They believe girls have more to offer to Sudan and their society. This was such a blessing to hear. I tell the girls all the time that they can attain higher education and use it to help the The New Southern Sudan to come. One setback has been starting Bible Study for the women. I just began waiting for the women as they come out of the village to go to the gardens, I stop them and just say a prayer with them and then let them go. This has been so rewarding for me. Please pray with me that this will blossom into a fellowship of sharing the Word of God so that God may be glorified. One older man watched one day and said he was so happy that I was praying WITH the women.
Life is good. More minor injuries but basically I'm good. Lost more weight but as I get use to the food I'm sure I'll put on more weight. I'm slow at learning the language but it's coming. THE AIC Church is starting an initiative to have a Bible study group on every day of the week held in a different villages. This will be great on all fronts giving God the glory. The big news now is the up and coming referendum which is scheduled for January 11, 2011. Much preparation is necessary for this to take place. Please pray for a peaceful Sudan during the process.
Thank you for your prayers and support.
I give God all the glory!!!
Fox in Southern Sudan
Note: Ellen has lost about 70 pounds in six months. Please pray that she'll be able to gain weight. She is now the lead administrator of the girl's school.
April 30, 2010Fantastic first term teaching at Lohutok Christian girls school, which is such a blessing.
Teaching English, mathmatics and Christian religion for Primary 3, which range in age of 10-15. Challenges: language barrier and children are involved with chores from the minute they leave school beginning with hauling water up to their homes in the mountains. Therefore no time for homework. Great differences of learning levels even within the P3 class. This first term test will help me assess how much impact on effective teaching or learning. During 1st term [in the] village experienced 2 unexpected deaths, including one from malaria. One accidental fire destroyed the home of 2 of my students, a teacher of P4 fell sick with malaria and an incident of cattle rustling that ended in 4 fatalities. I was able to witness the voting of the villagers for the first time ever in the history of its existence. That was very exciting. Schools and business were closed for the entire week. The children don't have to make up the time however I plan to work with some of the students over the break. The most thrilling experience is when I say "Break time" during the day and the class says "no = keep teaching" —every teacher's dream to have enthusiastic students—all 17 of them.
When fetching my own water I always without fail greet women and children on the way to and from the borehole. I pump not only my water but also help with the other ladies and children there fetching water. I also help mount gerrycans on their heads as they return to their homes. Sometimes I go to the clinic and pass out water to the patients and visitors along with praying with them. I will also start reading the Bible to some of the patients. Patrick asked me to start a women's Bible study which will begin the first Sunday in May and the location of the Bible study will be the borehole!!!! Praise His Holy Name!!!!
Request a contact about going on or supporting a short term missions trip!
2025 PDF Flyer: Ministry Opportunities in S. Sudan!
How to get to South Sudan - Find out how you can go with us to Sudan--here is your first stop.
S. Sudan Trip Essentials - The basic information about the trip: costs, needs, etc.
Application - The earlier your application is received, the better your preparation will be.
Waiver of Liability - The waiver must to be notarized, so don't wait.
Quick Gear Listing - The list of things you will want on the trip.
South Sudan Visa Application (updated 15Nov2018)
Uganda Visa Information (updated 7 Feb 2021)
Vaccines and Medicines for South Sudan
World Fact Book - South Sudan Home Page (updated 7 Feb 2021)
World Christian Database--South Sudan Todd M. Johnson, ed. World Christian Database(Leiden/Boston: Brill, last accessed March 25, 2019).
Republic of South Sudan, National Bureau of Statistics
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