Experiencing Sudan

Thoughts on time in Sudan by Lahash Traveler Caleb Brown

As you enter into South Sudan you are bombarded with an entourage of emotions. You see the bombed out homes, land mines and burned vehicles; one cannot help but think of the insane struggles that these people have faced, trekking uncountable miles with almost nothing to reach "safety". As you continue on, another feeling overtakes you; seeing the beautiful land stretching far out in any direction, you think that, "this must be God's land," for the beauty and majestic nature is only something that his hands could have created. And at any point that you come across a group of children, their innocent joy will lift your spirit beyond the war, poverty, hatred and injustice that has long plagued Sudan.


My time here has been unexplainable, there is only experiencing to understand. I have been stretched to exhaustion, pushed to the emotional breaking point time and time again, seen birth and felt death, danced with elation, sang glories to God, cried tears of pain and tears of joy, prayed as if it were a last resort, rejoiced in the opportunity for healing, cursed the system and injustice, questioned the practices, learned about life, and feared the future. Sudan will not let you be a bystander; she pulls you into the mix with disregard to skin color, social class or religious views. As soon as you step foot into her realm, you are at the mercy of her will.


I thank God for allowing me to be here, more specifically to be in the middle of all the change that is taking place; I'll update you on some of these happenings. Early last month, the Charlotte Baby's home was opened to the enjoyment of the 19 babies that we currently have. The project was initiated by Glenn Winter, a lawyer from the UK. By mid November the boy's homes will be finished and house almost thirty young boys. The buildings were supported by Fritz Brown, a businessman from the US. We recently were given more land by the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS), who generously allowed us to take over a large piece of property. This was absolutely necessary given the upcoming projects and daily growing number of children.

We have four projects in the works; they include: the tailoring building (John and Elizabeth Harrelson & International Teams Canada), two girl's dormitories, a dispensary (The Ross Foundation), and a nursery school. God has continually been providing faithful servants to come alongside the children and offer a hand of help. We have also had positive movement in the care for the lepers; John and Julie Hamer from Canada have provided positive direction and support in reviving the leper colony in Mogiri. With their help and our efforts to reestablish the flow of medicine to the lepers, we believe that it's possible to end leprosy in the Kajo Keji County. Our farm and agriculture project has also taken positive strides. We were approached by Joshua Machinga, a man from Kenya who runs a biodiversity project and was interested in training us in their practices. We currently have a representative there (Edwin Angote) who will bring that knowledge back and help cultivate our farming expertise.

God is great and has mighty plans in store for the children and our community. Let us continue to stand together as a family and push for opportunities as the children grow to be young men and women of God.