Jul 12, 2016
We awoke Tuesday morning to reports from people inside Juba, the capital city of South Sudan, that they were rejoicing over a general sense of calm and no sound of gunfire for many hours. The streets were still mostly deserted. Pastor James spoke to his sister on the phone in the early morning hours and she seemed to be at peace and was able to return to her home. At midday she ventured out into the community to try to find food for herself and her three children. To her shock, she witnessed soldiers burning down all of the shops and food stores. She said that the government was urging the people to remain calm while simultaneously imprisoning people in their homes and shooting at civilians as they tried to flee to the United Nations base for shelter. The United Nations has reported that over 36,000 civilians are trapped and in urgent need of assistance. Please continue to pray for these innocent civilians to find safety and food soon.
Meanwhile, James Nyika is at our school in South Sudan. At this time the town where our school is located is completely safe from the violence that is currently in the capital city 250 miles away. Our local tribes are heavily armed warriors and have positioned themselves along the road and throughout the city to maintain peace and security. Our greatest concern is the ability to get food to feed the 200 children in our care. We have enough food to last seven days. Pastor James will be traveling to Kenya tomorrow to try and secure more food for our missionaries and children. If he is unable to bring food into South Sudan we will be forced to evacuate our children by the end of the week. Originally we planned to take our children to Kakuma refugee camp with a population of 250,000 people living in a barren wasteland in northern Kenya. Yesterday the Lord miraculously connected us with a United Nations security officer that stated his concerns with our children’s safety in this massive refugee camp. God moved upon his heart to make special arrangements for our children to be able to live in a handful of abandoned homes in Lokichoggio, a peaceful and safe border town between South Sudan and Kenya. This is a total answer to your prayers! Please continue to pray for James and our leadership staff to be sensitive to the Lord’s leading during this crisis. Every decision at this stage is crucial.
Myself and our American team are safe in Kenya’s capital city with Pastor Dave Zavala of Calvary Chapel Nairobi. From here we are able to communicate with and facilitate James Nyika on a moment by moment basis. Please pray that we will be able to provide Pastor James and all of our national staff with the encouragement and resources they desperately need. Two of our American missionaries have been suffering from food poisoning for the past two days. Please pray that God will miraculously heal their bodies immediately.
Thank you for praying for our team… Teri Jackson Kelli Rose Pollin Becky Breznau – Rob Douglass
If you would like to donate towards the South Sudan crisis please click on the support link at the top or bottom of this page. Be sure to write “South Sudan Crisis” in the comment box.
Jul 11, 2016
Thank you all for praying for our team in South Sudan. In our update yesterday we reported that James Nyika was in communication with his sister as she relayed to him that the government helicopter gunship was shooting people in the streets in front of her home. Last night we did not know if she survived. This morning James was able to speak to his sister briefly on the phone. She and hundreds from her neighborhood are hiding in the forest near the capital city. They have actually been holding prayer meetings under the trees with others from her community. Government soldiers are presently patrolling the capital city of Juba with tanks and armored vehicles. Please continue to pray that everybody in the capital will be able to return home soon or safely evacuate.
Our fears of the country slipping into a state of anarchy are becoming more of a reality day by day. Truckloads of food are being hijacked along the main corridors. As a result, our kids will be unable to receive any food. Due to these circumstances it is necessary to move our children out of South Sudan and into the Kakuma Refugee camp in the neighboring country of Kenya.
This morning, with heavy hearts, we said goodbye to James Nyika in Northern Kenya while he entered the war zone to South Sudan in order to determine whether he should evacuate the kids immediately or if he could postpone it for a short while. Please pray that God will give him wisdom in determining when to temporarily close down our elementary school in South Sudan, when to move the children, and then when to reopen the school in Kakuma Refugee camp, in the neighbouring country of Kenya.
Our American team was able to find a flight back to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. We are now safe in the home of Pastor Dave Zavala of Calvary Chapel Nairobi. Rob will spend the next few days coordinating with James as much as possible and the churches in America to best manage this crisis. The ladies will be joining the members of Calvary Nairobi in street evangelism, VBS, and an orphanage outreach.
We would appreciate prayer for our team as some members have been battling stomach sickness.
Thank you for praying for our team… Teri Jackson Kelli Rose Pollin Becky Breznau – Rob Douglass
If you would like to donate towards the South Sudan crisis please click on the support link at the top or bottom of this page. Be sure to write “South Sudan Crisis” in the comment box.
Jul 10, 2016
Our team is safe in Kenya near the Sudan border. We have attempted three times over the last few days to get into South Sudan to be able to minister but have had issues with the small plane and excessive mud and the vehicle breaking which has caused us to have to return back to the Kenyan border. However our team sees God’s hand in the timing of all of this since due to the delay we have been able to connect with the governor of South Sudan who knows our ministry and hopefully will be a help to us if we need to evacuate the Taus children from the school. The fighting has escalated in the capital city of Juba. Our African director, James Nyika, was on the phone this morning with his sister who is in the capital city when an army helicopter began shooting people in the streets. The phone connection was lost and he does not know if she and her children are safe. Please pray that South Sudan’s capital city, Juba, stabilizes quickly and the civil unrest stops. If Juba falls South Sudan will go into anarchy.
Our team is waiting to be flown out of Kenya back to Nairobi. However, the MAF pilots are right now evacuating their staff out of Juba so our team is safe and will wait until we can be flown out.
We may be needing to evacuate the children in our sponsorship program from the school and try to get them across the border to the Kakuma refugee settlement in Kenya. James is putting this plan in motion in case things continue to escalate in Juba and the fighting increases which would make getting food to our children impossible and relocating them the only option. Thank you for your continued prayers for peace in South Sudan and for the safety of all those on the ground.
Thank you for praying for our team… Teri Jackson Kelli Rose Pollin Becky Breznau – Rob Douglass
If you would like to donate towards the South Sudan crisis please click on the support link at the top or bottom of this page.
Be sure to write “South Sudan Crisis” in the comment box.
Feb 15, 2016
Our child sponsorship program is daily nourishing and discipling 200 children. These students are thriving academically and growing in their personal faith.
The Taus boys are leading the schools morning devotions.
Thank you for standing with us.
Yours for the unreached,
Rob Douglass
Founder & President
Ends of the Earth
Feb 13, 2016
Our child sponsorship program is daily nourishing and discipling 200 children. These students are thriving academically and growing in their personal faith.
The Taus boys are leading the students in devotions each morning.
Jan 31, 2016
The people who sat in darkness saw a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned. Matthew 4:16
The Lord has used you this past year, through your co-laboring with Ends of the Earth Ministries, to make an eternal difference in the lives of countless people in South Sudan. God has truly turned many from darkness to light. Let me share with you what your partnership has accomplished in 2015.
In October we were able to finalize our new hospital in South Sudan. This new children’s and maternity ward will save hundreds of lives every month.
During the ceremony a Taposa grandmother stood and told of how entire families were killed as they walked through hostel neighboring tribal land in a desperate search for medicine. Turning to James Nyika she said,”Thank you for coming and saving our lives!” Then she concluded by turning to the crowd and proclaiming, “Help has come.”
In our area 50% of the childern do not live to see their 5th birthday. We are witnessing a drastic reduction of child deaths as we have been providing basic health care and education.
As the Gospel went forth the chief’s eyes were fixed on the speaker as he leaned in and listing intently. The door is beginning to open for the entire tribe to meet Jesus and find freedom from their sin.
The instant there was a lull in the schedule the ladies filled the air with loud celebration as they blew their horns and stomped their feet as they danced around the medical clinic.
Thank you for standing with us.
Yours for the unreached,
Rob Douglass
Founder & President
Ends of the Earth
