Apr 27, 2012
The elderly African chief said to native missionary James Nyika, “We are the Tauso people; our name means “the forgotten”. I never thought our children would have a chance to be educated, but since you have come, we now have hope. Our children are learning to read English and Swahili. You have brought us teachers. You have brought us dignity. You have given our children a future.” Because of your love and support, Ends of the Earth missionaries are now living among this once forgotten tribe. The elders value the education they bring, and through this opened door into their lives, missionaries are sharing the love of Christ among the tribe’s 500 members.
I stood among the group of children, and listened to them call out answers to simple addition problems which had been drawn with a stick on the ground. Though they had no desks, paper or pencils, they had an eagerness to learn. Their classroom was the shade of an acacia tree; their “chalkboard” was the dirt floor. As I looked into each smiling face, I looked into a young soul who was learning that Jesus made and loved each one of them. In them, the future of this once unreached tribe looked bright with hope.
Feb 2, 2012
Last year, two large tribes fought a deadly battle in front of the little Tauso Village that our Ends of the Earth missionaries minister in. The sound of machine-guns fired in every direction and people ran for their lives. The Tauso adults fled to mountain slopes to find shelter in the rocks; abandoning the children in the care of their Sudanese school teacher, Robert, and other Ends of the Earth native missionaries. As the week progressed, continued reports of people falling victim to revenge killings in the vicinity caused the entire tribe to permanently abandon their make shift tent village and flee for refuge to the top of the mountain. James Nyika, EEM’s Sudan director, began a tireless effort to gain approval from the governing officials to build a school dormitory for the kids in a safe location. Through the prayers and sacrificial gifts of the body of Christ, the “Promise Child Dorm” was recently opened providing school and a new home for the Tauso kids.
Hope and Tragedy
With hearts overflowing with joy at the news of the long awaited school dormitory, the Tauso kids immediately gathered what little possessions they owned and set off on the difficult journey from their mountain hiding place to the rendezvous location near their old village. Their three day journey down the mountain began without any incidents. Unfortunately, just before they arrived at the meeting place to board the one-ton truck that would carry them to a new home, the group crossed paths with cattle raiders. Suddenly, they found themselves face to face with fierce men carrying AK-47s strapped around their shoulders. These raiders shoot and kill any one that can identify them because stealing cattle is punishable by death. In the panic and chaos, children ran screaming, cattle stampeded, and men shouted as they raised their weapons and chose their targets. Just days before he was to arrive at his new home and future filled with opportunity, one of the young Tauso boys was shot and died of his wounds on the side of the mountain. Overwhelmed by fear and in shock, nearly thirty of the younger children returned to their refuge at the top of the mountain. After several months of searching, James was able to locate twenty youth who had scattered after the violence to surrounding villages.
Arriving at the New Promise Child Dorm
“Who can belief this? We have our own beds!”
As they rounded the corner, the children’s dreams became reality as their eager faces peered out of the truck and got a first look at their new home and school. Some touched the concrete structure, and wondered at the building since all they had known before was a home made of mud and sticks. Wide grins spread across the children’s faces as James opened the door to the dorm rooms and the children saw beds. On top of each mattress they found school uniforms, new shoes and folded bedding. Because of your support, these precious children wake up each day knowing that they are in a safe environment, will have three good meals, a Christian education and have missionaries who daily love and disciple them.
The new dorm and supplies were donated by EEM’s partnering ministry Promise Child
James is doing all he can to facilitate safe passage for the children who are still on the mountain. Please pray that all of these children will be able to join the other students and begin a new life.
Dancing with joy in their new home
Get Involved And Make An Eternal Difference
Recently a large group of Taposa men attacked our chief medical officers home. He responded with God’s love and total forgiveness. As a result we are witnessing God soften the hearts of many unreached Taposa. Please consider financially supporting the medical clinic and help our native missionaries bring God’s love to these desperate people.
We have almost reached our goal. We still need to raise $500 per month to supply the medicines and native missionary medical staff essential to show the tangible love of God to these lost and hurting people.
You can save a life by giving $0.50 per day.
By sponsoring for just $15 per month, you can come alongside those who are the hands and feet of Jesus and impact people that are hearing the Gospel for the first time.
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Apr 30, 2005
Karuna lay in the hospital bed dejected. The words of a friend echoed in his mind, stabbing at his heart and leaving him hopeless: “You are paying for your sins from your previous life. This is your karma. It would be better for you to die than to live like this.”
At the age of six, Karuna contracted a disease that caused him to go blind. Being born to an extremely poor family, in a remote village in Sri Lanka, he had no hope. In his early teens, his family sent him to a government funded school for the blind. Their visits became less frequent and after a few years he found himself completely abandoned by his loved ones. Upon graduation, he did not want to be a burden to anyone and looked for some kind of employment. He found a job working in a coconut factory removing the husk from the coconuts. He made just enough money to survive day to day. After a few years working in the factory he had a horrible accident. He was seated on the back of a very large truck with his legs hanging off the back. Since he could not see, he did not know that the truck driver was backing straight into a coconut tree. One of his legs was completely crushed between the steel truck and the tree. He was sent to the hospital to have it amputated just above the knee. Unknown to him at the time, that hospital stay would mark a turning point that would change his life forever.
Resting in the bed next to him was a Christian man named Jude. Over the next several weeks, Jude and those who came to visit him told Karuna about Jesus Christ and the salvation He offered. They encouraged him that even though it seemed that everything was against him, the one true God loved him. Their words seemed to bounce off of Kaurna’s hardened heart. Secretly, he was planning to commit suicide once he was discharged. The day he was released, the Christians prayed for him. Jude handed Karuna his home address, and once again reassured Him of God’s love.
Though he contemplated it many times, thankfully Karuna did not follow through with his plan to commit suicide. Not long after Karuna left the hospital God provided an artificial leg through a goodhearted businessman. He spent the next eight years as a homeless man surviving by begging on the streets. Some urged him to turn to alcohol to help ease his suffering. The words he heard from the Christians in the hospital never left his mind. At a very low point, he again contemplated suicide, but decided instead to visit those Christians he had met eight years earlier. He gathered what little money he had and purchased a bus ticket and traveled 50 miles to find Jude. He arrived at brother Jude’s house on a Sunday afternoon. Jude was shocked and praised God to see Karuna after all of those years. The following Sunday, Karuna gave his heart to Jesus. On the way home from church he said, “I felt something happening to me. Before I came here, I felt trapped inside my mind. Now that feeling is gone and I have a new hope.”
Immediately Karuna began sharing his testimony with everyone he met. Those that hear him are captivated by the joy and hope they see in the face of this blind and crippled man.
Karuna quickly developed a deep thirst to study the Bible. God opened the door for him to attend the Gospel for Asia Bible College where I teach. Through another ministry, God has provided a Braille Bible in Karuna’s native language, Sinhala. He is doing great. Recently I sat with him in his dormitory room and with a huge smile on his face, and joy pouring out of him; he showed me how he was able to take notes in Braille. He is not concerned with what he cannot do. Instead, he is giving his all to what he can do. His only concern is sharing the life changing message of the love of Jesus with anyone who will listen. Karuna lives in a country that is home to 19 million people that are still waiting to hear that they can be saved through Jesus Christ. God is using a man with earthly limitations to bring his eternal hope and love to countless lost souls.
Karuna is a wonderful example of the true Christian that is living a life of simple faith.
“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:35
- Please pray for Karuna as he finishes his second year in Bible college.
- Please pray for those who are still waiting to hear that Jesus loves them. Pray their eyes will be opened, and that they will turn to the only God.
Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.”
