The last three months in Africa have been filled with illnesses and sicknesses that the Pierce family has never encountered stateside--funky, not-so-familiar names like Giardia, Amoebic Dysentery, and now Brucellosis. As painful and inconvenient as these yucky bugs are, they pale in comparison to the suffering around us.
My heart breaks when I see children walking around with poorly healed limbs, now debilitated, because they had to lie in bed while their bones healed improperly without a cast. Malnourished children, thyphoid, and tuberculosis are common. Men, women, and children die of unknown diseases, malnutrition, and complications that can’t be resolved.
I see the terrible suffering of these people each day. I want to do more. I want to give more. And maybe the Lord is asking me to. When I put it before the Lord, I can’t help but see a bigger picture.
As long as governments continue to worship the idols of power and wealth, and their allegiance is not to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords--wars and famine will happen. Medical development and farming will be limited due to instability and corruption. More and more people will die. Displacement and instability will limit access to basic medical care and sanitary living conditions.
Near the refugee camps in Ethiopia, housing is scarce. Families pile other displaced family members into their mudhuts, so when one person gets sick, everyone gets sick. I am brought to tears as tragedy continues to unfold before me. But the answer isn’t better healthcare. BILLIONS of Billions of dollars are sent to countries just like South Sudan every year to help save lives and improve access to healthcare. Why isn’t the aid working? We know the answer. This battle is not against flesh and blood.
Why would we invest two years or more of our lives here unless we had hope? Hope that we might have the opportunity to serve, love, and disciple a few South Sudanese men and women. Hope that those who don’t know Him might come to know our only hope, Christ Jesus. Hope that those who DO know Christ as Lord might be encouraged that, despite the suffering and sorrow they are enduring, they are born again into a living hope that cannot be destroyed by war or famine.
Please join us in prayer for South Sudan. For the leaders. For the soldiers. For the widows. For the orphans. For the dying. For the lost.
God has us here for a reason. Despite the sadness and grief that we see and experience here, we are blessed to be here. We are blessed to war in prayer for this nation, for these people, and to gather you with us in this fight. Thank you for your support.
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.”
Ephesians 6: 11-12
