Our Mission and the Pibor Conflict

We've heard concerns from many friends for the safety of our mission team. The Pibor Conflict, which has resulted in 5,000 civillian casualties in South Sudan, has many of our friends concerned. Please pray for the people of the Pibor region during this difficult time. Kent Lutheran's team will be working in a Nuer region of South Sudan, with the Gajaak Nuer clan in Upper Nile State. The aggressors in the Pibor Conflict were the Lou Nuer, a different clan, in the Jonglei State. The tribal war in Jonglei between the Lou Nuer and Murle tribes is about grazing terrority and power, and predates the country's civil war. In fact, the conflict dates to the 1920s according to Peter Manyang, our team's resident newshound, who originally comes from Jonglei State. He assures us that the Lou Nuer and Murle borders do not cross state lines. Remember, in independence, the state and local governments stayed intact, and transferred only national allegiance, so state governments are aware of these regional conflicts. Crossing a state border would be catastrophic for any aggressor. Also, Peter reports that by 4x4, the Pibor Region is a four-day drive from our mission site in Upper Nile, and the Lou Nuer are not using vehicles. (Click the map above to enlarge). For safety-purposes, our team is registering with the US State Departments' STEP program, including latitude and longitute of our camp, and radio signals. We'll also be close enough to cross the National border to Ethiopia if any conflict were to arise, our team could evacuate in under one day. Even with these assurances of safety, we covet your prayers for health, safety and peace in South Sudan.

Shoe Drive "Kickoff" September 23-24, 2011

Your recycled shoes provide jobs and usable footwear in Africa, additionally wholesalers buy these shoes from our collections, so your donation of unwanted shoes actually funds our mission team's trip to Sudan to provide clean water systems!

Drop off your used shoes between 10:00-5:00pm on Friday September 23 and 24th, or until 1:00pm on Sunday to help us "kickoff" our team's fundraising efforts.

Kent Lutheran Church

336 2nd Avenue

Kent WA 98032

If you can't drop your shoes that day, email or call us for a list of collection sites or to arrange pickup. Collection sites will be open until late November and will be posted here.

Contact: Jessc098@gmail.com or Jessica Ward 253-350-5427.

Short-Term Warehouse Space Needed

Friends,

Our mission team is in need of some short-term warehouse space and access to a loading dock. We hope to cover part of the team's travel expenses via a used-shoe drive. (Used shoes are collected here, and sold wholesale to micro-businesses in Africa and Central America). However, we can only make this happen if we have a place to stage the shoes for the shipping container we have to fill. (If we can fill one container, we will raise $10,000 for our team!).

Here's what we need:

1. Flat floor space in a warehouse in Western WA (Kent/Renton/Auburn preferred), sufficient to mimic the inside of a shipping container (8' wide, 9' tall, and 50' long). We do not need heating or air conditioning.

2. Access at least weekly (on your schedule is fine) to add more shoes to our "collection."

3. Access to a loading dock and forklift (your operator, or our certified operator) for the day of loading the container.

4. Space available until the end of November, 2011.

Here's what we can offer:

1. Credit for a tax-deductible in-kind contribution to a registered 501(c)3.

2. Only responsible, screened individuals with access to your space.

3. We will leave the space in better condition than we got it--clean and tidy, and in good repair.

4. Insurance if necessary.

5. Our eternal and undying thanks.

If you or someone you know has commercial warehouse space available, please let Jessica Ward know at 253-350-5427 or jessc098@gmail.com.

For more information about our mission and mission team, learn about our South Sudan repatriation efforts here.

Image credit: Bill Longshaw

Sewing

Many of our South Sudanese brothers and sisters have wanted to learn how to sew, to take that skill to South Sudan. Treadle (pedal power) sewing machines are available there, and we hope to make a microbusiness out of locally-making mosquito nets. Mosquito nets are very expensive and an absolutely necessary supply to prevent Malaria.

Six members of our congregation attended a sewing class at SewUp Seattle to learn to sew on June 25th.