REACHING OUT TO KAPOETA

Stories out of South Sudan, from missionaries Filip and Magdalena.

Church Planting

Kapoeta is a relatively recent ministry location for the Sudan Pentecostal Church and while the medical team were busy at the hospital, Missionaries Filip and Magdalena had a list of things they wanted to achieve at the church compound.

‘SBC decided to create a base in Kapoeta a few years ago because there are a lot of unreached people groups in the area. With the help of the partner in Sweden, they negotiated to get this land to build the compound, so that they could start the church and develop the area through the church,’ Filip explains.

The first buildings went up in 2018-19 just before covid temporarily put development on hold.

Filip and Magdalena arrived in South Sudan in

September 2021. In February, they made their first trip to Kapoeta hear from the church community how they wanted to develop their church. The church building, currently without a roof, is the centre piece of a vision for outreach. ‘We’re building a multipurpose building, that can be used for lots of different activities as well as for church on Sundays, of course,’ Filip says. ‘SPC’s aim is to build the kingdom of God -but with the gospel, we also need to bring development, train people and raise awareness about a lot of different things. As they develop the facilities, they need to secure the compound – a huge but necessary project as Filip explains. ‘To enclose the 500m2 compound we’ll need, 2000 meters – that’s two whole kilometers of fence, 900 fence posts and 110 rolls of fencing,’ Filip laughs, seemingly undaunted by the scale of the task. The significant cost has been generously met by friends back in Sweden along with the cost of a welding machine.

Mercy Of God

The ladies in the church, had already started reaching out to the local community when Filip and Magdalena met them in February. The couple are keen to help develop their work.

‘Mercy of God Women’s Group are amazing,’ Magdalene says. ‘When we met them for the first time, The they told us they had started going to the hospital to pray for people. The patients would ask the ladies for things like food and soap. The ladies told us how they’d wanted to help, but didn’t have any money to give these things, so they started growing things they could sell to buy soap. They started doing agriculture as a way of raising money for their mission at the hospital.’

Magdalena explains more about the need for training amongst these remarkable ladies who will be the first to benefit from the training.

‘Agriculture is not really a part of the local culture at all. The people here are pastoralists (goat and cattle herders), but some of the ladies came to Kapoeta from outside.’

Filip expands on the preparation and plans they have made. ‘We have set aside a 100-meter square plot on the church compound for agricultural training and have about 35 women signed up for the first training which will be delivered by trainers from ACROSS, a South Sudanese Christian NGO. ACROSS have this method successfully in Lotimor and are happy that we’re going to do it in Kapoeta too.’

Better agriculture practices will help improve crop yields, diet and standard of living for local people - as well as supporting the church’s mission. Cash generated from selling surplus crops can be used for medical and school fees or reinvested as Magdalena explains. ‘The training is not just about agriculture, it’s also about business. When they start harvesting, they can create like saving groups to give each other loans to expand and invest.’

Building Up The Body Of Christ

To ensure that agriculture is successful, Filip and Magdalena are tackling the all-important issue of water. At the top of their task list, is sinking a new borehole to supplement the existing handpump and borehole which doesn’t give much water. Even with these two water sources, they anticipate needing extra, and will meet this by erecting a water tower where rainwater from the compound’s roofs can be harvested and stored.

Additionally, Filip says he plans to adopt a method for agriculture, good for drought areas (taught by ACROSS), where you fill a deep hole with compost or absorbent material that will retain the rainfall to water crops. Water is also key future plans to make the compound a launchpad for mission activities reaching into the surrounding area. ‘In the future we may start a clinic in the compound, we’ll need water for showering and food and would like to share some water with the community too.’

Keeping The Church Connected

The MAF plane serves Kapoeta twice a week with a regular service which enables churches like SPC to support projects without giving too much thought to safety as they travel around. MAF provides an everyday service to meet everyday needs - enabling Filip and Magdalena to stay connected and resource their growing ministry with things like the generator, new motorbike and toolkit that will help them work more efficiently and grow organically over time.

by armed bandits who drive livestock into the path of oncoming traffic, forcing them to stop. Bandits rarely steal the vehicle. Most cannot drive. But they often kill the local driver, who if he can recognise the thieves. A tragedy is played out for handful of cash and a couple of mobile phones. ‘The scenery in some places is magnificent,’ shares Magdalena Waern, giving an account of her recent overland trip from Juba to Kapoeta With husband Filip Lidstrom. She was struck by the colours as she passed through rural villages with their traditional tukul homes. ‘It was really, really green which contrasts with the red, red roads you’re driving on. The mountains on the horizon are like deep blue because of the early morning light, with the tops of mountains shrouded in white clouds.

‘It’s so beautiful. And the same time, you’re thinking, there could be someone hiding on these hills about to shoot us. As we drove, I was trying

The Risky Road To Kapoeta

A main road connects the Kapoeta with the Torit and the capital Juba. On a good day, it takes just seven hours although the journey is not without its risks.

Kapoeta in Eastern Equatoria is a crossroads. A place where development and gospel resources arrive by road from nearby Kenya on the way to Juba or carried into the countryside via a network of winding tracks. These are some of the most insecure roads in the country. Missionaries and church leaders ministering in the town, do so, despite the very real risks.

Vehicles travelling on the main road from Juba, drive fast and in convoy, to reduce the risk posed not to think so much about it,’ she says. The risk became a reality last year when engineer friend, was shot by bandits whilst travelling on the road. He escaped because he kept on driving all the way to the hospital in Kapoeta where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the leg. Bandits aren’t the only challenge facing road travellers, who don’t always have a good alternative. On this occasion Filip and Magdalena needed their car. The rain that makes the landscape so lush and beautiful washes away the murram surface, causing potholes that can be hard to avoid. In an area where it’s best to keep moving, breaking down, can lead to more than inconvenience and delay.

‘It is 3 hours to Torit and then four hours to Kapoeta if you go fast. We were trying to go as fast as we could because of the risk of robberies,’ Filip explained. The South Sudanese colleagues who accompanied them on their road trip didn’t think it advisable for the couple to drive back alone. ‘The leadership wouldn’t let us travel back by car. On the way back we flew with MAF and someone brought the car back a few days later with another convoy,’ Filip explains.

A few months later a motorbike purchased in Juba, was loaded onto another MAF flight, along with a generator and a tool kit to help them with the next phase of building their church. Two wheels will help them get around Kapoeta – but from now on they will fly from Juba by plane.

Caring For Kapoeta

training school’ shares Magdalena, a trained psychologist and long-term missionary, serving with Pentecostal Church of Sudan.

Magdalena explains how, on their first visit Kapoeta a few years ago, the team visited the hospital where they discovered that the training school, which offers a 3-year training course for aspiring nurses and midwives, didn’t have any teachers or tutors. The team set to work sharing their professional knowledge with the students. They have made two further visits since, and even continued during covid by videoing their teaching in a studio in Sweden. The videos are a good tool because you don’t have to be physically there and they can be re-used’ Magdalena said.

Paramedic Daniel Steen, nurse Marie Hubsch, Midwives Helen Lindberg, and Carin Boij and Roland Boij a gynaecologist and obstetrician, travelled from Nairobi to Lokkichogio where the plane from MAF South Sudan carried them on their final leg.

The team of medical professionals from the Pentecost Church Jönköping took time-off from their day jobs in Sweden to join the two-week outreach led by Missionaries Filip Lidstrom and Magdalena Waern who shared an account of the outreach.

‘The visiting medical mission team came to tutor and train the students at Kapoeta State Hospital’s

The team were glad to be back, meeting in person again. ‘On this visit, the team were kept busy teaching seminars every day. The teaching was both theoretical and practical. The team brought training equipment including dolls and models for simulating births, for measuring cervix expansion and resuscitation dolls to practice infant CPR.’ The students benefited from the skills and expertise of a variety of specialisms including gynaecology, emergency medicine and public health. They learn from practical demonstrations, drama and group work sessions during which they are encouraged to discuss what they are learning in the classroom.

‘As well as teaching the medical students, some team members pitched in to help with regular hospital work, while others in the team did community health training for church members. They taught about what makes us sick, how bacteria, viruses and parasites enter the body and how we can avoid becoming sick by keeping good hygiene,’ Magdalena explains. At the end of the fortnight the team jumped back on the MAF planes happy with all that had been achieved. ‘It was incredibly fun to see how things have improved at the hospital since 2020 when we were last there,’ Paramedic Daniel Steen reflects. ‘The school has evolved a lot. There is hope and a future for the people of South Sudan even though the road is long.’

‘The MAF flights where very good, we got to fly with a Caravan. The Cessna planes are small. It is bumpy in the air. Despite this we all felt safe and had complete trust in the pilots and staff. Before 2020 we always got to Lotimor and Kapoeta by road. To fly with MAF is safe and saves a lot of time and means we can plan to carry a lot of stuff we need, which is good.’