Arua 2024

We arrived home safely and are praising the Lord for all that He did in and through us on this mission to Arua.

The team of 4 from the UK plus 2 from South Sudan and a representative of YWAM (Week 1 only) spent 11 nights at the YWAM base in Arua where we were very well looked after.

We ran a 4-day conference and workshop with YWAM DTS students plus some students of the School of Biblical Studies and a few staff members. All were really thankful for the teaching and ministry which they said opened up the bible in a very practical way that enabled them to see things that needed to change in their own lives.

There were some significant testimonies of forgiving some very challenging experiences. It took some of them time to truly engage with forgiveness but once they did, there was joy, freedom from fear and more. Many felt freed from their own sin and from the impact of trauma, loss, abuse, rejection and abandonment. Some had very clear encounters with the Holy Spirit including physical sensations, lifting of burdens, joy and peace. There was some laying down of the desire to retaliate against people who had hurt them.

One of the staff members had received considerable healing through a Flame visit the previous year and she had noticed a significant change in her family. This year she was able to forgive and change her attitude towards men, following many painful experiences of treatment by men. One young man spoke of struggling with sexual sin, including unhelpful dreams, but this stopped during our time with them and he believed he had been freed following the prayers about a defiled spirit. Another lady had felt cold for 2 years, wearing warm clothing even when the weather was hot. On the final day of the conference, following some deep ministry, she came without her cardigan and instead had a lovely light dress on and said she felt warm. Another older lady did some sincere repentance, having recognised unforgiveness and a bitter root judgment she had made against family members.

On the Sunday, we were invited to preach in 3 churches, all with South Sudanese congregations. Two received teaching on forgiveness and one on Father's Love. All 3 were very happy to have us and keen for us to go back again in future. One of the leaders spoke powerfully at the end of the meeting, encouraging his flock to forgive because he felt it was a blockage to his people returning to their land.

We then spent 4 days travelling the 4-hour round trip into Eden Zone 4 of Rhino camp, a long-standing refugee camp for the South Sudanese who have fled due to conflict, some of them on several occasions. We were thrilled that all 50 of the invited delegates turned up, and that it included people from 3 different tribes (Dinka, Bari and Muru) who don't always get on well together and also that there were 10 different churches represented, who again have some significant differences in beliefs. Despite all this, there was good fellowship and the delegates were attentive and generally engaged in all the ministry (mostly from the front) that followed many of the teaching. We also had the opportunity for short individual times of prayer following Healing Human Spirit, Accident and Trauma and Father's love.

The travel was tough for the team since the roads were in very poor condition making it very bumpy as well as hot and dusty. In addition, we had some mechanical problems with the vehicle but, aside from a short delay on a couple of occasions, it did not hold us back. The Lord was clearly at work and we had some wonderful testimonies.

• Twenty three people who had been struggling with poor sleep before our visit all said they had slept well during our time with them and twelve stood up and gave detailed testimony.
• One man recognised, after hearing the teaching, how he had been verbally abusing his young son. He went home and called his son over, but the boy initially cowered in fear and was reluctant to go to his father. However, he invited the boy to watch videos with him on a phone and the boy's attitude and demeanor had changed and both were happy.
• One lady had been planning to divorce her husband who had mental health problems but she forgave him and changed her mind about the divorce.
• One elderly preacher was thinking that it was better to die because he could no longer read his bible due to poor eyesight, but he received freedom from fear and some healing in his eyes.
• One lady had lost contact, several years earlier, with her in-laws and one of her daughters. After she forgave them, she had phone calls from them both the day before the conference ended!

The team are so thankful for all those who prayed, sent messages, scriptures and pictures and all the team members felt that they had been transformed in some way by the mission too. It was a privilege to see the Lord do extraordinary things that only He can do to heal, transform and set free.