poem for the Day of the African Child

This poem was recited by the children of Iris Ministries Dream Primary School on the Day of the African Child, a day of awareness about the plight of children. We're not sure who the author is, but it's very poignant and expresses well the pain and plea of the children of Sudan and other war-torn nations:

“War. War. War. Where do you come from?

You destroy education, property, the whole nation.

You are a killer!

War. War. War. Your work is destruction, destruction, destruction.

You make us fear. You bring worries, sorrows, crying, and death.

Children, Children, Children. Oh my dear children. What can we do?

We are left without parents, education, food, clothes.

Who can help us?

I thank God for kind people, NGOs, churches, and government for their concern for us.

Good news to the people of South Sudan. Parents, NGOs, and government.

From now forever, say no to war.

We need peace, unity, happiness, education, and development in our nation, South Sudan.

Say no to war. No to war. No to war. No to war.”

Nuba - conflict and God's heart

a few weeks ago, fighting and bombing broke out in the Nuba Mountains, located in North Sudan in a region called South Kordofan. even though Nuba belongs to the North, many of the people fought for the southern army during the civil war and many are allied with South Sudan in their hearts. they don't want to be under an Arab government, but they don't have a choice. the government gave an order for all southern-allied forces in Nuba to disarm, which created tension and led to fighting on the ground. then bombs started being dropped, and are still dropping, where about 70,000 people have been forced to flee as refugees.

3 of our boys - Malik, Kafi, Kizito - are from Nuba. their families are residing there. they were so distressed the day it began...angry, afraid, disillusioned. Malik heard talk of the people having to flee to the caves for shelter. he remembers doing this as a 9-year old boy, and how horrible it was. they hadn't been been able to get in contact with their families and were just hearing of attacks near their villages, waiting almost in anticipation to hear a report of a loved one's death. i sat with them for hours that night, wept, feeling their burden like it was my own. these guys have become my brothers, and i really felt like this suffering was happening to my family.

i felt God awakening my heart again. i used to feel the burden of the Lord for the poor and suffering so strong and just weep for hours in intercession. i'm starting to feel that again, and even though it hurts, i'm glad for it. i want to feel His heart for the poor, weep with Him, and call down His power to turn it all around.

the week of the beginnings of the Nuba conflict, and while my friend and i have been praying hard, i was teaching at a youth conference in town. a girl walked up to me and said "My name is Laughter." she was from Nuba. a few days later, a young man stood out to me in my class. i saw Jesus in Him and felt he was special. i met him the next day. he was also from Nuba. it was such a kiss from the Lord, encouragement that He was hearing our prayers and moving. please keep praying for Nuba, and our boys.