FLAME Teaching, Praying and Serving in South Sudan
Flame International team leader and trustee Valerie Batchelor shares a summary and some favourite highlights of her time in Aweil, South Sudan.
“We have been out in Aweil, South Sudan running conferences and workshops for fifty pastors and leaders on trauma healing. Having trained these leaders, they are now responsible for taking this out to their communities. We spent time in the churches on Sunday, preaching about forgiveness and inviting the people to choose to forgive; many chose to forgive and 3 people gave their lives to Jesus. We then held a one-day conference for seventy one very vulnerable women, ministering into them, speaking the love of Jesus into their spirits. We focused on emotional healing from the trauma they had suffered, teaching and prayer with them. Next we spent time with the governor and prayed for him as a country leader. Then we went into the Aweil prison. Two hundred and fifty prisoners gathered to join our meetings. We spent three hours with them, teaching and praying with them. We prayed for healing for them, we saw God move in wonderful ways. Then we had a whole day in the army barracks; that was amazing. Again, we did much teaching and praying. We were able to get them to pray, confess their sins and choose to forgive. We again saw wonderful and amazing healings.
As a retired military officer with the British Army, working in the army barracks was an obvious highlight for me. It always brings me great joy to minister to soldiers. We had a number of salvations in the army barracks; we saw people give their lives to Jesus and experienced the Lord healing them. For me, I loved working with the vulnerable; the soldiers, the prisoners, the ladies. I love to have a day with the ladies. They come into the meetings with their heads down and their souls’ crushed. But they go out singing hallelujah because the Lord has done wonderful things for them.
We’ve had a wonderful time here and we are really grateful to MAF. We are in partnership with MAF Uganda; MAF have been flying us into South Sudan since 2005. We would not have been able to get to Aweil safely and quickly had you guys not flown us here. We just love you lots and it’s good to be in partnership with you. Bless you MAF.”
Additional Testimonies:
One pastor was healed of swelling and restricted movement all down the side of his body. Another who was shot 20 years ago whilst serving in the SPLA, was healed of all the pain in his body, hand and foot as the trauma was lifted off.
A woman pastor whose disabled father had been burnt alive when his home was torched, and he could not escape. After they buried him, she had pain in her joints at night and couldn’t sleep well. She forgave them and the next day returned to say that she had slept that night without pain.
A woman put all her pain at the foot of the Cross and unburdened herself from the many many things that been worrying her, she now feels as though she is full of hope. She has also suffered from stomach pain for many years and now the pain has completely disappeared as she put the pain on the Cross. She also feels as though her fear has gone.
