Baptists in South Sudan are ministering to refugees and internally displaced persons amid increasing violence in the African nation.
The civil war, begun in 2013, has caused 1.5 million to flee to neighboring countries and displaced 2.1 million, according to U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson William Spindler.
“The Baptist convention of South Sudan is trying to respond by giving relief and starting churches to help in counseling the trauma cases, but we still appeal for support and prayers,” Edward Dima, pastor of First Baptist Church Kajo-Keji and president of the Baptist Convention of South Sudan, told EthicsDaily.com
Dima regularly visits refugee camps in Uganda, bringing food and medical supplies supplied by the convention, and offering pastoral care.
Speaking of his hometown Dima said, “The entire city [of Kajo-Keji] is deserted, and people killed and ladies raped and burned after raping them.”
Dima shared with EthicsDaily.com, “There’s ten of thousands refugee that have crossed the border … to Moyo, Uganda.”
The U.N.’s Spindler said, “South Sudan is now Africa’s largest refugee crisis and the world’s third after Syria and Afghanistan – with less attention and chronic levels of underfunding.”
Editor’s note: Previous EthicsDaily.com articles related to South Sudan can be found here. Pictures from South Sudan provided by Dima are available here. A 2015 EthicsDaily.com video interview with Dima can be viewed here.
