By Melissa Nordell —
“Behold, I will heal this city and its people, and restore them to health. And I will show them abundant peace and security”. (Jeremiah 33:6)
Many Christian mission agencies who bring medical aid also bring the truth about our Savior Jesus Christ. When people are healed, it brings heightened trust to the medical practitioners who bring the Good News.
At the SIM Clinic in Doro, South Sudan, all people looking for medical care are given the gospel story along with prayer during their visits. And in recent months, this clinic has had amazing breakthroughs.
A Muslim man named Muhammad came to the clinic in Doro recently from Khartoum. He had previously traveled to Darfur and saw Muslims killing Muslims and had become traumatized by what he witnessed. He questioned why Muslims were killing other Muslims but could not find any answers. And how could Allah be pleased with brothers killing brothers?
He decided to come to the clinic where he heard preaching by chaplains while patients were waiting for care. He visited Chaplain Zacharia’s office, who happened to be a former Muslim.
Muhammed had been troubled by terrible dreams for five days, so he asked for prayer and to understand more about God’s love and the Bible. He then learned about Jesus coming to earth to save him. He was amazed to hear that Jesus does not take revenge and is the God of love.
Zacharia then showed Muhammed the Jesus film; and after the film was over, he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and was born again.
Muhammed returned to the clinic recently and reported that he now attends church regularly.
In another case, Mary Phillip, 30, was doing her chores at her home in Shetta when one of the clinic promoters, Ann Ketta, visited there. Mary is married and a Christian. Her home is three hours walking distance from SIM Doro Maternity clinic.
Ann noted Mary was pregnant, so she inquired about whether she had started attending any prenatal clinic. Mary responded that she had not gone to any clinic and had no plan to do so. This was her sixth pregnancy, and she was currently in her seventh month. She also reported that she had five previous pregnancies, had never attended prenatal clinics, and delivered all her babies in the bush near her home.
Ann advised Mary about the benefits of seeking skilled prenatal services and mentioned to her the services offered at SIM Doro. Finally, Mary decided the idea of visiting the health clinic was good and planned a visit.
During Mary’s pregnancy well-being assessment at the clinic, the midwife assistant realized Mary had more than one baby when she heard two different heartbeats. They were suspecting a twin pregnancy but after basic obstetric ultrasound scanning, it was confirmed that she was expecting triplets!
Mary recently came for her sixth week post-natal visit to the clinic. Her mother and sister helped her to carry the infants in their long walk to the clinic. The clinic nurse midwife says: “We Pray that she will know Christ more and bring up her children in the same faith. We pray that she will trust skilled health services and always seek these services when needed. We pray that God will provide resources to lessen the burden while bringing up the triplets plus five other children.” If it was not for the SIM clinic, the triplets and mother might not have survived birthing in the bush.
Another person being helped at the clinic is Abraham, once an unhappy young man who had been generally unwell for 10 years and suffered from epilepsy. He did not work and at night he engaged in stealing from market shopkeepers and frequently became drunk. His father is a believer in Christ and often invited him to go to church, but Abraham refused.
Finally, after months of praying, he did agree to go but when it came time for the offering, he was scared because he felt God would not accept his offering since the money came from stealing. He continued to steal until he came to the clinic and heard preaching about Jesus Christ, then choose to accept Him as his Savior and Lord. He was given an audio Bible and started attending church regularly. He recently returned to Doro clinic to tell Chaplain Zacharia that he was in good health, to thank him and tell him of his changed life.
Miriam was a Muslim woman living near Chaplain Zacharia’s church. She lived close enough to hear the congregation worshipping during services. Miriam would even bring them cups of water to drink. She became sick and had a dream one night where Jesus appeared to her and said: “Come with me and walk with me.” In the dream, she walked with Jesus, then knelt before Him. She said it was like a video was playing, watching the life of Jesus beginning with the angel coming to Mary telling her that she was pregnant.
In the dream, Miriam saw Jesus growing up, then going to the Cross. Next, she saw two groups of people wanting to fight which made her afraid. Jesus touched her legs and helped her to stand in the dream. At this point, her husband woke her to ask what was wrong. He decided to call Zacharia to their house to help his wife. Zacharia came and prayed for her. Miriam began attending the church, but her husband still holds to the Muslim religion.
Another woman named Mary who is a believer in Jesus came to the clinic because she was unable to bear children. In her ethnic tradition this brings problems, and her father-in-law would be unhappy because he had to pay many cows for her dowry, expecting grandchildren. The clinic healthcare worker recognized that she was suicidal, so she was brought to Pastor Bulus for counseling. There, he reminded her about the life of Hannah in the Old Testament who had the same struggle. When she prayed to God, He answered her prayers. Mary confessed that she had stopped praying and going to church. Mary then agreed to resume her prayer life, return to church, and has asked her church to pray that God will open her womb.
The clinic staff continue to pray for patients and minister peace in the community. Most importantly, the aim of the clinic staff is to not only have individuals who come through the clinic doors find medical treatment, but also to find peace through knowing Christ.
The clinic chaplains have taken time to counsel and share the Word of God to the patients. One of the main challenges to this is the trauma individuals have experienced in their past, abject poverty, and tribal fighting. The clinic staff recently underwent a refresher course on trauma healing. This was meant to better equip the staff with knowledge and skills on how best to deal with trauma at a personal level as well as how to offer this avenue of healing to patients and community members that may have gone through similar suffering.
Clinics like this one in South Sudan continue to minister to the body and soul, bringing many to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
To learn more about SIM’s clinic in South Sudan, go here
