The Women’s Ministry of Akot Christian Ministries
“If we want our country to change we have to work very hard and never be idle”, Deborah exhorts her Christian sisters. This is a very prominent theme among our Dinka sisters in and around Akot, South Sudan, despite the civil war and tribal fighting that surrounds them. It has been amazing to watch the transformation taking place among the women. The original group of 25 ladies in 2007 has multiplied to 368 ladies in 6 different groups meeting in various neighboring villages. In the beginning we were advised that the ladies will not come to a meeting, “they are far too busy at home, and a women’s meeting has never happened here”. These group meetings have become the highlight of their lives.
The women in our remote villages do not read, but they are intelligent and have keen memories. They are eager to learn and they treasure all teaching. The ladies do not merely hear and discuss the weekly Bible story, they practice it until they know it perfectly before leaving the group session. Story cloths and picture posters remind them of the chronological order of the stories. Health lessons are learned by using the same process.
Dinka love to sing and dance, so every meeting is very lively. They add the new Bible story in song to the previous ones, making the Bible one long story song. Their assignment for the week is to tell others their new story. They literally do “tell of His works with songs of joy”. Ps. 107:22
Many of our women now have jobs and small businesses of their own, such as goat rearing, dress making, and repairing water pumps. Some are cooks and others are female chaplains at our primary schools. The Women of Hope, as they call themselves, are well respected in their communities, but more importantly, they respect themselves. Their husbands are proud of them, and their “children arise and call them blessed”. Pr 31:28.
Thank you so much for investing in the lives of these precious women. In turn they are making kingdom difference in the lives of their families and in their communities.
Yin ca leec (Dinka for thank you)
Nhialic abi thiei (Dinka for God bless you),
Mama Ayen