A letter from Nancy McGaughey in South Sudan
February 2013
“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24).
“Now you will be a REAL missionary.” That’s what one person told me soon after I arrived in Pibor. I am not sure just what I have been all these years, but finally I am a real missionary. I wonder what it takes to become a "real" missionary—is it straining out the ants (dead of course) from your boiled drinking water? Still struggling with language even after rats eat your Murle flashcards? Cooking your meals and boiling drinking water on a charcoal cooker? Falling back asleep after being awakened by gunshots? Rats using the top of your mosquito net as a race track?
I am meeting many people who have stories to share—stories of hardship, suffering, faith, endurance and love for God. One such person is 20-year-old Milka. Milka is from a village across the river from Pibor. She grew up in a strong Christian family. Her parents taught her to love and depend upon God. At the age of 16 she married into a strong Christian family and continued to grow in her faith. She and her husband had a son. When the baby was 7 months old, rumors began to spread that her village was going to be attacked by a neighboring tribe. The entire family moved to the cattle camp. Two days later the neighboring tribe came, looting and taking cattle. People were running to the army barracks for protection. As Milka ran, carrying her little boy, she was surrounded and separated from the rest of the family. Soon she and her son, along with the rest of those captured and the cattle began the walk back. Milka says her abductors treated them well, the walk wasn’t too strenuous, and they were given food and water. She wasn’t afraid but prayed to God for strength and courage. “Lord,” she prayed, “if it is Your will for me to be the wife of someone from this tribe, then so be it. But You must give the strength to do so. And if it is Your will to return me to my people, then I will be very happy.” During the first week of the march, one of the captors took her son and killed him as she watched.
They continued walking for about a month, finally reaching the village of Nasir. Milka was given to the man who had killed her baby. He took her to the house of his first wife. After some days, he came to that house. “I have come to make you my wife,” he said. “I can’t marry you,” Milka replied. “If you wanted me to be your wife, you should not have killed my son. I cannot marry someone who killed my son.” The man had a gun with him and started to shoot Milka. She lunged to the side, hurting her leg but escaping the bullet. Another man in the house was struck by the bullet. Her captor was arrested and taken to jail. A few nights later Milka managed to escape and find her way to the army barracks. There she found soldiers from her tribe. They took her in and managed to locate three other abducted women. Through the assistance of United Nations she and the three others were returned to their homes. Milka’s family met her at the Pibor airport, immediately taking her to the church, thanking God for her safe return. “God has a plan for my life. I don’t know what that is, but I pray His will be done. He is with me,” she says.
Milka is living with her husband near Pibor airport in a temporary shelter. To this day no one has been able to return to her village.
Please pray for Milka, her family, and all the other people who are unable to return to their homes.
Pray for those who were taken captive and still remain far from home.
Pray for peace.
“You called, you cried, you shattered my deafness. You sparkled, you blazed, you drove away my blindness. You shed your fragrance, and I drew in my breath, and I pant for you. I tasted and now I hunger and thirst. You touched me, and now I burn with longing for your peace.”—Augustine
Standing with you in prayer for the Murle people,
Nancy (Thocolech)
The 2013 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 103
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