Dinka Who?

This past summer I visited Southern Sudan while on a mission trip with a small group of people from my church. The village where I stayed was known as Wangelie. Wangelie happens to be home to the Jieng people. You may actually know who they are without knowing that you do. The tribe actually goes by Dinka here in the U.S. The name Dinka was forced onto the tribe by Americans and therefor that is how the Jieng people are known in the U.S. but as I said the proper and actual name for the tribe is Jieng.

While in Wangelie the team from my church and myself taught classes to the pastors who are leading the churches in Southern Sudan. Christianity is a fairly new belief among the Jieng people. In fact a little over 30 years ago only about 20% of the Jieng people were Christians, and almost all of 80% unaccounted for were Satan worshipers.

This whole revival came about while the Jieng people were going through a war. The country of Sudan has been fighting in a 30 year civil war between the North and the South. The war is mostly over religion. The Northern Government is Islamic while the Southern Government is Christian. During this time of war many of the Jieng people were forced from their homes, taken as slaves, or killed. If someone was lucky enough to escape alive without being taken as a slave they would have to run for their lives to the Nile river or Sudanese/ Kenyan border. Many people perished while trying to cross the Nile to get into Kenya. Some people chose not to leave Sudan at all and to live on the banks of the Nile.

Those who made the decision to cross the Nile into Kenya had to find a safe place to live, while they waited out the war. The UN set up a bunch of camps to house Sudanese refugees. In 2005 a peace treaty was signed between Northern Sudan and Southern Sudan. It has not been until recent years that the UN has begun to force the Jieng people to move back to their homes.

Once home they have nothing. All that they used to call home is gone. Everything was burnt to the ground during the war and all of their cattle was either taken or killed. The Jieng people make a living off of cattle. Cattle equals food and wealth. Cattle is also the way that they negotiate for wives. The Jieng people's way of live has drastically changed. The only thing that the Jieng people have left to hold onto is their faith in Jesus Christ.

While in Sudan that is exactly what I saw with my own two eyes. A people that against all odds survived a genocide and then went home after years of oppression to continue living their lives. Everyday for these people is a struggle for survival. Everyday is a leap of Faith. Welcome to Survivor Sudan.