Crisis and Desperation in South Sudan:

WARNING: True Stories of Real Families in Desperation follow. Picture yourself, just for a moment, walking up to a village in South Sudan that you, our generous CHRF donor, support. Weeks of challenging planning and difficult preparation have made this trip possible so that we can help a village that nobody, not even another group is helping.

But that’s exactly why we are here, because when others pull out from danger, our Emergency Team puts their lives at risk in order to find children that are literally starving from hunger and urgently needing our help. Nothing could prepare our team for Malakal Sudan. Senseless death, murder, and starvation caused by heavily armed opposing militia groups barely begin to describe this dark and evil situation that is still ongoing as you read this story. Our team, despite having worked in the most brutal war zones, was unprepared for what they found. Dogs and birds eating decomposing bodies of women and children which littered the streets, victims of a brutal and horrific war in South Sudan.

Our team reports, “It almost felt like there was nothing to do but mourn. We were stunned and nauseous, sick to the stomach. What can you say or do when you are greeted by a mother who is digging a grave for her child that has just been murdered? She is working hard to dig their grave deep enough so that dogs cannot eat their bodies. Never have we seen anything like this.”

“Whenever we distribute meals, supplies and life-saving mosquito nets from CHRF we are always met by priceless smiles. Beautiful smiles that seem to say, ‘Thank you for saving my child’s life!’ But this time these survivors, our families, were too traumatized to smile or say ‘thank you.’ The silence was deafening.”

“Even as I walked through the village I could not believe my own eyes. After asking families for their stories, they shared with me how they heard gunshots in the distance, then screaming, then the sounds of violence came closer and closer. When the fighting arrived, these families had little to no time to react, they grabbed their children and literally ran for their lives. During these panicked moments children were separated from their mothers. Some were later reunited, others were orphaned, never knowing if their family was dead or alive.”

This unbelievable situation is even worse when you realize this isn’t happening to one or two villages, but according to the U.N.’s newest report, over one and a half million people! “It’s been months after our first trip, but I can’t stop thinking about the mothers, the children, and the innocent families from that village,” reports our team leader. “Every night I wake up with nightmares from the visions of suffering, the hopeless look of innocent children, children that should be playing but instead are witnesses to cold murders and death. There is nothing to do, nothing but pray.” At CHRF we thank God for you, our donors, because YOU were the answer to our prayer!

Because that’s when good people like you made a gift to help hungry children! Together we’ve pledged to seek out and help these children and families in desperate need, and that is exactly what we are doing!

“As soon as there was a short ceasefire, we sent trucks loaded with food and supplies in to help these families. It’s impossible to explain how much your support means to these mothers and children. The fact that our team put our own lives at risk to bring them food, supplies and nets that our donors had bought with their gifts of $5, $10, $20, $50 brought these people to tears."

"After we returned home the leaders from the village called us to share how much this act of compassion meant to their people. I know that if you knew what an incredible difference and impact your gift made into restoring the lives of these suffering South Sudanese families, you would be absolutely stunned and amazed! For these desperate people who have nothing, it makes ALL the difference.

“You simply can’t attach a monetary value to your gift because it’s not the amount that you give that brings these families to tears and restores their hope. It’s the fact that someone cares for these people; someone loves their children, the fact that we risked our lives to bring them food that means everything to them. I want to thank CHRF and every one of our incredible group of donors, good people like YOU who make trips like this one and many others possible, trips where we can save lives and restore hope to the hopeless. Please continue to Pray for the lives of the children and families on the ground in South Sudan”- The CHRF Emergency Relief Team.