Last week Carolyn, Angela, Eric and Emily set off a new adventure to start a new Iris South Sudan base in Aweil. The temperature has been over 120 some days but they are loving it.
This is how it all began:
In June of 2011, Iris ventured deep into Northern Bahr el-Gazal state. With love, lots of bread, and the supernatural favor of God, there was much fruit from this time.
Iris Aweil is our northern most base yet and will be serving as a launch pad deeper into the most conflict ridden areas of our land.
After numerous scouting trips throughout 2012, in February 2013, the Iris Aweil base is officially beginning operations! The focus of this base will be outreach to the street boys of the city. These children are very poor and at-risk. Many of them are addicted to sniffing glue, and they desperately need to experience the love of Christ. Iris Aweil will operate a drop-in shelter for these children with an emphasis on family tracing and reunification. These kids will be provided with food, education, and most importantly, the Gospel, in a non-residential setting. In addition to children's ministry, Iris Aweil will partner with local churches to preach the Gospel, minister in local refugee settlements, and operate a community care program to provide supportive care for at-risk children in their extended family environments
Please pray for and follow Carolyn's journey as she pioneers Iris' presence there among the street children and refugee settlements. We are cheering her on and privileged to have her directing Iris Aweil!
As a start, we are planning to launch a drop-in shelter for street children with an emphasis on family tracing and reunification, church planting and outreach among the refugee settlements and a community care program to provide supportive care for at risk children in their extended family environments (largely in conjunction with our Iris Harvest Fellowship churches).