Saturday night we all went to the Catholic mission for a dinner celebration. We had a great evening there but upon arriving home we were faced with an emergency situation in the clinic.
There was a man there named Wilson who was unconscious from being beaten badly and clubbed in the head. As we learned more, the story became even more heartbreaking. Wilson’s brother Peter was the head pastor of the local Episcopalian church here in Tonj. Peter had recently had an affair and impregnated a teenage girl who he intended to take as a second wife. As is custom here in Sudan, if a girl is impregnated before marriage, the price of her dowry decreases drastically and her brothers are culturally allowed to take revenge by beating the man who defiled her or his brother.
Daniel and I were heart broken and went into the clinic around 11:30pm to pray for Wilson. Peter and two other family members were there with Wilson. At around 12:10am, Caleb (the clinical officer) told us that Wilson was starting to slip away and at 12:25am we listened as Wilson passed away.
I stood up and looked into the room Wilson was lying in, it was the first time I’d ever seen a dead body and I couldn’t imagine the amount of grief and remorse that his brother Peter was feeling at that moment. I tried to put myself in his shoes – if my sin had led to Ethan lying there like that; and the pain was heartbreaking.
Daniel and I somberly went to bed but were awoken sharply at 5am to the loud wailing of two women about 15 meters from our window. They were outside the compound walls and slowly walking away crying. We learned later that morning that Peter and some of his family members had killed a member of the teenage girl’s family in vengeance during the middle of the night and the victim’s family members had come by the compound gates in their mourning.
Murder was repaid with murder and we were all a little on edge the next day not sure if the conflict would escalate. We ended up having to cancel our church service on the compound to keep the amount of non-resident people on the grounds to a minimum. Thankfully the conflict escalated no further and security slowly returned to Tonj.
No one is immune to sin, but seeing the pastor of the 2nd largest church in the town impregnate a woman who wasn’t his wife and then kill one of her family member’s in vengeance certainly leaves a sour taste in one’s mouth about the state of the churches here.
As I sit here in bed typing away, I’m trying to process all my thoughts about this event and am having trouble fully wrapping my mind around it; but here are two things I think I’ll take away from it:
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God calls us to live above our culture. We are to lay down our lives to follow Him and His teachings, even if that divides us from even our own family members. God’s Word is the fabric of the universe and is truth to us no matter where we live. If we are unsatisfied and think something that is outside of the will of God is going to satisfy us, we are mistaken. I don’t say this with a heart of judgment on Peter, but with a heart of worship to God, the creator of the universe and the author His Word.
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As a point the mirror back at myself, I can’t help but think of the chorus from an old Supertones song; “My sin yelled ‘crucify!’ louder than the mob that day, my sin yelled ‘crucify!’ louder than any mouth.” We’ve all sinned and we all deserve death, it’s only by the grace of God that we are set free. Seeing someone watch their sin lead to a brother’s death has given me an even deeper appreciation for the amazing grace of God in my life.
Please continue to pray for both of the effected families in this situation. Please pray that even in the midst of this tragedy that they would be comforted and find God’s love and truth even in the darkest of situations. Please pray that God’s Word and Spirit would puncture the hearts of the people here and that they would know the love and joy of a relationship with God and His dwelling in their hearts.