We received this story from Persecution Project Foundation (PPF), our partners in the village of Jach, Sudan. Mocha Club and African Leadership have provided funding for 16 of the 36 clean water wells that are currently operating in Jach.
In spring of this year, Joshua MacLeod {longtime Mocha Club and African Leadership partner} went with Brad Phillips {President of Persecution Project} and the PPF team to Jach, a community of more than 90,000 Darfur refugees in Sudan.
Joshua MacLeod in Sudan
Joshua is a photographer, so most of the time, his eyes were glued to the viewfinders of assorted cameras. But on Sunday morning, he set aside his photographic gear, picked up his guitar and led worship.
The next day, the team traveled deeper into Darfur and visited a small village. The poverty and need were as oppressive as the heat. People had nothing but muddy water to drink, which was infested with deadly parasites…
Again, Joshua took out his guitar and began to sing songs of hope to break the spell of despair.
For about 20 minutes he sang to the children who had gathered to see the strangers. Then he asked one by to sing him one of their songs.
“We don’t have any songs,” the child told him.
Joshua couldn’t believe it. He already knew that music is a big part of Sudanese culture.
He asked the child again. But the boy only replied, “We’ve forgotten all our songs.”
Years of war and mind-numbing violence had left those children without a song.
The boy, James, who said, "We don't have any songs."
Before he left, Joshua gave his guitar to a young man named Deng, who is the son of a pastor in Jach.
When Joshua returned home, he began using the talents he has to help PPF tell the story of the children of Darfur.
All photos courtesy of Persecution Project Foundation.
Sometimes the smallest acts of love will spread to places we could never imagine.
Comment by HEO2009 — July 18, 2009 @ 6:21 pm