A Dream Realized!

A Letter from Bob and Kristi Rice, mission co-workers serving in South Sudan

Summer 2024

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Dear friends,

We began our walk Sunday evening, as the sun was sinking into the horizon. Now, two hours later, it was dark, yet we felt the illumination of stars and moon above. We had arrived in the village of Kuledawu, where we would spend the night and continue our trek early the next morning. Pastor Paul Ruot Kor Wan led our group in singing a Nuer hymn to the tune of “Trust and Obey,” giving thanks for our safe passage. At that moment, I realized afresh the gift of Christian community. Our journey was long and hard, but we shared it together.

Youth Choir at Reconciliation Gathering (Nasir)

The month of May has been epic. I was able to fulfill a dream, that is, to visit Nasir, South Sudan. Nasir is where the American Mission established their work amongst the Nuer people in 1914. It is the centerpiece of the first case study in my historical research of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan, but we will come back to that.

Last year, when Dr. Frank Dimmock of The Outreach Foundation invited me to join him and a few South Sudanese church leaders to visit Nasir in May, I was overjoyed. The purpose of Frank’s trip would be twofold: support ongoing reconciliation efforts in the region, and observe the rebuilding and creation of a large, new Presbyterian church in Nasir, a testimony to the history and vibrancy of the Christian faith amongst Nuer peoples. After fulfilling these two purposes with Frank and others, Rev. Paul Ruot (friend and research associate) and I remained behind for our own purposes, that of my historical research of the region, and that of Paul being able to reconnect with church members and family members in his home region. During the following nine days, we would walk long distances with local church leaders, reaching churches in far-flung villages and sleeping in villages along the way. The level of hospitality and care we received in each place is difficult to put into words. The women of the church helped carry our things, one woman balancing my backpack on her head for the hours-long journey by foot. When we arrived in the villages of Kier Wan and Mandeng, the women of the church sat us down and washed our hands, our arms, our feet, and our faces after the long journey. At one point, I was almost moved to tears by this gracious expression of welcome and hospitality. The many smiles, greetings, and gestures of goodwill remain cemented in my heart forever. Moreover, I was given a Nuer name, “Buay,” which means, “bright!”

Sunrise over the Sobat River (Nasir)

Rev. Paul and I were able to visit the village of Khedbek (not far from Nasir), to visit the birthplace of Rev. Moses Kuac Nyoat, a central figure in my first case study. Kuac Nyoat was born in the early 1920s. He was initiated as a Nuer man, was baptized while he was in intermediate school, and was ordained as the first Nuer pastor in 1958. Kuac served as the language teacher to missionary Eleanor Vandevort of Pittsburgh, PA, who became known to the Nuer as “Nyarial,” the daughter of the black and white cow. The relationship between Kuac and Nyarial can be described as that of sister and brother and would span a lifetime. Together they sought to reconcile two colliding worlds, that of the Nuer, a traditional agro-pastoralist tribe of the Sudan, and that of American missionaries who came to present the message of the Gospel, a message of the good news of the life and hope we find in Jesus Christ, but a message presented from the milieu of white, middle-class America, replete with western cultural values and ideals.

Rev. Paul Ruot and church leaders/members before our long walk to the village of Kier Wan

Their story has been told in Vandevort’s 1968 publication, A Leopard Tamed, republished in 2018 (please read this book if you have not already read it). Their story will also be retold and examined in my Ph.D. thesis. Being in the very places of Vandevort and her colleagues was a treasure. I could see the same bend in the same Sobat River, the bird life they would have marveled at, and the simplicity and severity of life for the Nuer people. I enjoyed watching women and men, youth and children do everyday chores and work such as fetching water, hoeing, sowing, fishing, and unloading boats full of the instruments of development (sandbags, cement, etc.). Sitting together with villagers in Khedbek, including the nephew of Kuac, I gained a picture of how traditional life was then, and how it is now; moreover, I gained a sense of how things changed with Pastor Moses Kuac’s Christian witness to a God who heals, a God who reconciles, and a God who brings life to his children.

Rev. Paul Ruot and Bob with villagers in Khedbek (near Nasir)

Sadly, the reality of conflict and war could not have been more visible and obvious. The town of Nasir has been destroyed by war several times, and there exists ongoing tension between the national army stationed nearby and the local population. Moreover, most of the villagers of Khedbek are still living in refugee camps in Ethiopia. Yet, in the region, there exists a vibrant spirit despite an unknown future. Though buildings have fallen into disrepair and been destroyed in Nasir, the people and the church remain. They are a testimony to God’s grace and God’s power at work in the bleakest of circumstances. To visit Nasir and to be with the people was a dream realized. I am so grateful. Kristi and I want to thank you for continuing to stand with us as we stand with the people of South Sudan. May our Lord richly reward you!

Bob and Kristi