Lira

The drone of the generator erases any noises that may be heard in this war-ridden region of Uganda. By day thousands fill the streets looking for food or work. By night, no one is found on the streets—no one except hundreds of children who have found a safe haven from life’s hardships under the city’s storefront verandas. They have come from the general region of Lira hoping to find security and some shred of hope. There are an estimated 500 children still living on the streets in this region of 500,000 people. During the height of the war, an estimated 20,000 filled this city at night. Most have found their way here as a direct result of the twenty-year rebel war that has raged in this region. Some have been released or escaped from the clutches of a satanic rebel leader’s grip, while others were forced here because they lost one or both parents. And as with any city, some youths are also here by choice.

In 2006, a team of African Bible College students from Malawi, East Africa joined Children of the Nations under the leadership of Sue Harrell, Counseling Director, and her husband Ed, Logistics Director, for a ten-week outreach to this region. For over a year these students have been in a training program that empowers them to help fellow Africans deal with trauma. During this outreach, 180+ pastors and lay leaders who represent thirty-eight different churches or ministries gathered for a five-day seminar called Healing Children of War. Daily breakout sessions were held, in addition to general seminar classes. In these breakout sessions, this team heard horror stories of children who are now being cared for by church members. One such child shared her gruesome story of being abducted and forced to march into the “bush.” After many hours of marching, they came to a clearing and found a group of rebel soldiers. The soldiers demanded that the girls kill one of their own. To their horror, they picked this young girl’s sister. As she wept bitterly, the rebel leader forced her to cut open her sister’s stomach and cut out her intestines, which she then was forced to wear around her neck for five days until they rotted off. In the aftermath, this young lady now deals with nightmares in which her sister comes to her and tells her to give back her intestines that she took!

Chris Clark, International President of COTN reported, “These pastors and lay leaders have been given a huge task to deal with. I have called this the ‘hidden terror within.’ Deep within the hearts of so many lies deep-seated trauma that will take generations to heal. Some of the hope for Uganda and its restoration lies with these leaders and their ability to help with the thousands of traumatized children.”