Danger and Disease in Sudan

Volume 2 1995

Frontline missionaries, George and Maretha, have been ministering in war-torn Sudan since February. Their first two trips into Southern Sudan were interrupted by military offensives. As the Muslim government forces attacked, the UN forced our missionaries to leave with other humanitarian aid workers. One of the air evacuations was carried out while George was lecturing to a Pastors’ Conference. Despite his strenuous protests the UN forced him to leave.

Their third mission trip into Sudan involved days of walking through muddy marshes in extreme heat. Clouds of mosquitoes and flies harassed them throughout the long hot days and nights. Soon George contracted malaria. The nearest help was an 8 hour walk away so Maretha sent an urgent message to medical missionaries to evacuate him.

By the time the aircraft arrived four days later George was in a very serious state and Maretha was suffering from acute pneumonia and dehydration. They were both flown to Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya where they were placed on IV drips and given emergency treatment.

Few Westerners appreciate how seriously infectious and parasitic diseases afflict most of Africa. Every year over one million people in Africa die of malaria alone.

MOSQUITOES and MALARIA

While the river valleys and swamp areas are where one is most at risk, almost all of Central Africa is malaria prone all year round. Mosquitoes are most active in the early evening and after midnight. Buzzing and biting mosquitoes have often kept us awake almost all night. Sometimes I have woken up after a tormented night with my face so swollen from mosquito bites that I could barely open my eyes. I had been bitten on my eyelids, lips, inside my ears and nostrils, between my fingers and toes, on my knees and elbows. Almost every part of my body ached and stung.

To avoid becoming a relief map of angry sores it is helpful to wear long sleeves, long trousers and socks and to apply mosquito repellent to any exposed skin. Mosquito nets also help - if available and practical. However, it is impossible to avoid being bitten at all so prophylactic (anti-malarial) pills are essential. The problem is that many mosquitoes have become resistant to the chloroquin tablets. Experienced travellers in these areas now take a combined course of chioroquin and non-chioroquin based pills.

Yet, even with all these precautions almost all of our missionaries have contracted malaria. Severe headaches, diarrhoea, vomiting, fever and delirium are sure signs of a case of the dreaded malaria. In the case of cerebral malaria death can follow within a week. Malaria is endemic in most of Africa.

TSETSE FLIES and SLEEPING SICKNESS

Tsetse flies are tenacious insects which look like horseflies and inflict a most painful bite which can cause this chronic sickness. They are extremely tough and will not succumb to even a hard swat.

The tsetse fly has an awesome lance-like proboscis which can penetrate the toughest clothing and against which repellents are quite ineffectual. Tsetse flies are only active during daylight hours and are particularly attracted to dark colours and movement.

Only the tiniest fraction of the painful bites actually result in sleeping sickness in human beings. Cattle, however, succumb far more easily. This has made the tsetse fly the single most effective protector of wildlife in Africa because it prevents human encroachment and farming in many areas. Tsetse flies are most active in wooded escarpments and major river valleys. They are incapable of flying far from trees so when totally exasperated by them one can head for wide open spaces. Wearing baggy light coloured clothing also helps.

TICKBITE FEVER

Although not usually fatal this is a very unpleasant disease against which there are no prophylactics. Tickbite fever causes unpleasant delirium but treatment is possible with tetracyclines. To avoid being bitten: long trousers, socks and an application of insect repellent to the hem of one’s trousers should help. After wading through long thick grass one should inspect one’s whole body for ticks. The tiny ticks are the most dangerous. Carelessly pulling the ticks out can leave the heads behind and cause a nasty infection. Smearing Vaseline or paraffin over the bite area suffocates the ticks, causing them to loosen their hold and come up for air. Removing the whole tick with tweezers is then possible. I have suffered from tickbite fever for weeks before locating the bite, lancing the boil and squeezing out the pus. As with all things - prevention is far better than cure!

BILHARZIA and CROCODILES

This parasite is carried by snails that inhabit still water at the edges of lakes and rivers, particularly near human settlements. Symptoms of bilharzia include: drowsiness, loss of vigour and eventually blood in both urine and stools. If you swim in the rivers of Central Africa you stand as good chance of being eaten by a crocodile as of catching bilharzia. We have bumped into crocodiles and accidentally stepped on them during field trips!

So there is good reason for remaining on dry ground. However, our mission trips require us to cross many rivers so - we do try to avoid becoming a banquet for the local crocodile community and we afterwards dry ourselves vigorously to remove any larvae that may remain on our skin.

HEPATITIS and DYSENTERY

Hepatitis is a virus that causes jaundice and liver complaints. One of our workers in Namibia contracted Hepatitis A last year. It is carried by water and food contaminated by human excrement. All streams and ponds near human settlements have to be regarded as infected. The solution is to boil all drinking water vigorously for 10 minutes beforehand. Vegetables need to be very thoroughly washed and preferably peeled and cooked before eating.

Dysentery is another common affliction. It is an amoebic infection of the intestine caused by contaminated food or water. Unless one has a cast-iron stomach it is better to drink only boiled or bottled liquids. But, as missionaries we need to accept whatever is offered us by our hosts. Obviously one cannot supervise the cleaning and cooking processes of one’s hosts, so we generally come down with dysentery at least once on every trip! For this reason it is wise for missionaries to build up their resistance to such infections by getting used to the local conditions! It is also most helpful to carry anti-diarrhoea tablets, rehydration salts and plenty of liquids.

The PUTSI FLIES

The putsi fly is a horrible little insect which lays its eggs on wet fabrics. For this reason it is essential to thoroughly iron all clothes after washing - especially underwear. If the putsi fly eggs survive in clothes the larvae hatch in contact with warm skin and immediately burrow into the skin causing a small boil-like bump with a black centre. To remove these maggots one needs to apply grease to the affected area to prevent the larvae from breathing.

RABIES

This very nasty and fatal disease is carried by jackals, mongooses and aggressive dogs and cats. It is possible to be innoculated against rabies but once the disease has taken hold a dreadful and painful death is ensured.

SNAKES

Snakes are common throughout Africa but only a small percentage are poisonous. Unlike human criminals, snakes tend to mind their own business and only bite under extreme provocation. They fear people more than we fear them and try to stay out of our way. However, we can and do surprise them and accidentally corner them sometimes.

Snakes are particularly active after sunset and those who are bitten have often been collecting firewood at dusk. Wearing boots and being alert to one’s environment is essential. Certain cobras spit venom, some as far as 2,5 metres. If this poison gets in one’s eyes terrible burning and swelling will result, which - if not treated - could cause blindness. Rinsing of one’s eyes with any drinking liquid must be done immediately.

Of course snakes, rabid dogs and crocodiles are not anywhere as dangerous as the AIDS/HIV plague! On any given day, in any city in Central Africa, a visit to the cemetery will reveal several funerals for AIDS infected victims alone.

A CALL FOR PRAYER

I pray that these details about the common diseases that threaten our missionaries and those amongst whom we minister will be a challenge to your prayer fellowship and church to intercession. Please intercede more earnestly for our protection from danger and disease and for complete recoveries to good health when we are afflicted.

After recovering from their debilitating dehydration, malaria and pneumonia, George and Maretha returned to minister in Sudan. Please continue to uphold them in prayer. Their last message sent to us from Nairobi before re-entering Sudan read: "Pray for Sudan - the fields are white, ready for harvest."

SPIRITUAL HEALTH

I have recently just recovered from an infection in my jaw which my dentist informs me must have been raging all year. The roots of one of my teeth had died months ago and the festering infection had gone undetected until I returned from a speaking tour around the States. Six dental surgery visits and a root canal later I am now free from the pain and pus. It was another vivid sermon illustration of how debilitating and destructive even small unrepented of sin can be. Neglected sin lurks unseen with their festering poison infecting everything.

To clean out the infected root and restore my weakened tooth was a painful, complicated and time consuming surgical procedure. So too sin needs to be carefully and thoroughly dealt with. Just as we want no part of any infection in our bodies so too we need to be as uncompromising in our battle against sin.

SPEAK UP FOR SOUTHERN SUDAN

The virtual news blackout over Sudan is very disturbing. Sudan is the largest country in Africa. It has the longest war of this century still raging (since 1956). The South Sudanese people are the oldest Christian community in Africa. There has been a strong Christian presence in South Sudan since the Third Century AD. Sudan is the site of the most vicious anti-Christian persecution raging anywhere in the world today. Hundreds of Christian villages have been razed to the ground. Over 1,5 million Christians have been murdered or starved to death by a man-made famine.

Hundreds of Christian men have been crucified. Tens of thousands of Christian young people have been sold into Islamic slavery. Christians are enduring inhumane torture. It is no exaggeration to call what is happening in Sudan, genocide. The Christians in Sudan are literally on the frontline of the battle for faith and freedom. Yet, how seldom do we ever read or hear anything of their plight? In addition, the church in Sudan is experiencing real revival and spectacular growth. More Muslims are coming to Christ in Sudan than anywhere else in the world.

It is our deep concern to see the Christian publications of the West publicising the plight of our beleaguered brethren and mobilising the prayer, pressure and support so desperately needed. Please encourage your local Christian magazine editor to contact Frontline for news reports, articles and photos on Sudan.

Also, if the West can enforce an air exclusion zone over northern Iraq to protect Muslim Kurds from being bombed, then why can an air exclusion zone not be declared over Southern Sudan? The Christians in Southern Sudan have no air force. Tens of thousands have been torn to shreds by cluster bombs and burnt alive by napalm dropped by the Sudanese Air Force. They have no effective means of protection from air attacks. Is the West only concerned about Muslim Bosnians and Kurds? Surely Christian brothers in Sudan deserve our support. Americans should contact their representatives at Congress to urge effective measures to curtail the anti-Christian genocide in Sudan.

If you have not received the Frontline Fellowship News 94/5 “The Forgotten Frontline Sudan” and the Frontline Fellowship News 95/1 “Fighting for Survival in Sudan” please contact Frontline Fellowship. These editions provide the background details and documentation on what is happening in Sudan. Take these copies, or post them, to your local Christian editors and radio producers. Write letters to the press urging more coverage on the untold stories of Christian courage amidst severe persecution.

When speaking up for the Christians in Sudan I have often received these reactions: “Why are the Christians fighting back against the Muslims? Surely they should just turn the other cheek?” and “Why don’t the Christians just pray? They can win Muslims to Christ by love - not by war.”

The simple answers to these concerns are that the Christians in Sudan are praying. They pray long, hard and deep. Their prayer meetings make ours seem juvenile There’s nothing like facing violent death, sudden bombardments and man-made famine to deepen anyone’s prayer life!

Their evangelistic zeal should also be obvious. More Muslims are coming to Christ in Sudan than anywhere else in the world. Twenty years ago the Christians made up 5% of the total population. Today Christians comprise over 20% of Sudan (and 80% of Southern Sudan).

Perhaps if our food supplies had been pillaged or destroyed, our churches had been razed to the ground, our relatives crucified and our sons captured by slave raiders - then we would be fighting to protect our wives and children as well.

“Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” Nehemiah 4:14

JIHAD SPREADS

The Muslim regime in Sudan may be spreading its Islamic “holy war” to neighbouring Uganda. It has trained a fighting force called the “Lord’s Resistance Army” - mystic Ugandan “Christians” who pray 5 times a day towards Mecca. The LRA has been sent to Uganda to mine northern roads and prevent relief supplies reaching the Christian South of Sudan. Meanwhile Jimmy Carter managed to persuade Sudan’s leaders to declare a two-month cease fire - so that health workers can root Out two local diseases: river blindness and guinea worm!

REFUGEES

Nearly 1 percent of the world’s population are refugees or in exile. According to the UNHCR there are 52 million refugees (29 million displaced within their own borders and 23 million international refugees). Africa has 7,5 million refugees:
350 000 have fled Angola, 400 000 from Sudan, 450 000 from Somalia, 750 000 from Liberia and 1 700 000 from Rwanda.

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