|
What We Do
|
| |
"We ran through the bush for 7 days. Some of us were shot with guns. Some of the children died due to lack of food and water...we are getting very little food. Even up to now we are eating leaves. There is no clean water in this area. We lead a miserable life. We thank God for your coming. It gives us hope."
- Male Refugee in Sudan
PIA relief brings hope and supplies to Anuak survivors of genocide. PIA has sent food, cooking pots, and mosquito nets and is also working with community leaders and pastors to help meet their needs. PIA recently joined with Buya.org so those who want to help PIA's relief efforts can begin right now! There, you can provide meals for homeless children, give clean water to an entire village, or buy a chicken!
ATTENTION: Gambella Flooding
Seasonal flooding has been the worst anyone can remember, with over 46,000 people affected in the Gambella area. Our partner, the Anuak Church, is pleading for assistance. Aid organizations have divided up the large task. PIA is committed to fund supplies in the Jor area of Gambella. This is the area where PIA has been doing previous work, and currently has three missionaries who will work with flood supplies. Please consider how you might be able to help.
The flood condition in Gambella region is unbelievable. It is increasing from time to time. September 21, 2007, we sent out some of our staff to get reliable data. In the areas visited, there was no food and no clean water. It continues to rain everyday, and in some areas, cattle are being taken by crocodile. Farms are flooded and crops are below water level. Schoolrooms are now housing displaced families and others are left to remain outside. Children are becoming sick with malaria and diarrhea but there is no aid until now. There is a fear that pandemic and starvation may rise very soon. Please pray for these people and share this information with other humanitarian organizations.
|
|
Gambella flooding - the worst anyone can remember. |
Water well is drilled with hand auger in Pochalla Co.
|
|
A clean water source reduces a community's child mortality rate in half! It is no wonder that clean water is the most requested item in the villages where PIA works. In many of these villages clean water lies over 300 feet below layers of hard rock, so children have no choice but to drink disease infested water from surface lakes and ponds. The World Health Organization estimates 6,000 children die every day from water borne disease such as cholera, dysentery, typhoid, guinea worm, and hepatitis.
In Pochalla County (southern Sudan), 95% of residents consume unsafe drinking water. PIA met with government and church officials to start the beginning of a water project to help Pochalla County. During phase 1 of this project, PIA brought a hand auger to the community and provided "we do it ourself" training to residents for their new water well. PIA would like to bring a permanent water supply to Pochalla County in 2008.You can partner with PIA to continue helping the people of Pochalla County. A deep well with a hand pump would provide up to 2800 gallons of clean/safe water a day for up to 300 people. Clean water saves lives!
|
Most of the missionaries PIA works with do not have a history of missionary service. These are volunteer missionaries from the local African church who are supported by PIA sponsors and are learning first hand the difficulties of living far from home and sharing the Gospel across cultural boundaries. They have an advantage over Western missionaries with an underlying understanding of the similar values of African culture, yet they need encouragement and help to adapt and establish churches in these areas. PIA provides training on church planting, foundational and essential teachings, and develops specific plans for each area the missionaries serve. PIA also provides needed supplies to these missionaries such as sleeping bags, mosquito nets, water purification chemical, tape recorders, and Amharic Bibles.
Anuak missionaries are being trained to plant churches among tribes that have never heard about Jesus. Just $70 a month will support a missionary. The cost of supporting an American missionary family in Africa is over $6000 a month! PIA can support 85 national missionaries for $6000! That is a wise investment.* You can make a difference by partnering with a national missionary! You can support a missionary with a friend or small group at Buya.org. Talk to your church about partnering with PIA to send out national missionaries. PIA will connect your church with the missionary and the local Anuak church that is sending and caring for your sponsored missionary!
*PIA is also in favor of supporting Western missionaries. We believe the roles of Western missionaries are changing to be coaches/trainers, partnership liaisons, and to provide multi-racial mission outreaches.
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
 |
|
Many children that PIA works with in Gambella have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS, genocide, or civil war. In fact, an astounding 80% of Anuak women in Gambella have lost their husbands. PIA has partnered with the Anuak church to support the many orphaned children left behind. PIA's child sponsorship program helps these orphans in a proven, effective, and culturally sensitive way. This program is very important to the African Church and local community and as a result, PIA has been asked to increase the size of the program. For just $30 a month, a child will have a family to live with, a daily meal, help with school and medical fees, counseling, and teaching about God. How do you sponsor a child? Send a letter to PIA with your decision, along with your first monthly support check of $30. We will mail you confirmation along with the child’s name and picture. Updates are sent twice a year. Give the gift of hope!
|
|
