Vincent Owino: A Decade with SEA Partners

by | Mar 6, 2023 | South Sudan News | 0 comments

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As we are awaiting news from Boma about the arrival of our team, I thought it would be good to highlight our Director Vincent Owino. I asked him to write a couple of paragraphs about his 10 years with SEAP and he wrote me five pages! I have attached it here for a full reading but will quote a few of the highlights in this note.

We tend to focus on the impact SEA Partners is having on the people of Boma but we are also impacting the lives of our staff. It is well worth reading Vincent’s entire biography as God’s hand can clearly be seen on his life. Here are a few excerpts for you.

As I sit down to reflect on my ten years with SEA Partners, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and accomplishment. Gratitude for the spiritual journey and growth I have taken with my Lord Jesus Christ, and the sense of accomplishment of multiple project milestones against insurmountable odds. It all began in January 2013, when I first set foot in the war-torn region of Boma. A year earlier my dad (Henry Okumu) had begun working with this organization as a missionary and that is how I got introduced to the incredible work they were doing.

Prior to joining SEA Partners, I was a typical backbench Christian. Boma was my epiphany. I forfeited my dreams and ambitions of pursuing further studies and getting a 6-figure engineering job in classy Nairobi. Christ had executed a perfect coup! I started rebuilding my relationship with Him in the most uncivilized village in the world. He transformed me into a practical preacher as the whole community put us under microscopic scrutiny; we had to teach God’s Word by word and deed. I was forced into a leadership position as I was the one who had recruited 8 of the 10 staff members. I was inexperienced but the situation brought out the best leadership qualities in me, from being an impetuous and caustic 27-year-old guy to a community mediator, peace advocate, and girl rights crusader.

As we look to the future, we are excited about the movement of 6 tractors from Juba to Boma this February, the expansion of our church, farming, and school programs in Magwi, the construction of our new compound in Lower Boma, and our fundraising efforts in Juba.

I am also thankful to SEA-Partners for facilitating my family’s travel and stay in Juba. My wife Jenny and I fell in love while serving as missionaries in Boma in 2019 and got married in a ‘bush wedding’. Her coming to Juba with our two young kids, Zawadi and Zion, will cement our resolve and commitment as a family to serve the Lord in South Sudan. Together, we look forward to continuing to make a positive impact in the lives of the people in Boma and beyond.

Thank you all once again for your prayers and material support. Onward for Christ!

Your prayers and support are having a huge impact for Christ!

 

Donnie Brake Ed.D

President

PS. Not to toot my own horn, but I played a small role in Vincent and Jenny’s “bush marriage”. If you want more details, you can ask Vince!

Will You Please Help?

The people of Boma could surely use your help. In order to increase the farming project that will feed 200 school children, we need to start growing food now. Since schools will reopen in January, farm land must be cultivated and planted immediately. Please consider a gift to help us farm more land in September and October. Thank you!