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Why Does SEA Partners Exist? (1 of 3) Vision 2018

by | Feb 5, 2018 | Christianity | 0 comments

A friend recently gave me a book entitled Mission Drift and reading it has prompted me to write you a brief history of SEA Partners and how we as an organization came to be. As we welcome a new year, I thought it would be good to share a bit of our beginnings in order to more clearly understand our vision moving forward.
These last 14 years have been a wild ride; an adventure fraught with many trials and tribulations, but also one of great joy, blessing and success. Here is the first of three communications providing insight into the mission and vision of SEA Partners.
Boma is in the remote SE corner of South Sudan near the Ethiopian border. 

SEA Partners was formed in 2004 to provide hope and support to the Christians and their communities in South Sudan. Church leaders from all over Sudan came together and determined to create an organization that would fund projects focusing on five initiatives: Education, Food Security, Clean Water, Healthcare and Evangelism. I was reminded of the importance of our founding as I read this passage in Mission Drift:

 

“Aid divorced from the context of faith fails to deal with humanity’s most basic problem. Secular relief is just that…relief; it does not and cannot address those issues that are most fundamental to the human condition.”

 

In 2005, we initiated the Boma Project as a Christ-centered endeavor to bring both spiritual and physical support to the Murle tribal community in Boma, South Sudan. We first began by building a Christian school to provide education for children grades K-8.  Faith Learning Center (FLC) not only gave kids the rare opportunity to attend school, but to get an education where Jesus was included as a prominent part of the curriculum. We started the first year with Kindergarten and First Grade then added another classroom and grade every year afterwards. FLC continues to be the only school operating in Upper Boma.

 
Teaching the children to read and comprehend begins early in the morning as they read old newspapers.

Addressing another of the 5 initiatives, in 2006 SEA Partners drilled four water wells for the community and have continued to update and improve our clean water capabilities. In 2014, we constructed the first solar-powered water well and it continues to provide easily accessible, clean water to the village in Upper Boma today.
The solar powered water well was repaired in 2017 and is used daily by many of the villagers in Boma.

All of this progress has not come without great cost. In 2013, a rebel faction in South Sudan overran our compound destroying much of it and the school. Some of our dear friends were killed and many more fled to camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. Now, by God’s grace expressed through the gifts and prayers of partners like you, people are returning to a largely rebuilt and peaceful Boma. You have indeed participated in providing a witness of the reality of Christ, who alone is the ultimate hope for the people in Boma.

It is no coincidence that you are involved in this effort. God has raised you up to “stand in the gap” for the people of South Sudan. We are very thankful that you have heeded His call over these past 14 years.

May God continue to bless you for your generosity and kindness.

Donnie Brake, Ed.D.
President

PS. The work in Boma began in 2005, but continues to be a source of “light” for the Murle in South Sudan. Please watch for the next two installments of the mission and vision of SEA Partners.