A South Sudanese pastor is rejoicing – two years after a honey-harvesting accident left him facing a lifetime of pain.
Elisama Edward, rural dean for the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, Maridi, was flown to hospital after his plight came to the attention of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).
It was in 2022 that the much-loved minister had been harvesting honey to help feed his family and pay their school fees, when the branch beneath him gave way.
Although he tried to grab hold of the branch above, it wasn’t strong enough to bear his weight, so the poor pastor plummeted to the forest floor.
By the time he regained consciousness, it was 7pm. Deep in the jungle and miles from home, Elisama set off in the dark, badly injured and on foot. He arrived home around 2am, exhausted.
The next day, he tried to get help for his badly broken arm. Unfortunately, no one in his community could help, so, despite the agonising pain, he resigned himself to a life with impaired mobility in his left arm.
Two years later, an MAF plane landed in Maridi carrying its Peace and Reconciliation team. Elisama was among more than 100 pastors who had travelled from surrounding villages to learn about reconciling communities through MAF’s Bible-based ‘Healing Hearts, Transforming Nations’ workshop.
After the life-changing event was over, MAF flew him to Juba Teaching Hospital where an experienced surgeon realigned the bones and secured them with a plate and screws. The pastor is now well on the road to recovery and, although he won’t be harvesting honey anymore, he’ll soon be cycling between the five parishes and 3,000 people under his care.
The rural dean, who sees the injury as a test of his faith, trusts God to provide him with another way to support his family.
‘The training,’ he says, ‘was God’s plan for my recovery! I received healing twice – not only did I receive spiritual healing from MAF’s training, I got physical healing too! Even when I didn’t know how, I had God’s peace that He would find a way. May God bless MAF. We don’t know how we can repay you for what you have done.’
