Athok fled into the night as gunfire shattered the home and life she knew in Sudan. She was clutching her young son’s hand, and was six months pregnant with twins.
In the panic and darkness, Athok became separated from her husband. She ran until her sandals broke, continuing barefoot for three days. They drank unclean water from polluted streams and had no food.
‘Everyone feared being shot. We had to flee.’
After reaching the safety of South Sudan, Athok found a temporary shelter to give birth to her twin baby girls. She had no blankets, no crib for a bed. Only a torn sheet to wrap her newborns in.
Don’t we hear echoes of another mother and child? Far from home after a gruelling journey, giving birth with no room at the inn.
Athok is just one of over a million people who have fled into South Sudan seeking refuge, arriving exhausted and hungry. Achol (pictured below) also fled the conflict in Sudan while pregnant, giving birth under a tree during a desperate journey to reach safety.
Jesus’ love leads us towards people facing hunger. More than 24,000 people, like Achol, have received food assistance through Tearfund’s work in South Sudan. Credit: Nelson Lou/Tearfund
For both Athok and Achol, pregnant and fleeing conflict in Sudan, there was no hospital. No bed. No safe place to give birth, and no certainty of where to find the next meal.
‘We found nowhere to settle... we stayed under trees. We slept on the ground... we had no other choice.’
'When I first arrived, I suffered greatly from hunger,' Achol shared.
But Tearfund is right there with them, responding to immediate needs. Athok and Achol are amongst 24,000 people who have received emergency food assistance through Tearfund’s work in South Sudan.
'Hunger has reduced a little,' Achol says. 'Now, things are slowly improving.'
Around the world, millions more families face cold, hungry, and uncertain nights this Christmas.
At Christmas we celebrate God’s gift of Jesus. The child laid in the manger grew up to proclaim and demonstrate the good news of God’s Kingdom: feeding the hungry, healing the sick, welcoming the stranger and bringing gospel hope to the whole world.
Will you let that story shape how you live and follow where Jesus’ love leads?
Your generous donation to Tearfund could help provide vital food, life-saving medicine and emergency shelter to mothers like Athok and Achol around the world, facing conflict and extreme poverty.
Together, we can make this Christmas count.
If you have any questions that haven’t been answered here, please email [email protected] or contact our lovely Supporter Care Team on 020 3906 3906.
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