Isaac smiles. ‘Sometimes you just need somebody to remind you of who you are and your potential to transform your family with the available resources,’ he tells us, ‘because most times, we are blinded by our suffering and unable to value God’s wonderful gift for us, and that was exactly what CCT envisioning* did for me, it was a great awakening!’
Isaac Lou is 38. He lives in Kajo Keji County, South Sudan, with his wife and four children. Two years ago, he returned from a refugee camp in Uganda where he and his family had sought shelter after their home was destroyed during the 2016 civil war. He came back to rebuild their house and soon after that his wife and children were able to return home too.
Isaac says the first few months of being back were tough as they didn’t have enough food and they lacked other essential things. To ensure his family’s daily meals, Isaac took various odd jobs – such as working on farms and at construction sites. Little did he know then that he would be able to utilise the vast land his family owned to transform and improve their lives.
‘One thing CCT [Tearfund’s Transforming Communities training] has done for me, is to make me think differently and look at my surroundings more objectively. It has helped me to realise that the solutions to my problems have always been around me and within my reach,’ Isaac says.
Tearfund’s Transforming Communities approach (also known as CCT) is to envision and equip the church in practical ways to work with the local community, identifying needs and mobilising resources to bring about restoration and transformation, holistically and sustainably using locally available resources.
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