The Nomadic Tribe of Madeen - Near the Sudanese Border

We are working with 8 Sudanese Churches in the Gamebela Region.   This particular church is the most difficult of which to travel.   It is about 80 km from Gambela on a road that runs straight to the Sudan Border.   Along the road we pass through Tarpham - a settlement with a church right outside on the of Sudanese Refugee Camps which we visited in January 2019.

The road is filled with travelers either walking into Ethiopia, or traveling from village to village to markets.  Here are some of the photos we took along the road as we traveled to Madeen.

This is Palata - He is a Sudanese man that is on his way to market from his village.  The Royal Blue Color you see on many Sudanese is by their choice ... while it isn't a "national" color, many of the people have clothes/head scarves that feature that color.

Behind me is the village of Medeen.  In this villiage there are about 300 people, but they are part of about 2000 people loosely connected that are Herdsmen (Cattle and Sheep) which move from Sudan in the Wet Season to Ethiopia during the dry season.

Their huts are built on drying lake beds which provide water for both them and their herds.

This is their church.   Each Sunday about 100 people come for prayer and study inside and around this structure..

We had a time of worship, encouragement and prayer with some of the children and adults in the church building.

   

This is the Pastor/Elder of the church.   I do not remember his name.   I  talked with him about the needs of his people.  Of course food and water were always a concern, but then he mentioned something which caught me by surprise.    He asked for blankets.   It was 105 F outside and I thought the last thing they would need were blankets, but he explained.

With the huts built on dry lake beds, the ground is humid a night when it cools making the need for blankets necessary for warmth for the eldest.   Secondly, it provides a padding making it more comfortable as they lay on the ground inside the huts and finally, it could provide shade if needed.

I told him I would not make him any promises that I could not keep, but I would look into meeting what needs we could.   We had prayer and traveled back to Gambela.

Immediately after arriving, I sent Boose, Wogene and others to purchase blankets for the elderly at Madeen.   We were able to purchase 20 blankets and have them carried (8 hours round trip) to the village the next morning.

  

  

It was an amazing experience to worship and be able to meet a physical need with our brothers in Christ in Madeen.   I will be visiting them again next year during the Dry Season.