The Benicia Herald

PASTOR Kelly Patchin of Benicia’s New Harbor Church saw firsthand the dawn of independence in South Sudan.
Courtesy photo

❒ Benicia minister on hand as South Sudan declares independence

By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

Last month a Benicia pastor witnessed the birth of the world’s newest nation.

Kelly Patchin, pastor of New Harbor Church, 4858 East Second St., was on his second annual trip to Africa — planned a year in advance — when he found himself in South Sudan as that country declared its independence at the ballot box.

Patchin had expected to provide pastoral training to area pastors, primarily teaching in northern Uganda and across its border to the north. But seeing the South Sudanese people celebrate their independence July 9 was an unexpected — and exhilarating — experience.

South Sudan shares its southern border with Uganda, where area ministers come by any possible transportation — including bicycle and foot — from Kenya and the Congo as well as closer sites to receive training.

The training is not only in religion but also in self-sufficiency, Patchin said.

“We ask a lot,” he said. He explained that sometimes Christian values run counter to old customs — such as taking multiple wives in hopes of having both sons and daughters.

“We go to share the way of Christ,” Patchin said. “We don’t force anything.” However, he’s seen how past mission trips have helped reduce tensions between tribes that have been longtime enemies.

On his recent trip, he and others had expected to travel north from Uganda to continue their work in the cities of Juba and Bor. They hadn’t anticipated being witnesses when the area became a new country.

Courtesy photo

They crossed the border a couple of days before South Sudan gained its independence. “I was excited to see what happened,” Patchin said. “They can develop their own country.”

It could be a long endeavor. The region is plagued by poverty and populated by people who have endured 56 years of genocide and misrule.

Patchin said the decades of slaughter happened because of outsiders who initially came in as traders. They grew in power, then turned on the sub-Saharan Africans who originally settled there.

South Sudan has a young population, primarily of the Dinka tribe. Many are in their 30s or younger because their parents’ generation — millions, all told — were slain, Patchin said.

“The reality is horrific stories,” he said.

Children draw red-streaked pictures of their friends being shot. Others tell of watching their captured friends and relatives being taken aboard helicopters, then thrown to their deaths.

Those include women who committed the sin of wearing pants, in violation of the Sharia law as it has been interpreted there, he said.

Women have been shot, and their children stolen, he was told.

One of the men who accompanied Patchin on his travels is a pastor who, years before, was a child soldier sent to Ethiopia for military training. As a new soldier, the youngster got the first clothing he had ever worn, the pastor told Patchin.

The land that is now South Sudan has people who primarily practice one of three religions, Christianity, Islam and an indigenous animist belief, Patchin said.

But having three religions hasn’t meant freedom of religion, Patchin said.

Prior to independence, in a community less than 10 miles from Bor, armed men have stood outside Christian church doors to protect worshipers, he said, and 150 churches have been destroyed.

Patchin doesn’t believe in killing, but he said he understands the need for self-defense.

Courtesy photo

Worshiping isn’t the only dangerous practice. The Dinkas are known for their vast herds of white cattle with sweeping curved horns. He and his company of pastors encountered a mile-long herd, accompanied by Dinka cattlemen. But those men, too, were armed with automatic weapons.

Patchin himself experienced what the people there call “eventualities” — things you don’t expect, but must endure.
A border crossing that would return him to Uganda should have taken 30 minutes. It took a day, because of security.

Independence may bring peace eventually, Patchin said. But words like “independence,” “freedom” and “peace” are new concepts to people who previously have been held in disdain by those who took their lives, he said.

Still new is the message Patchin carried during his trip, as he did the year before.

“Jesus said, ‘Love your enemies.’ They struggle with hate,” he said. “We’re trying to teach them to love your enemies. It’ll take time and work.”

He said those who live in the new country “are beautiful people” — statuesque and spare. They’ve kept a feeling of self-worth, he said, even in the face of genocide.

They can be reserved, but they have a strong sense of hospitality and loyalty to their families and friends, and are quick to defend them.

Patchin said they have a higher regard for women than some nations. They also have a strong sense of what is right.

PASTOR KELLY PATCHIN.
Courtesy photo

As they learned of their country’s independence, they cheered, he said. They would gather wherever they could watch a television to hear the news, and some assembled in stadiums for broadcasts.

At one, tiny flags of the new nation were flown in and dropped for the crowds to wave.

The South Sudanese are living in a country that has seen years of oppression, though it’s also beginning to see development. “It’s happening fast,” Patchin said, observing a road from Uganda to Juba, the new country’s capital city, that is being built in collaboration with Turkey.

He said he hopes a good road can be built from Juba to Bor. And he prays that the new country’s borders can be kept secure.

Patchin said he remembers a banner bearing a declaration, perhaps a motto, for the new country, and it gave him hope.

“‘We’re not the least of Arabs. We’re the best of Africans,’” the sign proclaimed.