Bearing witness to the Gospel amidst this brokenness and despair, the LCSS not only trains pastors but also provides scholarships to the most affected members of the church. One of the scholarship recipients is Nyakathare Pal Gach.
Nyakathare fled with her mother and brother from South Sudan in 2013. Most of her siblings had died at birth or at a young age and her father died in the war. Her mother has a leprosy disease that has crippled her hands and feet. Thinking she might also die, her mother called her “Nyakathare” which means “aimless birth pain.” She beat the odds and survived!
Nyakathare and her family (mother and brother) became active members of the LCSS and participated in all activities of the church. Her brother became a choir director and her mother played key roles in the women's ministry. Unfortunately, Nyakathare’s brother was killed in the Gambella ethnic violence in 2016. This was devastating not only to Nyakathare and her mother, but also to the LCSS church family. The power of darkness robbed the family once more and they turned to God in prayer as their only hope of survival.
The LCSS shines the light of the Gospel and brings hope into the lives of Nyakathare and her mother by offering her a scholarship to study a three-year diploma program in Clinical Nursing at Trinity Lutheran College. The student allowance she receives from the scholarship helps offset family financial burden. Once she finishes her study, the LCSS will help her find a job, probably at the college.
These skills allow the students a means to earn a living and thus be allowed to live outside of the refugee camps.
