<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
For many years and for many reasons the Ik have been marginalised and forced up onto a tiny ridge in Northeast Uganda. Any closer to the edge and they\u2019ll fall the 3,000 feet down into Kenya. Just north of them is the Kidepo National Park and in the south, the Timu Forest. Both are rich in resources and protected by the government, which means the Ik are continually at risk of being banned from accessing these areas. They are also caught up in the ongoing cattle raids between the Kenyan Turkana in the east and the Ugandan Karamojong from the west. As a result, they are often beaten, killed, raped and plundered. Everywhere they turn they face opposition. Their weakness, isolation and vulnerability has also meant there is poor healthcare, extremely low educational levels and a massive problem with alcohol. Yet the biggest concern is that they have believed the lie that in the face of the worst of life, there really is no hope. And that just isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
Last September, a survey was carried out to obtain the local leadership\u2019s approval for a TIMO team to work amongst them. One of the TIMO team\u2019s values will be to share the Ik\u2019s identity by living amongst them. What\u2019s instantly obvious about the Ik is their strong community values. They live in small clusters of houses called manyattas, with their homes and protective fencing made from African Juniper. They provide great protection from the outside and a strong sense of family within \u2013 so it was a great answer to prayer that the Ik leaders were open for a team to come, live amongst them and share their lives with them. We were also excited that Team leaders, Christoph & Heidi Rauch from Germany were able to locate an area to build their home and agree with local land owner, Angarab Zachary to build a house there.<\/p>\r\n
It\u2019s exciting to see progress being made to reach the Ik, but why have a vision to see a small, vulnerable and forgotten mountain people reached at all? Let us not forget the beauty, pattern and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God so often uses the small things to show us he\u2019s big, the vulnerable to demonstrate his strength and the forgotton to make himself known.<\/p>\r\n
Please join in praying that God would shine in the hearts of the Ik and give them the light of the knowledge and glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n