JAMES JEDA

“I am a Christian”

James Jeda watched as the Islamic soldiers killed his mother, father, and four brothers and sisters. He was nine years old.

The soldiers did not kill James, but they did take him as a prisoner. That evening, they instructed him to gather wood for the fire, and he assumed they were preparing to cook their evening meal.

When the fire was well stoked, the soldiers asked James if he knew of any rebel soldiers in the area. He told them he did not. Then they told him that he must become a Muslim and bow to Allah.

James, still in shock from seeing his parents killed, told them bravely that this was not possible. He simply declared, “I am a Christian.”

Infuriated, the soldiers picked up the young boy’s body and hurled him into the flames of the fire, for which he had gathered the wood. Thinking him dead, they packed up their weapons and left the area.

James was not dead, though. Somehow he rolled out of the flames and ran into the bush to safety. Today, his entire abdomen is scarred, and his arm is partially deformed due to his torture. Clearly visible on his body are the places where doctors grafted skin over his third-degree burns. He still grieves the deaths of his parents and siblings. He still feels the pain of their loss; and looking into his eyes, you see a boy who has suffered unspeakable things.

Through all of this, though, his faith remains strong: “I am a Christian.”

There are thousands of others like James Jeda in Sudan, children who have lost parents to a religious war raged against them by fanatical Muslims from the North. The Voice of the Martyrs chooses to stand with these believers. Last year VOM teams took in more than 17,500 Sudan Life Packs, each containing the essentials for one Sudanese family to survive, as well as a Bible in a language they understand. VOM also sponsors a 100-bed hospital in Southern Sudan, the only medical facility available to more than 100,000 people.

This year we hope to ship 100,000 blankets to the people of Sudan through our Blankets of Love project, giving them a little bit of warmth from Christians in the West to help them on cold Sudanese nights.

Pray for James Jeda and the countless others like him in Sudan. His physical scars will always be with him, for he bears in his body the marks of Christ (Galatians 6:17). Pray that God would heal the emotional scars James carries and will use them for His ultimate good (Romans 8:28). Pray further that you will stand with James Jeda and say no matter the cost, “I am a Christian.”

From The Voice of the Martyrs’ January 2000 Special Issue newsletter.