October 2006

Dear friends,

It is a great joy and blessing to share with you what the Lord God as been doing I my life. It has been just over a year since the CPA peace agreement signed between the Northern Sudan Khartoum Government and the Southern Sudan SPLM. The people of Southern Sudan are still returning to their country from neighbouring countries such as Uganda and Kenya, However it is still early days with lack of proper infrastructure such as roads, hospitals and schools. There are still also the challenges of sickness and poverty which the majority of the people face.

As you may have gathered I was sick with Malaria and Typhoid this was because of dirty water and an unbalanced diet (usually rice and meat without any vegetables). However, thank God, I went to hospital in Nairobi and after two weeks of medical treatment and rest at home, I recovered.

The work is going tremendously well, we have established as sports ministry called Fly Sports, which is a programme of Across. Fly Sports deals mainly with coaching sports in schools and communities amongst the youth. Currently we have two part-time employed Coaches working in schools. Our other main emphasis is not only to develop skills but also to give a sense of self-esteem. We have developed around 12 football teams; some in schools and within communities. We are also looking to start a football league but currently we are trying to establish a stronghold in Yei and than expand the vision to other parts of Southern Sudan.

Spiritually I feel as though my faith is growing as we are seeing the power of God manifested. I have seen three thousand come to Christ during this past month mainly in schools. For example I preached in one school morning devotion and within fifteen minutes, the entire 1200 students became born again. Praise God for his power and grace.


Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation first for the Jewish than for the gentiles.

The power of God is in the Gospel, which is Gods word.

Most of the youth here are very idle with nothing to do, so through sports and preaching the word their lives are being transformed.

Although there have been many challenges and opposition from the enemy God is faithful and he will not abandon us to the grave, blessed be the name of the Lord forever and ever. Thank you so much again, for your prayers and support I am your hands and feet, without your help I could not be doing what I am doing now.

Prayer Requests:

• Praise God for the new sports ministry
• Pray for continued good health

• Praise God for souls that are born again in schools

• Pray for continued spiritual encouragement

• Pray for funding for the sports ministry

• Pray for funding for sports equipment for the teams to use

Yours in Christ

Emmanuel Sharland

Some extra information:

Manny is working in a team with 2 Australian couples and local staff, several other non-governmental organizations are working in the area including the UN – the latter operates aircraft in the region that Manny finds useful for the longer trips as road journeys are too time consuming. All this activity has kept him working a daily routine from 8am to 7pm, including weekends. Communication is a challenge, though cyber cafes do exist, the internet connections are slow, unreliable and expensive; apparently every time it rains the connections cease to work at all.