RUFUS ANYIBU (ahn-YEE-boo)
I would love for you all to meet my dear friend Rufus. From my first visit to Wadupe Pastor Rufus has loved me and cared for me as if I were his own child. When I was sick with Malaria Rufus rode a rickety old bicycle 17 miles in the heat of Sudan just to check on me and see how I was feeling. When I asked why he rode so far just to check on me his reasoning was, “Billy, we are family. That’s what we [family] do. We take care of one another.” What a testament to brotherly love.
Rufus is the community director for the Help Me Live/Help Me Read project in Wadupe. He organizes and mobilizes the community to work. He helps me buy supplies, keep food stocked for the community workers, and arrange anything we need. He translates and explains my words to the community. Rufus truly understands the heart of Why The Woods, and does a great job bridging the gap between the community and me.
During the war Rufus was one of a few who remained in Sudan rather than flee to Uganda or The Congo. He has seen terrible things, and has endured much suffering. He has told me stories of where he used to hide from bullets and bombs. He was forced to carry food and water to soldiers of both armies. Through it all his faith remained strong. Today he is excited about a new future for his family and his village.
Rufus has seven boys and one girl. His oldest, Wesley, is trying to finish secondary school in Uganda but has trouble paying the school fees. His younger children are students in the Wadupe Primary School. Rufus is a great farmer. He has fields of maize, kasava, and sugar cane. These crops are barely enough to sustain his large family, and coupled with the work of the HML/HMR project, he quietly struggles to provide for his children. Rufus greets us each day with a smile and a prayer for blessings. He is a great man.
Please pray for Rufus and the tremendous task he has as a father and the community leader.
