US missionary family in South Sudan

[gardenvarietycitizen]

My paper this morning had an article about an American missionary family in South Sudan currently evacuated to a UN center, where they are now having to decide if they will stay in Sudan with 10 orphans, or flee back to the US alone. Apparently they were running a sort of orphanage there, and those 10 kids (according to the article in our local paper) call the couple "mom and dad" but it seems they're not actually official guardians, at least not enough for the kids to get US entry papers or whatever.

A quick google brings up an article (with video) on NBC's website: here (not breaking the link because it's NBC, they can handle it!)

I'm just curious if anyone here knows about this family or organization? I just should read around but figured I'd ask...

Clicking their local paper it seems they do just want to be in the US temporarily, and take the kids back to Sudan to live once it's safer. I'm just always intrigued by the various missionary orphanage type people...

[ILoveJellybeans]

I hope they are able to take the orphans with them to somewhere safer while things settle down.

[Palimpsest]

The Campbells are affiliated with this group: keepinghopealiveministries.org/

It seems to have quite a few orphanages/children's homes in Africa. The South Sudan Mission is new

Right now the Cambell family, plus the 10 children the care for, are "safe" in a UN refugee camp. Arguably Ma and Pa Campbell and their 2 offspring are taking safe places in the UN camp, food and resources away from South Sudanese who actually need them. The three other American volunteer staff at the mission have already been evacuated.

The best thing I can say -- by refusing to be evacuated the Campbells are drawing press attention to the civil war and the plight of the refugees.

[Marianne]

This is disgusting. These people are irresponsible. They are white and Christian, then they think they are above the laws of the normal adoption.