After a yearlong sailing trip from Seattle to Mexico, Teri and Brian Johnson were heading home in August when they got an e-mail.
The message, from World Concern, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization, was for Teri Johnson, who had worked as media director for the group.
The message: the group wanted the couple to go to Sudan. The couple knew the chaotic African nation has thousands of refugees in need of help, but they were looking forward to spending time with family after the long trip.
The Christian couple prayed, and the answer followed.
“We really felt like God wanted us to be there,” said Teri Johnson, 37, an Everett native who has family in Snohomish County.
On Friday, the couple were packing to leave Seattle-Tacoma International Airport this past Sunday for Sudan’s Darfur region, where they will join a partnership of humanitarian aid organizations, including World Concern, in helping refugees.
Brian Johnson, 37, will work with a team of logisticians, who are tasked with managing the transportation of food, medicine, relief supplies and personnel to project areas. Teri Johnson will be responsible for managing communications inside and outside the relief effort.
They will spend three to six months there, depending on the relief effort’s progress and funding, said Brian Johnson, a Seattle native.
The conflict erupted in the region 18 months ago when two rebel groups demanded a better political and economic deal from the Sudanese government for the arid western region, according to World Concern.
In the past year, hundreds of thousands of black African Sudanese families have fled attacks against their towns, the burning of their buildings and crops, rapes, killings and looting by armed Arab militia groups, backed by the Sudanese government.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Congress on Thursday that the attacks amount to genocide.
“Safety is always a concern when you are going into a situation like this,” Teri Johnson said adding she has confidence in the effort to keep its members safe.
Leaving her family is the hardest part, Teri Johnson said.
Kristina Johnson of Stanwood said she was not surprised when sister-in-law Teri Johnson decided to respond to the request. “She is just a very caring person, and this is something she’s trained for.”
Kristina Johnson said she is concerned about the couple’s safety, but admires their courage and ability to help those in need. “We are just trying to support them as best as we can because this is what they want to do,” she said.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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