Africa Mission

Africa Talk Date Change

2008-06-16T08:03:00.001-07:00

I will be sharing some of my experiences in Africa at my home church in two weeks (please note the date change):

When: June 29 (Sunday) at 12:15 PM

Where: Massanutten Presbyterian Church

Please let me know if you would like to come and I will send you an evite. Thanks!

Back in America

2008-05-27T09:12:00.001-07:00

Well, it’s been over a month since I’ve gotten back from Africa and I’d like to share with you all what’s been going on in my life since then:

The night before I was supposed to leave Sudan, we still had a few people at our house in Torit from our retreat weekend. At one point during the evening, Matt, Tara (short-termer in Yei), Megan Nelson (short-term coordinator from Kampala), and Verena (pre-AIM candidate) were all sitting on my bed while I was packing. This was reminiscent of my last night in the States with my sister, her boyfriend, and my parents in and out of my room while I was packing. The day I left Sudan was an emotional day for me. Beatrice came to say goodbye and told me that her girls already missed me. Peace, her 3-year-old, told her mother that she was going to sneak into my luggage and go with me! My flight was late (not unusual) so I was able to spend a little bit more time with the Bylers and Matthew. As I boarded the plane, I said my tearful goodbyes and left Torit. As I was flying over the town, I couldn’t believe that I was leaving. Six months flew past and it felt like only a couple of weeks.

me, Megan, Lydia, Meghan, Tara

my Sudanese family

I flew out of Sudan with Megan Nelson and we were able to spend the afternoon and evening in Kampala shopping and just hanging out. I spent the evening at Matoke Inn with the new innkeepers, Nigel and Rowena, and another couple (Susan and Mike Boyett, whom I met during the LAMP course). I got very little sleep that night and before I knew it, I was in a van driving back to Entebbe airport. God blessed me with one last glimpse of the African sunrise that will be forever engraved in my mind.

As I was traveling I began to realize how much I was going to miss Africa and the friends I had made there. In fact it was really hard to leave. At one point while I was sitting on the plane in London, I looked out the window and saw that the gate over was boarding a Kenyan Airways plane. I seriously contemplated getting off my flight and going to that gate. As I was flying over NYC, I felt like it was almost surreal. It was actually a bit over-whelming. How could I already be back in the States?

I arrived safely in New York late Wednesday evening (April 23) and my flight from London to Newark was actually an hour early (when does that ever happen?). My friends, Mark and Jess, were there greeting me in Hokie style (they literally had a sign with turkey tracks on it). After I met Jess and Mark, Jess bought me a Starbucks latte, and even though I woke up the next morning with bad stomach cramps (too much milk too fast) it was still amazing. That night, I only got about five hours of sleep. So between the little sleep my first night back in the States and practically no sleep in Kampala or on the plane, I was exhausted.

After my debrief session with Miriam (which was great!), my parents and Jo picked me up from Pearl River. I was so excited to see them, especially Jo! As soon as I got in the car and we started traveling, I couldn’t stop starring at my surroundings. It was so strange to look around me and see green…let along properly paved highways! My first reintroduction back into American culture was going to Panera Bread right outside of NYC at noon. Oh my! It was a bit overwhelming. And to top it off Jo and I got this woman that took our order and she treated us like we were five-years-old! I never wanted to get out of a place so bad! After lunch we traveled into Manhattan, where we would spend the next two days.

We had an excellent time in the city. That Thursday turned out to be a beautiful day. We met up with Jess and Mark and just walked around Central Park. It was beautiful! Everything was in full bloom. Jo got some amazing pictures (you should check out her blogspot when you get a chance...it's linked to the right). We toured the Met on Friday and it was great but I was exhausted. I still wasn't sleeping all that well and I wasn’t really feeling too great (I don't think I realized how rich American food was). Friday night we got to see a play (Wicked is amazing). And Saturday we headed home. New York was nice but I was happy to finally get home.

NYC in full bloom

me in Central Park

The Met

Since I’ve been back I’ve had the chance settle back into the “American” life. One of the first things I did when I got home was just stand in front of the refrigerator! It’s actually kind of weird. I was able to go six months without refrigeration, a reliable internet connection, television and cable, hot water, air-conditioned vehicles, a variety of clothes, stores with a wide selection of food, washing machines and dryers and, oh goodness, so much more! It’s amazing that I didn’t even realize that I had missed those things until I was around them again. I was able to get by without a lot of the conveniences of this lifestyle.

So, what have I been doing? Mostly, I’ve been trying to visit people and catch up. So far, I’ve been able to see many of my close friends, family members, and people from church. I’ve also been preparing for upcoming talks through my church…my first one is this Sunday. (I'm the guest speaker at the women's annual meeting; one of the member's wants me to speak at his covenant Sunday school class; I have to make a presentation to the board of deacons; and I will be making my own presentation for the rest to the church.) I have also been going through nearly 2000 pictures (ok that number may be a bit exaggerated…but there are at least 1700!). Jo and I have slowly been going through all of my pictures so that I can start working on presentations. We've been deleting and Jo's been editing in Photoshop. Jo and I have also spent quite a bit of time “de-cluttering” our house. We had a yard sale a couple weekends ago and as I was getting rid of some of that stuff I couldn't help but think "someone in Africa could really use this!" The other big thing for me will be weddings. This year will also be my third round of weddings. I had my first of many wedding events the first weekend of May. I had a bridal shower in northern Virginia, which was great since I got to see my best friend. I’ve also had the first wedding of the year a little over a week ago. I’m going to have a rather busy year and my weekends during the next two months are already filling up.

me and Alli at her bridal shower

me and dad at my cousin's wedding

So, what’s next? That’s something I’m still trying to work out with God. I’m in a discernment period right now. I know that I need to find a job and soon. Between the raising gas prices and the many weddings I will attend or be in, I’ll have to find a job! I’ve been rather lax in this area since I’m still not really sure what I want to do and the job market is not the greatest right now. Many people have asked about Africa. I actually do want to go back. I may look into going back to Kenya but I don’t know when. I’ve got a lot to discuss with God in the coming months. Until then, I will continue to tie up the loose ends of my first trip (presentations and what not).

I do want to thank you all, once again, for all of your support. I would never have gotten to experience Africa if it weren’t for each one of you. Your prayers and financial support have been greatly appreciated. I will hopefully be able to post a slide-show on this blog once Jo and I finish going through pictures. Also, I will be giving a presentation on June 22 at my church. I would like to extend an invitation to you all. I will send out an evite closer to the date with more details. Again, thank you for everything!

Salaam Taaki!

Farewell Sudan

2008-04-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

As my time here in Africa is wrapping up, I too am wrapping up my various ministries. Last week was spent finishing up work in both the school and the hospital and saying my goodbyes. (Yes, I still have this full week but due to the Sudan census – which is actually postponed now – things have been shut down for the week.) I also attended the AIC Church for the last time on Sunday since we are having our South Sudan Unit Retreat this weekend.

AIC Primary School
My time at the school was spent reviewing the midterms which I had given the previous week. There are many students in both of my classes that are really struggling through school. I’ll give you an example. I have spent the entire term teaching the alphabet to my P3 students (basically 3rd-graders). After I graded their midterms, I found out that ¾ of the class are failing…by Western standards. The reasons for this vary: the language barrier between me and the students; students showing up for the first time half way through the term; lack of discipline in attending school daily; not being able to understand English which is what all lessons are taught in; and class size (when I showed up for my P3 midterm I had 80 students!). Against all these barriers, the school continues to push forward.

Anyway, as I said earlier, I spent the week reviewing the midterms and then did something fun with each class. For P3, I took the words that they learned while learning the alphabet and played an altered version of “Hang Man”. It was the same concept as “Hang Man” but I called it “Build the Tukel”. I just didn’t think it was appropriate to play the actual “Hang Man”. For my P4 students, I took the opportunity to read two books to them. I have a much better relationship with my P4 students since they seem to understand me better and they’re a much smaller class (about 30). I read them an African book about a little girl’s first day of school. I later read them The Cat in the Hat which they thought pretty funny. I’m not sure that they understood much of either books but they loved the pictures. After I finished reading they gave me a big applause which I was tickled about. At the end of the class period I told the students that I would go back to the US. Many of them told me to take them with me but most of them just wished me “safe travels”. They asked all sorts of questions about where I lived and where other countries were located. I had to explain that the US and Canada are two different countries. One little boy asked if there were villages in the US. I had to explain that there were only towns and cities and nothing that resembled the villages in Africa. The questions continued and so I drew a rough, really rough, map of the world and pointed out where different countries were located. They wanted to know where London, Hong Kong, Australia, Uganda, Tanzania, and several other countries were located. I actually had a lot of fun pointing out the different places.

Me teaching

At the very end of the week I had a meeting with Phil, the headmaster, and deputy headmaster to discuss my time at the school and to talk about AIM’s future involvement with the school. It was a very successful meeting and very beneficial for all of us. The headmaster and deputy both thanked me for my involvement and were very open to allowing future missionaries to come in. Even though I’ve had my frustrations with the school, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. My hope and prayer for the school is that it would continue to grow in effectiveness and efficiency and that it would exemplify Christ so that each child may grow in their faith.

Torit Civil Hospital
I didn’t really have the opportunity to spend a lot of time at the VCT last week. All the counselors, except Richard, had gone to help with the census and the office was pretty much dead. Most of the time I spent working with the VCT was finishing up the sign. The sign turned out to be more difficult to make than I had anticipated. The paint was not the best quality and I didn’t have the proper paintbrushes or stenciling for doing a sign. But in the end the sign turned out ok. It was functional and that was good enough for me. Phil and I hung the sign Friday morning even though no one was even at the clinic. I was also able to make a flier that would be printed after the census and passed out through the town. I hope that now the sign is hung people would be aware that there is a VCT in Torit and not have to travel to other counties to be tested.

Richard and I

That same week we had an eye surgeon and his team that came up from Uganda to perform cataract surgeries. By the end of the week, they performed over 60 surgeries and saw many other patients for check-ups and issued prescriptions. Wednesday, after I finished at the VCT, I joined Phil, Linda, Matt and the rest of the team. I didn’t really help but it was just amazing to see the number of people that came out. I had the opportunity to talk to one girl who was suffering from severe blindness. She was in her early 20s and was attending school in Juba. She was a bright girl. Her English was perfect. She had done well for herself in spite of her condition. Unfortunately, there was nothing the doctor could do for her, but he did encourage her to keep up with her education and doing what she’s been doing. There was another woman who, I am told, was led by a cane by her daughter to the clinic on Monday. Her cataracts were so bad that she was unable to see to walk. Luckily, the doctor was able to remove her cataracts and restore her sight. I saw her on Wednesday and she was still smiling. She even raised her cane (in the form of a cross) and gave praise to Jesus in her mother tongue. This touched me so much! So many people came and accepted their diagnosis. Others came, heard their diagnosis, and decided that it wasn’t helpful. All in all, it was a very successful week and many people received their sight again.

Play Time
Saturday was my last day to spend some time with Amama, Peace, Winny, and a new-comer, Okecha Tonny (actually Beatrice’s youngest brother – he’s probably about 9 or 10). I’m not even sure that I’ve mentioned this, but I have had the girls, and lately Okecha, over to the house once a week to play games, color, look at books, and do other craft things. They have even helped me with my Arabic a bit. This last day we did the same things but they sang a few songs for me (which I recorded). I will take some of my craft things over to the kids before I leave so that they can continue their creativity. They have been such a joy to be around and I will miss spending time with them.

Okecha

AIC Church of Torit
Sunday was the last time for me to worship at the AIC Church. During the service they have a time when the visitors stand up and introduce themselves and tell the congregation where they come from. I too stood up and was able to greet the church. I told them that I would return to the US soon. When I said this many of the Women of Good News started murmuring or saying “oh”. Many of the church members (who I knew) did not realize that I was leaving so soon. At the end of the service I was able to greet everyone in the church in the greeting line. Many people told me to greet my “people of the US” and others told me not to go. After church was completely over, greeting line and all, Amama (Pastor Peter’s eldest daughter) grabbed my hands and refused to let them go. I know that she knows I will leave soon. I would so love to take her home with me. Her and her sisters! I was able to take some pictures of many of the kids once again along with Pastor Peter and his family. I’m really going to miss that family! I have really enjoyed getting to know some of the people in the church and I know that I will be quite sad to leave them.

AIC Church

Pastor Peter and his family

Although I have wrapped up my ministries I still have much to do my last full week in Africa. This weekend we will have our South Sudan Unit Retreat. Most of the AIM missionaries from all over Sudan will come to Torit for a time of reunion and encouragement. I am helping Linda get the house in order, baking, planning the children’s program, and setting up the accommodations for everyone (basically putting up tents but still appropriately appointed). It’s funny to me that I will be meeting some of these people for the very first time only to leave two days later, but I guess life is full of moments like that! I am excited that I am still here to be a part of this weekend and to see those I do know before I return home.

It’s still strange to me that my time in Africa is coming to a close. I feel as though I’ve been here for years and, at the same time, that I’ve only been here a couple of weeks. I’ve been asked about how I’m feeling about leaving. Part of me is excited to see my family and friends but the other part of me is sad to leave new friends and, well, Africa. God placed the desire for Africa in my heart a while ago. Even though God gave me the opportunity to serve in Africa, the desire only grows more. I pray that another opportunity will be given to me in the future, but we will see where God will lead me. I want to thank each one of you for supporting me in this mission. From your prayers and encouragement to your financial support and gifts, I appreciate it all. I would not be here today if I did not have your support. For that, I thank you.

This will not be my last entry. I may post a brief entry about the retreat and leaving Sudan once I’m back in the States. I will also post an entry reflecting on my time in Africa. So I guess the next time you will hear from me, I will be in America. I will see you soon! Salaam Taaki!

Gulu: Delays, Easter, and Kopé Café

2008-04-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

Good Friday started quite early for me. Sleeping in a tent on the Scotland’s compound in Ikotos, I was awakened not only to rooster crowing only a few yards away but to the neighbor’s radio playing nothing but static. It was not even 5 am. After lying there a few minutes hoping that our neighbors would just turn off the radio, I finally stepped out of my tent. Kennedy, our Ugandan friend with LWF (Lutheran World Federation), was supposed to pick us up at 6 am so that we could proceed to Gulu. By 5:30 Lydia (a new short-termer working in Ikotos with Meghan for three months), Meghan, Matt, and I were up and getting ready for our journey.

Lydia and I

By 5:50, we were ready and waiting. 6 am faded into 6:30 and still no Kennedy. Matt and Meghan walked over to the LWF compound to find out where the ride was. When they got back, they told us that they had gotten Kennedy out of bed and that we would probably leave in another hour. Well, we didn’t actually leave until about 10 am. (To those of you who hate delays, this is a typical travel day in Africa.) Now, we originally thought that the only people riding in the vehicle would be the driver, Kennedy, Andrew, Godfrey (both of whom also work for LWF), and the four of us. When word got out that there was a vehicle traveling to Uganda, there were more people that turned out to get a ride. We drove a Land Cruiser to Uganda. There were ten of us in the back on bench seats, and three in front (including the driver). Needless to say, it was a tight squeeze. Most of the luggage had to be put up on the roof rack since we needed has much space as possible for leg-room. The road was extremely bumpy but was much smoother (still a bit bumpy) once we crossed into Uganda. We had lunch in Kitgum, where we also dropped a few passengers. As we traveled on to Gulu from Kitgum, we passed so many IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) Camps. These camps were set up during the war in Uganda when the LRA (Lord’s Resistant Army) was attacking the north. People fled from their homes to these camps and many of them are still living in these camps. These camps were full of hundreds of tukels just piled up on top of one another. There was barely any space between each tukel. I wish I could have taken pictures but the vehicle was moving too quickly and the road was too bumpy.

Gulu

We finally reached Gulu in the late afternoon. Gulu is a small town (but much bigger than Torit) bustling with Ugandans and NGOs. Our first task, after dropping a few people, was to find an ATM. Unfortunately, due to the holiday weekend, practically every bank was closed, including the only bank in Gulu that accepts our missionary accounts. We dropped Matt and another girl off at the “bus stop” (the gas station where the busses stop). Matt was going to travel on to Kampala that evening and we confirmed that the busses to Kampala would be arriving shortly. Kennedy then took us girls to a guest house close to where he lived called Crete Mini Conference Center. Well, it wasn’t really a conference center and, in fact, it wasn’t really set up to accommodate guests. There were beds and facilities but I got the feeling that there weren’t many people that stayed there. Our room consisted of three sets of bunk beds crammed into a very small space. The bathroom was a full bathroom without running water. We had to dump water from a Jeri can into the toilet to flush it. (I believe that was the hardest shower/sponge bath I’ve ever taken!) While our room was being made up, we visited Kennedy’s family for a while. Around 6:30 pm, Kennedy got a phone call from Matt. The busses to Kampala hadn’t shown up yet, and Matt decided to not travel on since he wouldn’t arrive until after midnight. We picked Matt up just as the busses were arriving and from there went to Andrew’s house for dinner. We met Andrew’s wife, Doreen, and his youngest child, Gifty (she is named this because Andrew and Doreen believed her to be a gift from the Lord). Gifty is so adorable! She’s only 3-months-old and she can already sit up.

Andrew, Gifty, and Doreen

Dinner was amazing! I believe that was the best African meal I’ve ever had. Doreen is an amazing cook. We kept telling her that she needed to open her own restaurant. We had such a great time visiting with Andrew’s family.

Saturday, I was awakened to “Another One Bites the Dust”. It was 4 am and Meghan’s cell phone was going off. Doreen was calling to let us know that they would be leaving at 5 am for Kampala and that Matt could accompany them. I fell back to sleep before Matt even left. Later that morning, Meghan, Lydia, and I walked into the heart of Gulu. Our first stop was a Ugandan bank where we were able to exchange some US dollars for Ugandan shillings. It wasn’t much but it was enough to get by with until the banks reopened on Monday. We had breakfast at this little coffee shop named Kopé Café. It was a quaint little café with Mzungu food. We spent the entire morning at this café eating, sipping coffee, and reading. I almost felt like I was back in the States.

Inside the Kopé Café

Our Waitresses

While we were at Kopé, Meghan discovered an older lady that lived behind the café who made jewelry. This woman, Janet, made paper beads and then strung them together into necklaces. I was so excited because I’ve wanted to purchase this kind of jewelry. I went back and talked to Janet for some time and she showed me how to make the beads. Before I left I purchased several necklaces and thanked her profusely. She in turn thanked me so much because she knew that she would now have a good Easter meal. (Now, don’t think I spent a lot of money because I really didn’t. It was only a couple of dollars but to her that was quite a bit more.) Later in the afternoon we walked all around Gulu and did a little souvenir shopping. Towards the end of the day it began to rain, so we headed back to Kopé Café for dinner and then to the guest house for some sleep.

Easter Sunday brought the rains. We went to Christ Church, an Anglican church, which is where Andrew goes to church. We just weren’t really sure where to go. It was a large church but when we arrived at 8 am the church wasn’t really full. I believe we were the only Mzungus in the church. I had high hopes for this service, especially when they sang “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” and read from John about Christ’s resurrection. (The AIC churches, at least in Sudan, don’t really make a big deal about Easter so I was excited to attend an Easter service.) The bishop gave the sermon and he didn’t quite hit the nail. I won’t go into detail but I’ll give you an example: he claimed that the “one whom Jesus loved” was Judas. He was quoting the scripture from John! The bishop spoke for about 45 minutes or so. I started noticing that the church was getting fuller and fuller. People were still arriving AFTER the sermon. I don’t quite remember what happened in the second half of the service other than the serving of communion and the choir singing the Hallelujah chorus (the choir did a decent job, but I’m not too sure what the guy on the piano was playing). By the end of the 2 ½ hour service the bishop once again got up and addressed the people living in the IDP camps. He told them: “Go home! Go home! The war is over! Go home!” It was quite an interesting Easter service.

Christ Church

Lydia and I

After church we went to Kopé Café for brunch and then back to the Crete guesthouse to pack up our stuff. We then moved to another guesthouse called the Franklin House. (We really wanted running water.) After we were settled we walked to the outskirts of Gulu to this really nice conference center (which we couldn’t afford to stay at) for a late Easter lunch. We all agreed that Kopé Café was better. The rest of the evening we just spent hanging out at the Franklin House. I got the chance to know Lydia a little better since we were sharing a room (Meghan had her own room). Later that night, Meghan and I called our families.

Lydia, Meghan, and I inside Kopé Café

Easter Monday was a beautiful day. Our first stop…Kopé Café (yes, we went there every day!). Once we discovered the banks were open we were able to access the ATM and then do a little resupply. (Since we don’t have that much food variety in Sudan, more so in Ikotos, then we have to do resupply on dry stuffs outside of the country.) We spent the entire day stocking up. We took a short break and relaxed a bit at the guesthouse. (They had track events on the TVs in the restaurant area so we sat glued to the television for some time.) We then walked through the open market to see what fresh produce we needed. That was by far the most organized open market I’ve ever seen! All of the grains were in one area, fruits and vegetables in another, and fish in another. They even had an entire pavilion for just bananas. I’ve never seen so many bananas. As we were walking through deciding on what to buy, Meghan pointed out a few tables where several old women sat and noted that they were selling “witch doctor” products. The tables were full of random odd things. Once we had made our way through the entire market, we started at the banana pavilion and made our way back. Meghan and Lydia stocked up since they can’t get much fresh produce in the Ikotos market. I only bought a few fresh items (string beans, green peppers, and oranges).

After our market trip, we showered and returned to Kopé Café for dinner. While we were there we received a call from Doreen letting us know that they were back in town. She asked us if we wanted to come over so that she could teach us how to prepare a local Ugandan dish. We quickly ate and walked over to the house. We sat and chatted with Andrew for a bit and played with Gifty. Then Doreen showed us how to prepare greens with eggs (cooked leafy greens mixed with tomato, onion, and eggs). Around 9:30 or so we finished preparing the greens and sat down with the family and had a second meal (we didn’t eat that much). The greens were delicious; I just hope that I can remember how to make them! I enjoyed hanging out with Andrew’s family so much. They are such a loving family!

Tuesday was a travel day…and a waiting day. Meghan and I went to Kopé Café for breakfast while Lydia was running. We made a few quick stops before we returned to the Franklin House to finish packing. By 10 am our stuff was in the vehicle and the driver was taking us to visit the Invisible Children office. Meghan has worked with Invisible Children in the States promoting their efforts and participating in local events. She was really excited to finally see the organization in person. We were given a tour by the PR person, another Mzungu named Kelly. Kelly took us through all the departments and told us what IC is currently doing and what the future looks like as well. I would love to tell you more about what they are doing by I fear that this entry is already too long. You can check out their website on the link to the right of the page.

After our tour we went to pick up Kennedy and found out that we were going to Kopé Café to wait for Andrew. We were told that we would be leaving around 11:30 am. (Are you starting to see a pattern?) We waited at the café until about 1:30. When Andrew showed up we waited in the vehicle until 2:30 until Kennedy showed up (he had wandered off some where). My Western side really came out while we were waiting. I was really anxious to get back to Sudan and my patience was waning. When Kennedy finally showed up we sped to Kitgum but by the time we got there it was too late to proceed to Sudan. The Sudan border would close at 5 pm and it was either sleep in Kitgum or sleep in the bush at the Sudan border. So, we stayed in Kitgum that night. We left the next day about mid-morning and made it back to Ikotos by about 3. I had even more problems trying to get back to Torit but I finally made it back by Friday afternoon.

Our Gulu trip made for a nice holiday weekend and a nice break from Sudan, despite the few frustrations of travel. As my time in Africa comes to a close in the next few weeks, I will spend it in Torit. I am looking forward to seeing what the next few weeks will bring. Well, until next time…Salaam Taaki!!

Blessed Literacy

2008-03-19T00:14:00.000-07:00

“Happy is the one who reads this book…”
~Revelation 1:3a~

I was struck by this verse last Friday at the small graduation ceremony for those teachers undergoing training in the Latuko language. These teachers had just completed their course so that they could go back to their home churches and teach others how to read and write in their mother tongue. I was so encouraged by these teachers. Each one was very eager to get back to their homes to begin teaching. The hope is that eventually the Latuko people will be able to read the Bible in their own language. What a wonderful gift! The Latuko Bible does exist, but very few know how to read it. With this course the Latuko people will get the chance to read daily the Word of God.

Baby Linda and Linda Byler

As I thought about this verse, Revelation 1:3a, I realize that I’ve never heard this verse before. Well, I’ve never heard this translation (Good News Bible). I would like to break this verse down a bit. The NIV Bible uses the word “blessed” which means much more than “happy”. This word describes the favorable circumstances God has put a person in. The NIV Bible uses the word “prophecy” instead of “book”. Now some would argue that this verse is only implied for the book of Revelation since it is based off the prophecy given by John. But for the sake of this simple verse, the word “prophecy” and “book” means “any word from God – whether command, instruction, history, or prediction” (NIV Commentary). I’m going to go back to using the word “happy”. When I heard this verse, I thought to myself, “am I happy when I read the Bible?” Honestly, I would have to say no, not all the time. When I was honest with myself in answering this question it saddened me. I have to ability to read and write, in English none-the-less! (I’m learning very quickly that English really is a hard language to learn. If you don’t believe me, try teaching 50 Sudanese children different techniques of English!) And yet, there are days when I feel like it’s more of a chore to pick up the Bible and read. I have witnessed the different people groups here in Sudan get excited when they see any book in their own language and even more so when it’s a Bible. I wish I could be excited every day when I go to pick up my Bible! I know that whatever I read, whether it is a Psalm or a passage out of Leviticus, the Lord will bless my life through that reading in some way. I may not know how and it may not happen that particular day but I believe I will be blessed by that passage. I was vulnerable with you, now I would ask you to be vulnerable with yourselves. Ask yourself the same thing I asked myself: “Am I happy when I read the Bible?” Then take the extra step and try and figure out why. You may have to dig a little to find the answer but it is there.

Linda, Teresa, and Beatrice

This weekend we celebrate the hope of our salvation. Friday we will witness our Savior sacrificing His life for each one of us. Sunday we will see our salvation secured. I encourage you to open up to the Gospels and read about what your Savior did for you. My prayer for you this Easter is that you may find joy in reading the Word of the Lord.

Baby Linda

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade…”
~1 Peter 1:3,4a~

Teresa

The Needs of Torit

2008-03-03T04:42:00.000-08:00

I’ve been back in Torit for almost four weeks now and things just don’t seem to slow down. After a long weekend of recuperation at the beginning of February, I dove back into my areas of ministry.

Work at the hospital has been pretty sluggish. My first week and a half saw no patients. I learned from Richard, the counselor I work with, that many people in the area just don’t know that the VCT clinic (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) is at the hospital. Now I knew this was a problem prior to the World AIDS Day event in December but I thought for sure more people would be aware of it by now. But the reality is, that there are people in Torit that are traveling to Nimule and Magwai (other counties within Eastern Equatoria State) to visit the VCTs there. These people are spending money to travel to a VCT in other areas of the state when they could walk freely to a clinic in their own town. I suggested that perhaps we could send out some fliers. Richard liked the idea but thought that people wouldn’t even know where the clinic was located. The problem is the clinic currently has no sign; not even on the building where the clinic is located. Richard has been in contact with the AIDS Commissioner in Juba to get funding for a sign but to no avail. I asked him how much it would cost for a sign and he told me over 1000 Sudanese Pounds (roughly 500 USD). I thought that was a bit outrageous but learned that this would include signs on both ends of the town (so those traveling through in either direction would be aware of the VCT) and one in front of the hospital. Signs and advertisements are the best option for the VCT. Word-of-mouth usually works but that doesn’t seem to be a very reliable stream of communication at this time. To remedy this, I have asked if I could create a temporary sign or plaque to be attached to the building. This way, as long as people know that the VCT is at the hospital, they can just wonder around the compound until they find the right building. Richard has okayed this and so I hope to get a sign made very soon. The next step I will take will be to create fliers, with Richard, that can be spread throughout the town. I hope that we can send them by the various government buildings and churches. I will be using some of my funds to finance this project in hopes that the VCT will be able to be used to its fullest.

Peace and Amama

Primary School

School, on the other hand, has been incredibly busy. School actually started before I got back which I didn’t think would start until the end of February. AND the school has expanded to not just nursery, Kindergarten, and Primary 1, but those three plus P2-P4. When I found this out my first question was “And who will be teaching all these levels?” When I left in December there was only Charles (the headmaster), Rogers, and myself. We now have another young man from the church and Beatrice, Pastor Peter’s wife. Beatrice, however, only teaches when she’s not incredibly busy. (She constantly has to play hostess and she’s a mother of three, one of which is still nursing.) I was a bit apprehensive in coming back to the school and this news made me even more apprehensive. I knew how much I struggled in the last term; I wasn’t sure what this term was going to be like. But God is good and I am actually very much enjoying school. I met with Charles and Rogers to discuss what I would be doing during this term and we agreed that I would still come on just Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but this term I would only teach English to P3 and P4. With how the schedule works, I will be teaching P3 and P4 Tuesday mornings and only P4 on Thursday mornings. Charles thought that the older students would understand me better and be a bit more disciplined. So far he’s right. I arrived my first day of teaching in this new term and found the school relatively organized but still a bit chaotic. Classes have been separated as best as possible but with large numbers. Two classes meet in a large UNICEF tent behind the church (they’ve made a partition to separate the classes), two more classes meet under big trees beside the church, one class is in the church, and the other is beside the school office (also in the church). While school seems to be going well, the numbers keep growing. In fact, it has been four weeks since the beginning of school and we still have parents registering their children. I’ll give you an example: My first day of teaching P4 (Thursday, February 14), I had six students. The second day (Tuesday, February 19) I had 12-15 students. The third day I had 21 students. Last Thursday I had close to 30 students in just P4. I have only taught one P3 class and that was over two weeks ago, so I have no clue what the class will look like now. I believe that there are easily 200 students at the school right now and only four-five teachers. (See if that would be suitable in the States!) I think the reason they are still admitting students to the school, even four weeks after the beginning of the term, is so that the school will be recognized by the government. I also think that is the reason for the addition of more class levels. I don’t believe the AIC school in Torit was recognized by the government last year, therefore the teachers do not get paid. (I’m not really sure how the pay system worked last year or if the two teachers even got paid.) Once the school is recognized by the government, the government can also send in more teachers and hopefully funds for a real school building. Right now there is a real need for teachers, trained teachers, in Torit. The town is growing and it’s growing fast. More and more families are moving back to town and they need schools to send their children to, thus the need for teachers. If you are interesting in teaching in Torit, let me know! Anyway, back to school…my students do seem to be a little more disciplined than last term and they seem to understand me better. I have two or three P4 students who speak English very well and they have been such a blessing to me. They have been able to translate a bit of what I’m saying to the rest of the class. I feel more encouraged at the school this term and I definitely enjoy it more. I still see areas of struggles from time to time but it was nothing like last term. One struggle I still have is the style of teaching. I have to be gracious in this area because the way the other teachers teach is the way they were shown when they were in school. They have also not been properly trained. Usually a lesson consists of the teacher copying the lesson in English straight from the book onto the blackboard. They will read what’s on the board and make the students repeat it several times aloud and then they walk away leaving the students behind to copy what’s on the board into their notebooks. That’s it. There is no real teaching going on. They don’t work one-on-one with any child and they don’t even give the children a chance to ask questions if they have them. The children are expected to understand it. And of course most of the children don’t really understand even if they say they do. Most of them can’t speak English, so I’m sure they can’t read it. I have been trying to do more teaching than just copying things onto the board. I am using the books for the grade levels but I try to explain the lesson and then give them an exercise. With P4, I actually grade their exercises during the class time so that I can correct them and see patterns of misunderstanding. At the end of the lesson, I then go over the entire exercise and have them give me answers. I have even told them that if they do need help or they don’t understand something that I will help them. I actually had one little boy this past week ask for help because he didn’t understand what he was suppose to do. I hope that I can model this style of teaching not only to the students but to the other teachers so that hopefully they will at least be able to see the difference in styles.

Making Jewelry

Not only have I been busy in the school and the hospital, but I’ve also been helping Russ and Lyn Noble with a project. Russ and Lyn’s ministry is literacy within native languages. In the past they have run training courses in eight different languages of South Sudan. This coming week they will be starting a training course in Latuko or Otuho (both the same language just different spellings and sayings). The Latuko tribe is one of the largest, other than Acholi, in Eastern Equatoria. The goal of the course is to train teachers from different areas around the state to teach literacy in their mother tongue. There are two teachers coming from seven or eight towns across Eastern Equatoria. The course will run for ten days at the end of which the newly trained teachers will go back to their home churches and start a literacy class. In a couple of months, Russ and Lyn hope to travel to these churches to see how the classes have progressed. So, where do I fit in? Well, they have been creating materials for the course over the past two weeks which need assembling, cutting, laminated (yes, they have a laminator), and other things. That is what I’ve been doing in my spare time. Any of you who know me well and have worked with me know that I actually enjoy doing these things. It has actually been really interesting to do some of these things because I’ve gotten to see a little more of the Nobles’ ministry and a new language. The Latuko language has 35 letters in their alphabet! 35! I found out that another language in Western Equatoria close to Congo border has 45 letters in their alphabet! Russ and Lyn have been persevering through computer glitches, teaching methods, and teaching materials for the past few weeks but they are just about prepared and should be ready to go Tuesday morning. Please be praying for them over the next two weeks and specifically, that they can produce eager, well-trained teachers.

That is just a taste of what life in Torit has been like since I’ve been back. There is much more that I have not shared, but I’m sure I will share those experiences in due time. Well until next time…Salaam Taaki!

Winny

Goodbye Kenya, Hello Sudan

2008-02-15T05:17:00.000-08:00

The second half of ABO went quickly by. Meghan finally recovered and both of us were very active with the children. On top of learning new things about the various African countries and animals, the kids got to experience a trip into the market, a home visit, and time spent at a local school where they also got to swim. On the last day of ABO the children got dressed-up in different African garb and set up a market of their own. Each child laid a konga (blanket/wrap) on the floor and displayed all of their crafts they had made throughout ABO. The parents later walked through the market and did a little “shopping.” Although getting the market set up was a bit stressful, everyone had fun in the end.

Alex Juggling Chicks

Scottish Dance

At the end of the last full week at ABO we had a fun night and a celebration dinner. The fun night was just a bunch of skits, jokes, dances, songs, and trivia games. The kids sang some songs they had learned and a few of the girls put on a puppet show. There was a challenge between the kids and the parents about who knew more about Africa. The kids won. The Scot taught us a Scottish dance. One of the Brits juggled baby chicks (not even kidding!). One of the parents made up a song about coming to Africa to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas. Our skit, though, was hilarious. Meghan, Rachel (one of the 12-year-olds), and I were the six-legged elephant named Gertrude. We covered ourselves with this blanket; my arm as the trunk and Meghan as the rear. Carolyn narrated as we did two tricks. The first trick was to walk over the middle of a person. We got one of the kids to lie down on the floor and we walked over his middle. Then we got Mr. Fast, who is one of the ABO leaders and also incredibly tall, to lie on the floor and we would walk over him from feet to head. When we had walked over half of him we stopped. Carolyn started saying “Gertrude, what are you doing? No, don’t do that!” And about that time Meghan (being in the rear) lifted her leg and dumped a bottle of water onto Mr. Fast’s stomach. The audience and Gertrude were laughing hysterically. The night ended with ice cream, cookies, and brownies. (Yes, I am in Africa, but I don’t get to eat these things all the time!) Now, onto the celebration dinner and, oh my, what a dinner it was! I’ve never seen so much meat in my life! I think the men were getting pretty desperate for iron and protein and, as a result, dinner was a meat fest. I’m not kidding. It was meat for the main course with a side of more meat! We had steak (fillet mignon w/bacon wrapped around it), chicken, pork tenderloin, hot dogs (that tasted like American hot dogs), and all in a large abundance! We also had some sautéed onions, grilled pineapple, fried potatoes, cheese, fruit salad, and, to top it off, ice cream. I don’t think I’ve eaten so much meat in my life! Everything was grilled outside and it was amazing. Poor Meghan, though. She doesn’t eat meat so it was more potatoes for her! After the dinner, a group of young Kenyan women came in and danced for us. They also had us join in for one of the dances. Only a few of us (me included) got up to dance but it was so much fun.

Rachel and Becca

Kids at Fun Night

Carolyn and Meghan

Becca, Amanda, and Lorien

On February 5, we said our goodbyes to everyone and headed up to Nairobi with Carolyn. As soon as we were settled in Nairobi, we grabbed some pizza for lunch and then headed to Junction to shop a bit. Carolyn had to debrief with the ABO leaders, so Meghan and I wandered around this book/music/movie store. After a while, we met Carolyn at Java House to do some emailing, drink coffee, and eat dinner. The next day was the big shopping day. After breakfast at Java House, we bought a few African crafts then head back to Junction to shop at Naukumatt. After shopping a bit we saw a movie…this was our third movie in Africa! Once the movie was over, Meghan had to finish up a little shopping so Carolyn and I went to Java House (again) to do some emailing. That evening Carolyn made dinner for us and we watched a movie. Thursday morning we flew from Nairobi to Loki. We were only in Loki for the day so as soon as we dropped our stuff we went into town to run some errands. We met up with Phil and Linda who were bringing a team out of the Didinga Mountains and also Russ and Lyn, who were out for their resupply. We literally spent the entire day running around and getting things organized for our flight out to Sudan the next day. (Meghan had to do her resupply in Nairobi and Loki so she had A LOT of stuff and weight was becoming an issue since we were taking the small plane into Sudan. Luckily Phil and Linda were able to take all of my stuff and just a few things of Meghan’s with them in their vehicle.)

The Sossamon Family minus Kyle

Me and Rachel

I finally arrived back in Torit early Friday morning (February 8) and, after a little recuperation, spent some time in town and at the AIC church. My, how much has changed! The little town I left in December has grown quite a bit in my absence. Although the town itself has changed, the people themselves have not. I was greeted by the same friendly faces I left two months prior. The greetings this time were “Happy New Year” and “You have been lost!”; appropriate greetings for the beginning of a new year and for one returning after some time. As I continue to reacquaint myself with the town and my ministries, I will share with you more. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Kenya. It is such a beautiful country and I would love to explore it more in the future. But for now, I am excited to be back in Torit. Welcome back to Sudan!

Kenya Elections, Regional Conference, and ABO

2008-01-27T12:04:00.001-08:00

I guess I’m long over-due for an update, so I’ll take you all back to the beginning of 2008. This may be a bit long so you may want to get a cup of coffee or a snack. Well, here goes:

Nairobi, Kenya:
Meghan and I flew into Nairobi on December 29, two days after the Kenyan elections. Our hopes of spending every day in Java House, shopping at the Massai market and Nakumat, catching a movie, and getting hair cuts and pedicures were quickly washed away by the release of the election results. Although we were able to eventually do many of these things, our time in Nairobi was very different than we had expected. Our first stop in Nairobi was Ya-Ya Center, one of the many malls. More than half of the shops were already closed and the other half were closing because many people were fearing coming into work. These people were fearing rioters. Even many of the matatu and taxi drivers stopped running since rioters were stoning and burning vehicles. Our first few days were pretty uneventful since we couldn’t do very much. We spent most of our time at the guesthouse where we were staying hanging out with some of the other guests who were unable to travel out of the city. New Year’s Eve was extremely uneventful. Meghan and I just spent the night in our room and at midnight we toasted our bottles of Coke. We found out on January 1 that our plans to travel into Uganda by road the next day were cancelled since it was extremely unsafe. We then needed to make alternate arrangements, both housing and travel. Luckily, Meghan knew an older couple working with AIMCare who were able to take us in and the Central regional office took care of our travel arrangements into Uganda. We left Methodist Guesthouse on January 2 and went to stay with the Stiansens. The funny thing about this move was that at Methodist we were in a much safer part of the city (closer to the outskirts actually) and where the Stiansens live is right next to the largest slum, Kibera. Although we were so close to Kibera, we were in a very safe gated neighborhood. The day that Dick picked us up from Methodist, we did a supply run at Naukumat (equivalent of a Walmart). Everyone in the store was stocking up on the essentials since they weren’t sure when they were going to be able to get back out of their homes. It was like in the States when we go to the grocery store right before a big snow storm. As I stood in line looking at the people around me, it saddened me because these were people who were just trying to go about their daily lives and weren’t at all interested in rioting. Now, here they were, their lives interrupted by political unrest. It was just really sad. After we got to the Stiansens, we were informed to stay indoors until otherwise informed. We were on house arrest for a couple of days, but when we were finally given the ok to leave, we were able to venture into the city. We actually went to the nicest mall in the richest part of Nairobi called Village Market. This mall was unlike any I’ve ever seen. It was an outdoor/indoor mall with a beautiful courtyard area. One side of the mall held all of the shops, the middle was the food court, and the other side had…get this…a movie theater, bowling alley, mini golf course, and water park! Yes, all in this mall!!! It was crazy! I know what you’re thinking…this is in Africa?!?!? Yea, it was crazy. After doing a little shopping (since everything was SO expensive), we saw a movie. It was so nice to get out! We stayed with the Stiansens for about a week enjoying as much of Nairobi has we possible could under the circumstances before we flew out to Uganda. (Just so that everyone knows, there was never a time when Meghan or I felt threatened by what was going on in Nairobi. We felt safe both at Methodist Guesthouse and with the Stiansens. We were in constant communication with the short-term coordinator at the Central Region office in Kampala and the short-term coordinator for Kenya. We were even informed of the contingency plan if we needed to enact it. I want to thank you for all of your prayers during our time in Nairobi. We greatly appreciated them!)

Kampala, Uganda:
On January 8, Meghan and I flew to Entebbe then traveled onto Kampala for the Central Region Conference. The Central Region is comprised of Uganda, South Sudan, Chad, CAR (Central African Republic), DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), and Rwanda. The conference brought in AIM missionaries from all the countries listed above including some of the bigwigs from the UK International Office. Conference was such an encouraging and refreshing time for all of us. I was able to reconnect with everyone I went through the LAMP course with and learn about what they were doing on their mission fields. I was able to catch up with the Bylers and Matthew and finally meet the Scotlands (also serving in Ikotos with Meghan). I also got to meet several other people and find out where they were serving and what they were doing. Every day each unit within the central region would present the missionaries serving the various locations within that unit. After the unit presentations, our conference speaker would give his talk. The talks were taken from John 13, 15, and 17 (loving one another, the Fruit of the Vine, and prayer). The talks centered on the life of a missionary and what our goals should be as a missionary. We should love not only those we are serving but those who are serving along side us. We should constantly be growing in our walks with the Lord, producing fruit as we grow; we should be dependent on the Vine (Jesus). Finally, we should pray for ourselves, for those working with us, and for all believers. The speaker pointed out an interesting fact about prayer. No where does Jesus say to pray for the unbelievers. Now, this does not mean that we are just to forget the unbelievers. Jesus tells us in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples of all nations…” So, just because Jesus doesn’t say that we need to pray for the unbeliever doesn’t mean that we should not tell them about Jesus. Jesus does specify that we should pray for all believers and for this reason: “that all of them may be one, Father just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believer that you have sent me…May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17: 21, 23). These lessons will be very encouraging for me when go back to Sudan and continue in my ministry. The afternoons were spent hanging out and continuing our fellowship with one another. Conference ended with a time of worship and prayer; an extra boost of encouragement before we all parted ways.

Calum

Three-legged Race

Machakos, Kenya:

Meghan and I flew back to Kenya on January 14 to help out with Africa Based Orientation (ABO). ABO is a three-week orientation for long-term missionaries coming out onto the field for the first time. The orientation is being held at Scott Theological College which gives those participating in ABO a chance to interact with the African students. We are helping Carolyn Cummings with the children’s ministry while their parents are in classes. Carolyn picked us up from the airport and we drove south to the beautiful town of Machakos. Along the road we passed a game reserve and saw zebra, antelope, and a giraffe. The 15th was my birthday and luckily we didn’t have much to do except prepare for the next day, so I was able to relax and enjoy the day. Meghan and Carolyn were incredibly sweet and made me TWO cakes (fun-fetti w/cream cheese icing and spice cake w/cream cheese icing)! AND we had ice cream! Of course I shared cake and ice cream with everyone else. ABO started on the 16th, which meant we started working with the MKs (missionary kids). We are working with 14 kids between the ages of 3 and 12. There is a 2-year-old and a couple month-old that two Kenyan ladies are looking after. Our mornings consist of play time; learning a new African country, animal, and artifact; working on ABC books (the ABCs of Africa); a walk; a biblical lesson; and a craft. After lunch we normally watch a kiddie movie then do another craft. The kids have been a joy to work with. Some days are a little more challenging than others but God continues to give me patience and helps me to persevere through the day. I’m looking at this experience as practice for when I go back to Sudan and continue teaching my African students. In between working with the kids, we have gotten opportunities to enjoy Machakos. We went into town the first day and just looked around.

Last Saturday (19th) we hiked Mt. Iveti, a mountain overlooking Machakos. I’m not sure how far we walked but we hiked for a good four hours and there were some pretty strenuous parts of the hike. There were stretches along the hike that made me feel like I was hiking somewhere in Virginia. At the top of the mountain is this little town called Kusyomuomo where we stopped and had a Coke. The hike was great and I got some really beautiful pictures of the area. We also had the chance (just yesterday actually) to take the kids one of the area schools and let them go swimming. The pool was freezing but it was great to go swimming. Friday (25th) was a day off for everyone. Half of the group went to Nairobi for the day, but Meghan and I went with six others to a ranch where we could do a mini “safari”. We left Thursday afternoon and arrived at this quaint little ranch. We stayed in bandas that were situated in a horseshoe around this beautiful little courtyard. The bandas were a replica of a mud hut only built with wood and much larger. As soon as we arrived, we dropped our stuff and went out for a game drive. We saw many antelope and wildebeest. We also saw a giraffe and actually walked out within a few hundred yards of it. When we got back to the ranch we had a delicious dinner (the food at ABO isn’t the greatest!). Meghan had been sick with what we thought was malaria earlier in the week and half way through the week found out that she also had a bacterial infection in her stomach. She hadn’t really eaten anything that week so she was super-excited for the food. Well, I think she over-did it because she got really sick that night. Friday morning we got up shortly after 6 and went on another game drive (Meghan stayed in bed). It was really foggy so we weren’t really able to see much initially. We did see lots of antelope and wildebeest again. We also saw several ostriches, zebra, warthog (including baby warthogs!), and lots of giraffe. We searched for cheetah since they do live in the reserve but we never did find one. Towards the end of our drive we got stuck in the mud…which I believe is part of the safari experience. After 15 minutes of the guys and Amanda digging in the mud we spotted a vehicle. Luckily, this man was able to help us out of the mud. After that little adventure, we had delicious breakfast. Half of the group took a walk and the rest of us (us girls) lounged around reading and sleeping in the courtyard. It was such a peaceful day! After lunch, Meghan and I went on a short walk and saw a whole herd of wildebeest and zebra. We left the reserve later that after and, as we were leaving the park, we saw a whole herd of giraffes (including babies!). The boys had past the herd on their walk earlier and counted 18. It was amazing! I was so grateful for such a peaceful day off! Meghan and I have another week and a half of ABO before we finally get back to Sudan, but I will update you on the second half.

Our Tour Guide

The Hike

Thank you for patiently reading through my blog. I hope to be better disciplined in writing my blogs in the future. One last thing: please keep Meghan in your prayers. She’s been battling this bacterial infection for over a week now, which has prohibited her from being able to work with the kids fully. Thank you again for continuing to keep me in your prayers. I appreciate it! Well, until next time…

Mt. Iveti

Safari Pictures

2008-01-27T12:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Loki

2008-01-07T05:00:00.001-08:00

After traveling six hours over unpaved, bumpy roads in the back of an NGO vehicle next to a kerosene drum and piles of luggage, Meghan and I finally reached Lokichogio (Loki). Loki, which is located across the Sudan border in Kenya, is a quaint little town with many more supplies than Torit or Ikotos. We spent nine days in Loki resupplying, hanging out in town, and celebrating Christmas. Christmas was celebrated quite differently than any other before. Christmas Eve morning was spent baking Christmas cookies (sugar, gingerbread, and cowboy) for the potluck later in the day. That afternoon we joined the Hildebrandts (Jon, Ginny, and Josiah) and a few other missionaries at the Fungs’ house several kilometers outside of Loki. Each of us brought something for the potluck and had a wonderful meal! Afterwards the children decorated sugar cookies while Chris Fung led us in some Christmas hymns on her piano. That evening Meghan and I watched “An Affair to Remember”, which was the closest thing to a Christmas movie we could find. (There’s just something about watching an old classic film around Christmas!) After the movie, we spent some time reading through scripture and singing Christmas songs. At midnight, we held our own candlelight service singing “Silent Night” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain”. After sleeping in late Christmas morning, we enjoyed a pancake brunch and opened a few gifts we received at the potluck the day before. After brunch we walked into town to pick up a few gifts for the Hildebrandts. It was really neat to walk past people, who were dressed up in their Christmas clothes, and wish them a “Merry Christmas”. When we got back, we put together a cute little bundle of things and spent the rest of the day at the Hildbrandt’s house. Ginny had the house completely decorated with a beautifully trimmed tree, stockings, and little snowmen all over. Later that evening, Meghan and I went to 748 (a pilot restaurant – or pirate restaurant according to Meghan’s dad!) for dinner and a chance to Skype our families. (748 has free wireless internet so we spent as much time there as possible!) We left the restaurant late that night after long conversations with our families. This was one of the most peaceful Christmases I’ve ever had and one in which I could better focus my thoughts on the birth of my Savior.

O Come, All Ye Faithful

2007-12-23T07:42:00.000-08:00

“City street lights, even stop lights, blink a bright red and green, as the shoppers rush home with their treasures. Hear the snow crunch. See the kids bunch. This is Santa’s big scene. And above all this bustle you’ll hear…”

This song reminds me of the Christmas preparation that Americans partake in each year. I can just imagine the scene: the malls are bustling with last-minute shoppers; the children are asking Santa for one more toy; lights twinkle in each neighborhood; Christmas music can be heard everywhere you turn; the house smells of cinnamon and nutmeg; neatly wrapped packages, both large and small, are gathered beneath a beautifully trimmed tree. People are also preparing menus for the big Christmas meal, making travel plans to visit family and friends, and wrapping those last minute gifts. Even here in Africa, people are preparing for Christmas in very similar ways. This Christmas the people of Ikotos are preparing to slaughter a goat for the big meal. The people of Torit are busy buying nice dresses, shirts, trousers, and shoes for the Christmas festivities. People all over Sudan are preparing for long journeys to visit family and friends. Even here in Loki, Kenya, we are preparing for a big missionary potluck. But what have we been preparing for?

A voice of one calling:

“In the desert prepare the way for the Lord;
make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”

(Isaiah 40:3)

This verse has come up four different times in my quiet times and church services this Christmas season. Although the voice of one calling applies to John the Baptist, the message is clear for all Christians: “prepare the way for the Lord!” I believe the prophet Isaiah is telling us to prepare our hearts to receive the greatest gift of all: Christ our Savior. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). What a wonderful gift! In response to that gift, the only thing God asks of us is to prepare our hearts and come. “O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant; O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; come and behold Him, born the King of angels: O come let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord.” We just simply have to come; come adore the King of angels; come adore the baby born of Mary; come adore Christ, our Lord.

As you finish your Christmas preparations, my prayer is that you would also prepare your hearts to receive the greatest gift the world has ever been given. Please do not leave Christ out of your Christmas festivities but place Him at the center of them. I would encourage you to spend some time in prayer Christmas morning, attend a Christmas day/eve church service, or read through the scriptures of Jesus’ birth with your family. Praise the Lord for His glorious gift! May the Lord wrap you with His love this Christmas season. Merry Christmas to you all!

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
~Luke 2:11

Tents, Peace, and Women of Good News

2007-12-22T06:20:00.000-08:00

The Home:
Part of the AIM missionary experience is living with an African family in order to get a feel for how Africans live, what their culture is really like, and also to established relationships. This experience is called a “home-stay”. During the first week of December I stayed in a tent at the home of Pastor Peter and Beatrice and their family. Peter and his family (Beatrice, their three girls, and Beatrice’s mother) live in the old parish house right next to the Africa Inland Church. The house was partially destroyed during the war so the family is only using two small rooms out of the whole house while Peter continues to make improvements on the other areas. Peter’s family is not the only one in the church compound. There are at least two other families that live on the compound and several young men that live somewhere close to, if not on, the compound. The families are constantly interacting with one another as if they are one big family. It is not unusual for there to be five or more people at Peter’s house in addition to the six that already live there.

Peace

The Family:
Peter and Beatrice have three beautiful little girls and they do an amazing job of parenting each one. In Africa, parents are not always available to really parent their children; to play, let alone interact, with their children. The mother is usually busy preparing meals, getting water, or doing whatever else. The father is usually working in town or in different countries for better pay, or unemployed and a drunk. I know that last scenario sounds really harsh but it’s actually very common in Sudan. Families are also so large that the children rarely get individualized attention. But these things are not the case for Peter and Beatrice. They, too, are busy with the daily chores of life but they make it a point to show their children attention. Their parenting shows in each of their child’s development. Their eldest daughter, Amama, is an intelligent girl of about six- or seven-years and very much like her father. She is a natural leader and it shows in her composure and interaction with other children. She also has a side of her mother in her because she is already a very helpful, hospitable girl. The first morning I was there she brought me some water so that I could wash my hands before taking tea. Peace is about three- or four-years and very stubborn. For such a young girl, she is already very strong-willed. She knows exactly what she wants. But she is also a very happy child and just loves to play. When I was there she would climb up on my lap and play with my watch or the hair tie on my wrist. She also loves playing with buttons or zippers. It doesn’t really take much to entertain Peace. Linda Hope is only a few months old but she is so alert. She has huge brown eyes and a sweet smile. She laughs frequently at the littlest things. She is very laid-back and I can’t even remember her ever crying while I was there except for when she was hungry.

The Experience:
I would spend the early mornings, late afternoons, and evenings with Peter and Beatrice. In the mornings I would get up and get ready before leaving my tent. I would then try to help Beatrice with breakfast but normally she wouldn’t let me help so I just watched. I watched her make mandazis the first morning I was there. A mandazi is kind of like a triangular donut. I usually took tea and mandazis with Peter and few of the other men. I never had breakfast with Beatrice and her mother since I was a guest. In the African culture, the women usually eat after the men or away from the men. Rarely do they eat in the company of one another. After breakfast I would spend my day either at the hospital or the pre-school. Later in the day after my work, I would go back to the Byler’s house just to get away and have some alone time or do some computer work. Here in Sudan, it seems you are constantly surrounded by people, especially when you live in a setting like Peter and Beatrice.

The Women of Good News

I usually made my way back to the church compound around four or five. As soon as I’d get there I would have dinner with Peter. We would talk about our days and he would teach me some Arabic. Luckily during these times it was still light enough that I could write these things down. I would play with Amama and Peace after dinner up until bath time. Right before bed, we all gathered together outside under the stars and had a nightly devotional. Usually this gathering consisted of Peter’s family, me, and some of the young boys/men in the church compound. Peter led the devotional in Arabic so that the children would understand. Daniel, a young man from the church, would translate for me. We started the devotional in song and prayer then someone would give a mini-sermon (I gave one the third night I was there). We ended in prayer and usually another song. I loved that this time was set aside every night for the entire family to gather and worship God. Not only is it a great example to their children but it’s a great example to those in the church compound. The nightly devotionals were probably my favorite part of my time with Peter’s family.

At the end of the week there was a women’s retreat for the AIC Women of Good News. These women traveled to Torit from all over South Sudan to attend this 3-day retreat. I knew that the retreat was going to take place but I don’t think I realized just how many women would be participating or where they were going to be staying. When I returned to the compound that Wednesday evening, I saw that there were many women and children there. It was then that I realized that these women were attending the retreat and they would be staying at the church compound. A few of the women and children stayed in tents in front of Peter’s house but the rest of the women slept on tarps on the church floor. Thursday evening brought even more women and children, along with an even more overwhelming atmosphere for me. At first it was just awkward being the only “girl” surrounded by “women”. In Sudan, you are still considered a “girl” until you are married. After a while some of the women began including me in their conversation which was slightly difficult since very few of them spoke English. Some of the women didn’t even speak Arabic, only their mother tongue (mainly Acholi or Lotuko). Sometimes it was very difficult to even find a common ground. Devotionals started later than usual that night, but shortly after they were finished I went to bed. I didn’t realize how exhausting it can be to be constantly around people. As soon as I got into my tent, the women began singing. At first it was really neat because they were singing Christmas hymns in Arabic. As the night wore on the songs got louder and they began dancing. The women were performing their shrills (just a high-pitch shrill noise), laughing, singing and dancing. The music went on well into the night. Although sleep was hard to come by that night, it was so amazing to hear the women worshiping God under the stars with their sisters.

Angelina and Bianca

My home-stay was very short and ended quite abruptly due to the women’s retreat. I would have stayed longer but I know that with all the women around I would have been overwhelmed the remainder of my stay. I also wasn’t able to see the family interacting as they normally do since Beatrice’s duties had shifted while the Women of Good News were there. I am thankful that God provided me with the opportunity to stay with Peter and his family even if it was only a short time. I am looking forward to spending more time with that family in the future: chatting with Peter over tea, learning Arabic from Beatrice, and playing with the girls.

Peace and Amama

The Wounded and the Lost

2007-12-17T06:14:00.000-08:00

I want to share with everyone two experiences I've had in the past few weeks and offer up some prayer requests. (To those of you on my email support list, I have already sent this same text to you in my last email update.)

First, when Meghan (the short-term missionary in Ikotos) was still with us over the Thanksgiving holiday, she joined me at the HIV/AIDS center at the hospital to see how their counseling and testing process went. After a while, she asked if we could get a tour of the hospital which was a great opportunity for me as well since I hadn’t gotten a tour myself. One of the counselors in the center showed us all throughout the hospital. (Just to give you an idea of what the hospital looks like: it is an open compound with several different buildings designated to certain focuses like surgery, maternity, outpatient, etc.) The most noted ward of the tour was the children’s ward. I was not prepared for what I witnessed when I stepped foot into this building. The rooms will full of beds with screens between the beds for privacy and there were only a hand full of children in the ward, all of whom could not be older than 3 years. One child was there due to malnutrition. When she was brought in they hooked her up to an IV but the catheter was not inserted properly and it somehow caused a rupture on the side of her head. As a result, she has a large opening on her head where the skin has not, and may never, grow back. She was sitting on the bed eating porridge but she looked so frail. Her arms and legs were so shrunken from the lack of nourishment. She was not much older than 1 or 2 years. Another child was in because of severe burns from a house fire. This child had burns all over her face and torso. Her hands were so severely burnt that the bones in her fingers were barely there. It took so much energy for me to not break down in the middle of the ward. My heart just broke for these children. You can read about these things in magazines and see them on television but you do not really understand scenes like this until you are standing right in the middle of them. To those of you who are doctors and nurses, I have so much respect for you because I know that I could never do what you do. Thank you! I would ask you all to lift these children up in your prayers. Pray for their healing and pray that they would experience love from a parent, sibling, doctor, or anyone. So often, children with defects like these are abandoned because parents just do not know how to care for them.

Second, this past Saturday (December 1) Torit and places all over the world celebrated World AIDS Day. I was also part of this celebration. The HIV/AIDS center set up a clinic in the middle of the town close to the festivities and we had close to 200 people come out to be tested. Another girl and I were in charge of filling out forms for people and then sending them to counselors for the counseling session and test. The forms consist of questions like age, sex, marital status, place of residence, had they been tested before, etc. I filled out 87 forms alone. The goal of the day was to create awareness about HIV and AIDS and to encourage people to get tested to find out their status. We were successful in our goal! Praise God! There was one thing, however, that did bother me during the day that I didn’t realize until I got home. When I had to ask about a man’s marital status and they said they were married, I also had to ask how many wives they had. Not only did I ask this but I asked it so nonchalantly. Now, Torit does have a very high Muslim population so it is not uncommon for a man to have more than one wife. But there are also many men here that claim to be Christians and they, too, have taken more than one wife. The day after the celebration I spent the morning in the Word. I am currently going through Jeremiah and I was reading through Chapter 4. God is telling Jeremiah of the disaster He will send to Israel from the north because Israel has denied God. Israel has committed sins against God, so much so, that they have brought this disaster on themselves. I then came to the part of the chapter where Jeremiah openly shares his anguish for his people:

“Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry. Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment. How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?” (Jeremiah 4:19-21)

When I read this, I could understand the pain Jeremiah was feeling because I felt the same for Torit. There are so many people here that are just lost. There are many who are drunk by the middle of the day. Teachers will show up in the schools in the afternoon drunk. Sexual immorality is everywhere. There are many mentally-disturbed people who wander through the streets terrorizing people. My heart aches for these people because they do not know the Lord. They do not know peace or love because they do not know their Savior. But this is not only so in Torit but it is all over the Sudan. Hatred has brought war and pain. Even though the war is over, hatred still exists. I ask that you would pray that God would move through this community as well as the rest of Sudan. Pray for peace to come between the north and the south. Pray that the people here in Torit would see that their lives are of the world and not of God. Pray that all of the missionaries in South Sudan would be a light to the people and that God would use us to pour forth His love and truth.

A Sudanese Thanksgiving

2007-12-04T08:21:00.001-08:00

Matt, Johnston, Me and Meghan

Saturday, November 24, we celebrated Thanksgiving with several friends from Torit. But before I can dive into the meal I must tell you of our preparations.

To Americans, the Friday after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. This is when it seems the entire country gets up before the sun rises to get to the shopping centers for the big sales. Well, Meghan and I did some shopping on Black Friday: Sudanese style. We left for the market mid-morning and shopped around for a few clothing items before purchasing food for the Thanksgiving meal. In addition to the African gumaas (dresses) we both found, we also purchased things like cabbage, eggs, onions, papaya, bread, egg plant, and other foods. Not entirely like an American Black Friday, but shopping none-the-less.

Our Monkey Friend

Saturday morning, Meghan and I hung Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music. Linda and I started the food preparation while Meghan organized the house a bit and set up Thanksgiving-like decorations. I was pretty much in charge of the baking. I made pumpkin bread (this was the closest we were going to get to a pumpkin pie – and yes, Sudan has pumpkin but they are green instead of orange). Since we don’t have an oven everything has to be cooked on top of a gas stove. There is a pan called an Egyptian oven that is very similar to a bunt pan with a lid. You set this oven on top of a fluted metal piece that sets on top of a stove burner so that heat can move through the middle of the pan as well as around the outside of the pan. This is what I used to bake the bread. I also made a chocolate cake. We had some cocoa and Meghan’s home church sent her a can of chocolate icing and some chocolate sprinkles along with some other things in a care package. I also had some chocolate squares so I was able to make a chocolate, chocolate cake!

We also prepared beef in a brown sauce, cabbage salad with carrots, tomatoes and onions, bread and Sudanese cakes (like corn bread), rice, pumpkin leaves in peanut sauce, homemade stuffing, and boiled sweet potatoes. Our dessert table consisted of chocolate cake, pumpkin bread, papaya, and, of course, tea. After all the food was prepared we also prepared for the celebration. Linda, Lyn, Meghan and I all wore African gumaas.

Meghan and Linda Hope

Later that afternoon our guests started to arrive. There were eleven of our African friends that came, making us 18 in total. While we were waiting for everyone to come we set out large pieces of paper and markers for people to draw the things that they were thankful for. Afterwards we gathered together to share each of our things. It was so neat to see the various things that everyone was thankful for!

After Phil blessed the food, everyone dug in. Most of the foods that we had were African-style foods so no one had any problems finding something to eat. When it was time for dessert I was anticipating none of the Africans to take much, if any, of the chocolate cake because they tend to not like very sweet foods (even though they put five heaping spoonfuls of sugar into their tea!). However, I believe almost everyone tried a piece because the cake was almost gone by the end of the night. After our dessert and tea we spent some time singing and then Phil gave a mini sermon on giving thanks referencing 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. We ended the evening in prayer and everyone went on their way. It was definitely a different Thanksgiving than I’d ever had but I was still surrounded by a family of believers.

Me and Melesh

Ikotos

2007-11-22T06:52:00.000-08:00

First, Happy Thanksgiving!!

After being in Torit for only a shorttime, Linda, Matthew and I traveled to the little town of Ikotos. Ikotos is only a short 20 minute flight southeast of Torit. Meghan

Baird is a short-termer there teaching in the secondary school. She lives on the AIC compound with Jordan and Andrea Scotland (AIM leaders in Ikotos), but they are home in Canada for the Christmas holiday. Since Meghan was by herself we went up to encourage her and to get a feel for Ikotos.

Meghan and Wanii

Ikotos is a beautiful little town located near the Imotong Mountains (highest point in Sudan). It’s a little less civilized than Torit, meaning that there are more people who live in the “bush”. (The bush is basically people living in tucles, or mud huts, away from the actual town. There is not much running water, so water must be carried by bike, wheelbarrow, or atop heads from the bore-holes.) The people in Ikotos are very friendly; even friendlier than in Torit. It was hard to walk through the market and not shake at least 50 peoples’ hands.

Imotong Mountains

When we got to Ikotos, Meghan greeted us and immediately took us to the catholic diocese for a workshop she was attending. She was attending a peace-building worship along with several representatives from towns all over South Sudan. There was actually a gentleman there from EMU who was helping with the workshop (small world!). We hung out there and we got the chance to meet with Tobiolo (the pastor of the AIC church in Ikotos). That night we had fun just hanging out at the Scotland’s compound getting to know Meghan. And actually Meghan and I had to share a bed and ended up talking until almost 2am that night. I forgot how much I missed girly time! Meghan is from a little town in Maryland and she attended WVU for her second undergrad. When she finishes her year in Ikotos (September), she’ll return to WVU for her masters in counseling.

Saturday we had to go to the SPLA office to basically sign in with the local government and verify that we were legal to be in Sudan. After a little interrogation (nothing major), Tobiolo took us back to his compound and we just sat and talked for several hours. Toby told us about the LRA attacks on Ikotos and showed us pictures as well. The LRA attacked Ikotos in 2005, killing hundreds of people and leaving even more homeless or without families. It was really sad to listen to these stories and even scarier to know that these awful things took place only two years ago.

Sunday, Meghan and I got up really early and hiked up to the top of this little hill where the Catholic Church was located to watch the sun rise. It was beautiful! When we got back we attended the AIC church and it was so small! There were so many children in the church and they all love to sing! We had the chance to listen to the youth, children, and the Women of Good News all sing. It was so wonderful! After church, Linda, Meghan and I spent some time baking. The Scotlands have a charcoal oven and we don’t have one in Torit, so we took advantage of this! We made bread, peach cobbler (Meghan actually had canned peaches!), chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and granola. It was so much fun to be in the kitchen baking! The woman that Meghan did her home-stay with, Agness, was celebrating her birthday that Monday, but since Meghan had to be at school Monday, we visited her that afternoon with the peace cobbler. Agness is just a young girl, perhaps 20, but she already has two children. She was so sweet! When we got there she served chipatis (a cross between a pancake and a flour tortilla, but more bread-like…ok that probably doesn’t make sense but that’s the only way for me to describe it!) and we served her the peach cobbler.

Meghan's Tukul

Monday was kind of a rough day for me. I was fighting a cold and it just got worse throughout the morning, so I stayed behind while everyone else went to the school. I was feeling a little better when they got back and had to help Meghan and Linda to type up some exams for the teachers at school. Since Meghan is American they have come to her with a lot of their typing needs. She was really thankful that Linda and I were there to help her. Later that afternoon Meghan, Matthew, and I went into the market to do some shopping. The market isn’t as big has Torit but things are a little cheaper in Ikotos.

Tuesday, Meghan and I spent a lot of time copying exams and then went to the school. It’s actually a pretty big school and the primary school is close by. Since primary is bigger, they use some of the secondary classrooms. After introducing me to the teachers, Meghan introduced me to some of her students. Since they were in the middle of their exams we didn’t stay much longer. Later that evening Linda and I hiked up to the same little hill to watch the sun set over the Imotong Mountains. It was so beautiful!

Wednesday, was so busy because we were preparing for Phil to come to Ikotos with a group from Open Doors (this is a Christian organization but I’m not entirely clear about what they do). Meghan, Matthew and I went down to the school to wait for the plane to come in while Linda stayed behind with the Women of Good News to help fix lunch. The group from Open Doors was suppose to come to both of the schools to see how they were doing (I guess they have been supporting these schools) and then we were to have lunch at the AIC compound. Well the plane showed up 2 hours late so when they finally got there, they had to rush to the SPLA office to “check in”, stopped by the primary school, and then finally got to the secondary school. After a few songs and introduction of teachers we traveled back to the AIC compound for lunch. We ate a rushed lunch because we had to meet the plane leaving for Torit. Meghan came back to Torit with us so she could celebrate Thanksgiving with Americans. The Open Doors group was only able to stay in Torit for 45 minutes before they had to board the plane again for Loki. We had such a full day but it was so good to be back in Torit. I think I could definitely stay in Ikotos but God has plans for me in Torit.

I will have to post another blog entry after we celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend to let you know how Americans in Africa celebrate this holiday!

The First Days in Torit

2007-11-14T05:12:00.000-08:00

I’m finally in Torit and it has been just a complete change from the States to Kampala to Torit. Linda, Matthew, and I landed in Torit on Thursday (Nov. 8) in this 4-seater plane. We were greeted by Phil (Linda’s husband) and a wheelbarrow (for the luggage). Their house is located right beside the dirt airstrip so we didn’t have far to go. The house is large (4 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen, dining area/living area, den, and veranda). The Bylers are currently sharing the house with Russ and Lyn Noble (more AIMers), who are in the process of building a house at the church compound. So, there are 6 of us staying in the house along with the Noble’s cat, Pussywillow, and a number of large lizards (although they just stay outside).

Torit is a rather large town, not a city by any means, but there is a large community here. There are many people who live in town around the main street but also many who live in villages (or suburbs) on the outskirts of the town. The roads are all dirt with many deep trenches in the middle of them. It has been relatively rainy here, so the roads are still muddy in places. (The rainy season should be over but it’s rained just about every day that I’ve been here). There are mountains off in the distance that practically surround Torit and they are beautiful. It’s rather hot during the day but it’s still relatively cool compared to what the temperatures are like during the dry season, which we are fast approaching.

Our first day here (Thursday), Phil took us into town to get our Torit passes (basically a 6-month visa). This process was rather a funny experience that I will have to share at another time. We also visited the Africa Inland Church (AIC) where we were greeted by all the children at the pre-school there. There are children everywhere in Torit! And almost all of them greet you saying “Morning!” no matter what time of day!

Friday, Linda and Phil took Matthew and I back into town. We stopped at the hospital so that I could meet some of the HIV/AIDS counselors who I will be working with. Afterwards, we split up. Phil took Matthew to meet with the Minister of Education to talk about the plans for Matthew teaching in the secondary school. Linda took me to the AIC church to meet with the pre-school teachers. I met with Charles (head teacher, I guess) and his assistant, Rogers (I think) and talked with them for a while. The pre-school consists of children ages 3-10. However, there are only two separate classes: 3- and 4-year-olds and 5- to 10-year-olds. Charles took me to the youngest class and they were just sitting, unaccompanied, under this tent. They greeted me with song and Charles introduced me. He then took me into the church for the second class, where they also greeted me with song. After talking some time with both Charles and Rogers I found out that they would like me to teach math (all I can do is laugh…some of you understand!) and English. I was somewhat frustrated when I left a little later. There are only two teachers (Charles and Rogers…both of whom sat with me in the office practically the whole time I was there) and there is just no organization. It’s frustrating because I just don’t know how many of these children are getting any form of education. I’ve been talking to Linda and Lyn and I have some ideas about how to teach. We’ve also come up with a schedule for me so that I’m in control of what I’m teaching and not loaded down with all the teaching.

Saturday was a down day because it was so rainy and I was just not feeling too great. My body was and still is adjusting to a new environment and new food. Meals are different here. The big meal is during lunch, breakfast is kind of on your own, and dinner is not much more than bread and tea. We eat a lot of bread here and not a lot of meat. Meat is available it’s just a little difficult to get a good cut of meat. There isn’t a lot of fruit in this area. We do have some oranges (which are actually green) and bananas from time to time. We have lots of veggies. There are several different vegetables that are grown on our compound. However, we have problems with the monkeys stealing our vegetables. Apparently, one of the monkeys walked in the back door and took a carrot right from our kitchen (they don’t grow carrots in the area, so Lyn was a little upset to see that get taken!). (There are about 4-5 monkeys that belong to the ministry of environmental wildlife just up the road from our house. They are more of a nuisance than anything else!)

Sunday, we attended church at AIC. The service was about 3 hours long but it really didn’t feel that long. Half of the service was in Juba Arabic and half in English. Russ preached and one of the pastors, Johnson, interpreted. After the service we walked out singing and then made a line right outside the door that wrapped around in front of the church. This was a greeting line. This way everyone could greet one another and shake hands. Africans like to shake hands!

Monday, I went to the HIV/AIDS clinic and met with one of the counselors, Richard. This was such a great experience! Richard walked me through their procedures at the clinic when they’re in a counseling session, showed me how they give the HIV tests, and explained about the different tests (there are 3) and how they counsel. I was even able to sit in on one of the counseling sessions with this young couple. They were to be married and just wanted to be sure of their status. Richard asked the couple what they knew about HIV and gave them the chance to share their knowledge on the subject before he filled in the gaps. He even told them that the clinic promotes abstinence for all people not married and once inside marriage, to be faithful to their partner. This was very encouraging to see. After we gave the tests, we asked a few more questions while we waited for the results. The tests themselves are the same idea of a pregnancy test: 1 line meant that it was negative and 2 lines meant that it was positive. If this test turned out to be positive then we would administer two other HIV tests to make sure of the final results. These two tests had very good results. This was such a positive day and I’m so excited about being able to help out at the clinic.

There was so much that I was uncertain about coming into Torit concerning my ministry. But it seems that God is laying the ground work before me and my ministry is starting to take form. Praise God!!

Learning the Language

2007-11-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of the LAMP course (language acquisition made practical). Now before I get into my day I need to share with you the people that I am taking this course with. Our facilitator is Linda Byler one of my team leaders in South Sudan. There are 6 of us Americans: me, Joelle (a girl from upstate NY who is working in Kampala for 7 months), Matthew (a guy from Lincoln, Nebraska who is working with me in Torit), Jin (a guy from PA, I think, who will be working Kampala), and Mike and Susan (a couple from Mississippi). There are also 3 girls from Germany: Rahel and Sabrina (who are working in Aurora, Uganda) and Miriam (who is working in Gulu, Uganda). There is a girl from Ireland, Louise, who is working in northeastern Uganda. There is also a couple (Nigel and Rowena from the UK) who will be taking over the Matoke Inn sometime in January. Ok, now that you know of everyone…we started the day with prayer and testimonies. Each of us will be sharing our testimonies throughout the next 5 days. Joelle and I shared this morning. Afterwards, we met in the AIM office to watch a few videos on language learning. We are approaching learning the language in a slightly different way. We are taking it beyond the classroom. We will not be allowed to take notes but will need to just listen. We will also learn through interacting with the people and asking them for help. Oh, and I will be initially learning Ugandan and when I get to Sudan I will learn Juba Arabic (It may not really make sense that I’m learning Ugandan first but I’m actually learning how to go about learning a language so that I can apply the techniques when I get to Sudan.)

After our morning session and lunch, we partnered up and went into the villages outside of Kampala to interact with the people. Our task was to listen to and watch the peoples’ interactions with one another and to interact with them ourselves. Our goal was to learn a little of the language. I partnered with Susan and we went into the village of Zzana. We needed to buy some fruit for someone at the inn, so our first interaction was with a woman vending on the side of the road. After buying some pineapple and tomatoes from her, we asked her how to say “thank you”. We were then approached by a man named Julius who helped us with a few more phrases. We talked to several other people and the reception was just so amazing. They were thrilled that we wanted to learn their language. We would go back and forth listening to phrases and repeating after them. They were incredibly patient and laughed with us when we couldn’t say something properly. After an hour we returned to the inn to meet with our individual language partners. During this time we met one-on-one to learn key phrases. We would be recording them on recording devices so that we could practice later on our own time. The phrases we learned today were a greeting for the afternoon, a response to that greeting, a formal goodbye, and thank you. My partner is a Ugandan girl named Doreen. She is 22 and has just finished school. Her older sister works in the AIM office here. She is a very sweet girl and very patient with me. The language is definitely challenging and I get tongue-tied quite often. So a major prayer request right now would be that I would continue to learn the language and apply this new technique of learning so that I may be able to use it in the future. This is what the next few days of our LAMP course will look like.

Experiencing Kampala

2007-10-30T06:15:00.001-07:00

Just to prep you, this will be fairly long...Today I experienced Kampala. A Ugandan girl named Jessica would be my tour guide. In order to get to the main road we had to take a boda (public motor bike). I’ve never been on a motorized bike so it was very different. I did enjoy it though. Once we got to the main road, we hopped in a Matatu (public taxi – a van that they squeeze as many people as they can in). It was very warm with all the people. And I was the only white person in the van. As we got into the city we seemed to be stuck in traffic, so Jessica said that we would get out right here. (I found out later that we were actually at a taxi stop…it’s completely chaotic to me but apparently there is some kind of organization.) Jessica paid 1000 shillings for each of us (about 59 cents) and we were on our way. Once we were out of the taxi, we walked past open produce markets and I noticed that people kept calling something out to me. Jessica told me that the word is Mzungu, which means white person (they mean no offense by it). I passed one guy and he called out “Mzungu, marry me!” This happens to young white women and you just have to ignore it. Jessica then took me into ShopRite which is a larger supermarket and it actually remains me of an American grocery store. Afterwards, we continued to walk through the streets but whenever we needed to cross the streets, Jessica would hold my hand. This was weird to me but I started to notice that whenever there were two or more people crossing the street they would hold hands. This is because pedestrians don’t have the right away and the bodas don’t normally stop for pedestrians. We walked on to the post office (which is huge) and then found the ATM so they I could take money out in Ugandan shillings (1700 shillings = $1 US). Jessica then took me to some shops where they sell Ugandan-made crafts. There was so much variety and everything was beautifully crafted. By about this time it was close to noon and getting very hot. With so many people and no breeze it does tend to get fairly warm. Jessica then took me to Bible House for lunch. Bible House is a place where Bibles come in and are distributed throughout the city and surrounding areas. And, obviously since we were there, they also serve lunch. This was my first real experience with traditional Ugandan food. They served matoke (cross between banana and plantain that is boiled then mashed), rice, beef in a sauce, a peanut sauce (it’s purple because they keep the red shell on it while it is cooking), a rolled-up piece of flat bread, stewed greens (not really sure what type of greens but it was bitter), sweet potatoes (not nearly as sweet as American), and passion fruit juice. Ugandans traditionally eat quite a bit but this was just too much. I did my best to eat everything on my plate (it’s disrespectful if you don’t) but when I’m really hot I just can’t eat very much.

After lunch we walked past several schools. It seemed that all the schools were located in the same area. All the children were in different uniforms depending on which school they were at. After walking for a bit we ended up in this place where there were so many taxis. I had no clue where we were or what we were doing. Jessica kept weaving us in and around all these taxis until we finally got into one. I found out later that this was a taxi park and you have to find the right taxi going your way (they have signs posted above where they are parked) because they have assigned routes that only take you to that place. We waited for a while in the back of a very hot van as venders came around to all the vans to sell everything from bottled water and packaged cookies to cell phone cases and handkerchiefs. After we got out of the city and to our destination, we hopped back onto the bodas and rode to the Matoke Inn. I was very hot and very tired when I got back but I was able to have a fairly relaxing evening. It was such an exciting day.

Departing for Africa

2007-10-23T02:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I depart early this morning with my sis and Rachel. I'm getting a little emotional and know that I will miss my family so much (Abby and Midnight included). Packing was stressful. Jo and I packed and repacked everything at least 3 times but the bags are finally zipped and ready to go.

We travel to New York today to the Africa Inland Mission Office where we will stay until my departure Thursday evening at 6:30. I will go through a 1-day orientation on Wednesday then Jo and Rachel will send me off Thursday. I travel to London, have a long layover (15hrs), then finally to Entebbe, Uganda. I will be picked up at the airport and taken to the Matoke Inn where I will stay for a couple of weeks. While I'm in the Kampala area (Uganda), I will be continuing orientation and taking a language course to learn a little of Juba Arabic. On November 8, I fly over with my team leaders to Torit.

God has given me such an amazing opportunity and He has provided for me greatly in the past couple of months. I trust Him now to lead me into unknown territory and continue to do great things! My next post will come from Africa!! Hurray!!