Church of the Brethren Sudan Initiative

We worshiped this morning at a Catholic Mass, listening to (and joining sometimes) some beautiful harmonious singing. The priest called in was a Nigerian missionary priest. He spoke of the Good Samaritan, likening the story to their situation with Taposa and Turkana people - traditional enemies - with a Turkana being the Good Samaritan helping one of their tribe, the Taposa. It happened that the choir leader and the translator were Turkana, which made it more interesting to realize the coming together which we do in Christian spirit. We gave greetings from the Church of the Brethren to them and assured them of our prayers. They returned the greetings to the COB in America and assured us of their prayers for us too.

Sunday afternoon after a nap we went on a walk to the Peace Village Youth Conference Center, which is basically a lush, green open area in a forest. They have had significant celebrations there. The walk was about 5 kilometers and was a little hard on Phil's shoes which were falling apart. We walked over a significant bridge which has made the Peace Village so much more accessible.

The sole came off and the shoe strings didn't hold it together, so we finally came up with the idea of holding the shoe together with his sock, and when we arrived at the conference site there was a shelter with some wire which an accompanier, Moses, got for Phil. Believe it or not, there was no hole in his sock when we got back.

Here are some Taposa people in the area. (left)

The Catholic priest, Fr. Anselm, was greeting some Taposas after mass. (right)

We have had a blessed day. We hope you all have had one also. It has been such a joy for Phil and me to be back in Sudan, enjoying the people, relating to them as brothers and sisters and also enjoying the rich blue sky and white clouds that have given us rain a couple times, and the birds and gorgeous, lush, rainy season scenery. So many stories come back to us and we share them and hear more from others. Enten too has enjoyed getting to know this land and its people. It has helped Phil and me at times to see the newness of Africa (tho' he's made a couple trips here before but not for long) through his eyes. The depths of our feelings at times is hard to get across: like the contrast in values in a land lacking the material wealth, priorities, etc that America has, the generosity of people with so little, and on and on.

Well, till next time we pass on the message of our morning worship that indeed, we are all one family - sisters and brothers around the world.

Peace to all,
Louie, for Phil and Enten too