Church of the Brethren Sudan Initiative

As I write, the music is still blaring from the PA system from the US, celebrating our visit here to the Holy Trinity Peace Village, and even more celebrating the five weeks that Mara, a young woman from Switzerland, spend here working with mechanics. Mara will be flying out with us tomorrow morning, and they will greatly miss her and her hard work, repairing engines and other mechanical devices... a bit different than her studies in Mechanical Engineering, but great field training.

It is so late, and morning devotions will come early, that this entry will be short.

We started our time in Sudan in Juba, the capital of the south, meeting with the General Secretary of the Sudan Council of Churches, and gathering additional information for our travels and itinerary.

We then proceeded here to Kuron, to the Holy Trinity Peace Village begun by emeritus Bishop Paride Taban, to learn about this model, as well as to investigate the possibilities of this center serving as an initial orientation location for the Lead Team--to which we give a resounding affirmation.

Tomorrow morning, then, the charter flight arrives, first bringing in more supplies to the village here (since all the roads are washed out), then picking us and six other from here to Torit (dropping Mara off in Kapoeta for her next assignment with the Carter Center there). In Torit, we begin our first set of on-the-ground assessments as to locations suitable for our Lead Team of the Church of the Brethren Sudan Initiative.

We have gathered much information already through many conversations, first in Nairobi, then Juba; yet we have found that there is no replacement for actually getting to an area ourselves. We have been invited to areas here near Kuron; areas near Torit have also been identified by several church leaders in Juba. We have also learned that some of the areas in which we were first interested need to be ruled out for now, since Katire, south-southwest of Torit--one of the most promising locations we had identified prior to coming--is mostly inaccessible due to landmines on the road, as well as rebel activity in the area. Northeast of Torit, in the mountains, has also been identified as insecure due to bandits in the area. So we intend to make contacts in Torit, determine which areas in the surrounding country might be promising, and find a driver to take us to some of those places.

That's the plan. But this is Africa, as we learned today: it took over six hours to fix a tire on the tractor, as the tube could not be repaired... and finally the workers swiped a tube from the front tire of another tractor that was not running well, just to get one going--not an exact fit, but close enough. Part of the time was that there is no longer a working compressor here, and so it takes about two hours to pump up a front tractor tire by the one foot pump they have (like we use for bicycles)... we're told the rear tires take about six hours. It was amazing to watch them break the bead of the tire by hand..... They then needed to take the tractor to the forest to gather firewood for the week. But before they could go, since the starter motor in the tractor has mostly burned out, it took about 15 men and ropes to pull-start the tractor........ you get the idea. With enough patience and ingenuity, most anything can be done... but it takes a lot of work.

Enough for tonight. Tomorrow will start another part of our journey... stay tuned!

We have been blessed here, asked for our prayers and those of our brothers and sisters at home, as well as prayers extended for us and those we love... may the same blessings be with you.

Enten (and Phil and Louie)