Church of the Brethren Sudan Initiative

Well... we had a safe night in Malakal, thankful for all that God had provided for us, and the hospitality of the Presbyterians who had no word of our coming, but who welcomed us warmly, sharing what they had.

We have heard back from some of you that photos are invaluable... and so here are some. This is the group of Presbyterian ministers who first welcomed us yesterday, as we arrived unannounced on their doorstep Saturday afternoon.

After rising this morning, we figured we needed to find food, but not knowing when church services might be, we sent Phil back to the market to try to find something. We know that there must be markets, but so far have only been directed to a grocery with mostly canned, imported items... perhaps we will be better able to communicate with our friends later about where to find real food--their food--not pseudo-western items. Phil took the photo below of the roads, with the water and sticky mud of the black cotton soil remaining from the rain the previous afternoon. As Louie remarked, "You will need to make friends with the mud to be here." Gumboots are standard issue... we have considered purchasing some just for these few days, as well as for Bentiu at the end of the week.

We asked to go to worship with our host the Moderator (Rev. John Kang Dung, center in the photo above - who speaks so highly of Schrocks and the COB) this morning, to the church building right here on the same compound. There are services going throughout Sat. evening and Sunday in different languages: Nuer, Shilluk, Arabic, Anuak, Dinka (2 services) and Murle. As the majority of the leaders we had met so far are Nuer, including the moderator, we ended up attending the Nuer service. As usual, we were invited to share greetings to the standing-room-only group (they said that with the mud the attendance was down, but they usually have up to 600 worshipping at this service), and so we also used their bullhorn as we greeted them on behalf of the COB and spoke a few words, so those outside could hear.

We were delighted by several things. First, the congregation knew of the Church of the Brethren and our previous work here--we are known and welcome here. They also made a big deal about the Nuer Bible, which Esther and Lester Boleyn had spent ten years translating with Tut Wan. When Louie mentioned that I had also done significant work with the translation of the New Testament, the reaction was spontaneous and joyful--these people are so grateful to have a Bible in their own language! (I give thanks and credit to Merv Keeney, who in faith chose to financially support my translation technology efforts a dozen years ago, despite Boleyns being told that it was impossible by the Bible translation experts--his faith has been greatly rewarded.)

We also had the joy to sit next to Rev. George Riak, in the photo below, who has been featured in Messenger previously for his tremendously successful evangelization here, baptizing hundreds of new converts in a single day, and whom Louie and Phil recognized from previously meeting him. I was blessed that he whispered a translation of the message to me during the preaching.

Afterwards, many people wanted to meet and greet us.

We then returned to the Moderator's home to talk for a while, then two ministers guided us to a place for lunch--a meal to which we were most eager to get. The first restaurant was out of some food; but at the second we were glad to get what seemed to be a common dish consisting of bowls of beans with onion and sprinkled with cheese, along with flat bread. Our hosts excused themselves to go get a different dish, of dried fish, then rejoined us... and were pleasantly surprised that we all knew how to eat with our hands "the Sudanese way."

After our meal, we walked just another block or so to the port on the Nile River. We were impressed at the trade, and recognized that prices in the market were lower than anywhere else we had visited, mostly due to the ease of transport on the river, we surmised.

From there, back through the market. Although the mud was beginning to firm up in many places, we still picked where we walked very carefully.

There are many ox carts here; many small taxis; and the ubiquitous matatus and Land Cruisers. This is a more prosperous area than Torit, it seems, and as we are farther north, there is a much greater Arab influence, with most signs in Arabic, more mosques, and more awareness of the Christians here of being in the same space with Muslims.

We are hoping to meet with government leaders and other Christians tomorrow, particularly the Episcopalians/Anglicans and the Roman Catholics, as well as to make direct contact with the Sudan Council of Churches representatives here, if at all possible. Yet we have been fortunate so far, what with arriving unannounced on a weekend, and being able to make such good connections with the Presbyterians who know the Church of the Brethren so well--even having the opportunity to address a meeting of Community Development and Peacemaking leaders from around the state, who gathered here at the Presbyterian compound.

The other highly significant joy was when Louie got to meet Rev. Elizabeth, one of the first women ordained in the Presbyterian church here. She was so excited to meet another ordained woman, and just hugged Louie again and again! We have since learned that it is the current Moderator, James Kang, who is the one who opened this door, simply stating because we are equal before Christ, women are able to serve God also as ministers. A simple statement, but one that is starting to make a tremendous difference here!

Thank you all for your prayers for us this weekend. For simplicity sake, our hosts have invited us to remain here at the Moderator's home for the three days we are here, since we now have beds arranged. We hope to better figure out water (for washing and bathing), as well as the market, but the blessings of shelter and security, fellowship and welcome, have been ours. We hope that as the next day comes, we not only have the opportunity to have the meetings we desire, but if the rain holds off we might also have the opportunity to see more of the area (with rain, the mud makes it impossible to travel much).

Meanwhile we enjoy our conversations with the people and hear one thing over and over.from the Presbyterians here: they want the Church of the Brethren to return to Mayom (where Schrocks used to be back in the 80's). The needs are so great there, with the need for the building and development of the church as the priority (according to the moderator), and a Christian school also. After each place we go we think the COB could help there. How can we choose one place? We remind the people in each location that we are trying to assess the situation and will choose one location to begin with. Maybe the need is for the call to go out in the COB, to reach many more people to serve in Sudan.

Keep the prayers coming... and we have appreciated the messages that we have received directly. For those who would like to send messages of support to us, you may write directly to us a sudan {at} peacebe {dot} com... but please send only straight text, no photos or links or graphics (bandwidth is expensive for us with the system we are using).

Grateful and blessed,
Enten, and Louie and Phil
the A-Team :)