Church of the Brethren Sudan Initiative

Well, this is a wrap-up entry. It was a very powerful trip; we gathered an incredible amount of information from all the conversations and explorations we managed to have; we are still amazed that we managed to cover as much ground as we did in that month, particularly given that it was rainy season! We give thanks to God for all these experiences, and for what we have to bring back to share with those making the decisions as to how this ministry will move forward, and where.

We are still safe here in Nairobi tonight, at the "Archbishop Desmond Tutu Ecumenical Centre" Guest House on the All Africa Conference of Churches compound.

We know, we know... we weren't supposed to make it to Nairobi until tomorrow! But, truth be told, we almost didn't even make it out of Sudan at all today!

Short entry tonight, as low on battery.

Last night a fierce storm kicked up, and heavy rains pounded us for hours.  After securing our tents, and making sure things were up off the floor, we did alright.  Water never covered our tent floors, but it came close, and the areas around were all flooded and very muddy.

We are well. We have not been able to access power for several days, and have not been in one place nor secure enough to set up our solar panel, so I apologize that this will also need to be a brief entry.

Thursday we arrived in Leer, hitched a ride with UN to Bentiu, and were there that night in teachers' housing at the Ministry of Education, as I previously related.

A brief Satellite phone call was received today from the Sudan Assessment Team. They are in Leer today and wish for all to know that power for the computer is sporadic and quite limited. In fact, they asked that we pass along that communication on the blog may be fully interrupted until Tuesday, July 31st, although each day the team will do there best to attempt to post a log.

This blog entry may be quick and scattered. I'm borrowing the VSAT connection of the Ministry of Education here in Bentiu, and the connection keeps dropping, making it very difficult to get anything through. This may be due to clouds, and power surges. Or... it could be due to the clouds of mosquitos. (This will be a rough night.)

In the wee hours of this morning (and my body says it was about 3:30a) under the protection of our mosquito net, at the SCC/CEAS compound in Rumbeck, and idea for this blog came to me. I found myself singing (in my mind, at least) the gospel folk tune "Seek and Ye Shall Find" based on the core message of Luke 11:9-10.

Last night, after blogging, we were blessed by a visit from the Shilluk pastor, Rev. John. We were a little concerned about late visits, and time to share a meal and prepare for the evening--and last-minute visits often mean requests for assistance--but we were pleasantly surprised to have a very good conversation, gained some good insight from a slightly different perspective, and ended with a good time of prayer. (Thank you, God.)

Phil and Enten just went with Isaac Nyiding, staff person from the Malakal SCC (Sudan Council of Churches) office, and James Mayay, who used to be an accountant working with Shrocks (and he remembers them with fond memories). They've gone to confirm our flights with World Food Program tomorrow at their office, so I'll start the blog for today. (In this photo, James in to the left, Isaac in the middle, and Rev. Paul to the right.)

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.

Today we moved in faith more than anywhere else on our trip. We were not able, nor was Anne in the SCC office in Nairobi, to contact anyone successfully in Malakal, so we were not sure what would unfold today. Someone from the Diocese of Torit (Catholic) guest house in Juba took us to the airport where we had been booked to fly with WFP (World Food Program). We flew first to Rumbek and then on to Malakal, a large city with a paved airstrip. We were expecting taxis there, but there were none there yet, which frustrated a number of people.

Well, this may be a day to remember. Or at least, I hope that it is, because I'd prefer to not repeat this too often, as paradigmatic for the African experience as it may be!!

Torit is an area rich in many things... history and pride (the revolution began here, and ended here), people who are willing to work ecumenically, people working toward capacity-building, those working on trying to improve the infrastructure. There are challenges, but many are being addressed, and the government, and police and so forth, seem to be sufficient.

Safe in Torit albeit under the most, umm, rustic conditions yet, learning much. What with travel and trying to make arrangements here in Torit, there was not the opportunity to write yesterday evening. Yesterday had good conversations with several priests from DOT. This morning, even more; then were able to meet several governmental officials and also the acting governor of Central Equitoria. We could report much, will try to find power to type and send our notes sometime.