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.)

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.)

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.

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.

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 left Lokichogio in the morning and arrived at Kuron on a charter - pictured at right. We were warmly met by Taposa people and others who were ready to unload the plane and accompany us to Holy Trinity Peace Village.

Today was mostly a travel and organizational day. We tried to meet with the Catholic ArchBishop of Juba this morning, but were not able to be received as he was too busy, so we left a note of greeting. We then packed, ate a quick lunch out of stores we had along, and got a lift to the airport to fly back to the UN base in Loki, Kenya, via a UN plane. (We are circling back into Kenya to be able to pick up a charter flight to the Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron, Sudan... the only way to get there now, as the roads are washed out, is a charter flight).