Giving Thanks

Another Thanksgiving in Sudan. This year, we celebrated in a more mellow fashion. I think we're all too tired for big celebrations. We were a lot more energetic this time last year, but it was a great day all the same. We've had a great week, and we have a few more busy and exciting weeks planned before another R&R in Kenya. But as I was sitting around the bonfire tonight (one of our Thanksgiving day traditions because we don't have American football games to sit and watch), I realized that I am thankful in particular for three things this year.
1. I am thankful that when I am sitting by the fire, I find myself enjoying the heat because without the fire, I feel cold. I think I am finally accustomed to the heat...to the point that I have frequently found myself wearing long pants and jackets and using TWO blankets at night. I am thankful that I don't notice the heat as much as I used to.
2. I am thankful for means of communication that allow me to speak with family and friends who are thousands of miles away. It makes the miles seem much shorter and reminds me that absence sometimes does indeed make the heart grow fonder.
3. In the same way that I realized this last year, I realized that I don't say often enough how thankful I am for my prayer supporters, friends, and family. I am incredibly thankful that God has blessed me with so many prayer warriors. I know you truly are warriors for us...standing in the gaps and working miracles for us that we may never even know. So thank you.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Exciting Things Happening...

Yesterday, a man who stays on our compound saw a leopard crossing the road about a half hour east of where we frequently work in Akot. He said it was massive…like it was on steroids. We’ve heard about a lot of incidents with hyenas recently, as well. It sounds like the wildlife is finally making its reappearance in Southern Sudan! Praise the Lord for how He can make a place that was dead to live again.

In other more exciting news, we had 13 ladies accept Christ last week in a small group I’ve been working with here in Rumbek. The ladies have been involved in one of the other churches in the area for years, and have known most of the basic Bible stories I have been telling (creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall, etc). We got to talk about Jesus for the first time last week, and they just couldn’t hear enough about Christ and what He’s done for us. It was an incredible afternoon—a complete confirmation of our reason for being here! I saw those ladies this afternoon, and they are so joyful now. One of the ladies said to me, “Thank you for coming to tell us the good word of Jesus. It has changed our lives and our hearts—how we think and what we believe. And we are happy to have you come and teach us more so we can know how to live with other people and how to praise God. That word is so good and we are so happy to hear it.” Praise the Lord for new sisters in Christ and for the incredible ways He chooses to work! This was a group who I started teaching somewhat begrudgingly. Praise God that in His wisdom, He knew who was ready to hear His word. And Praise God that He chose to use me, despite my reluctance and flaws.

One of the stories we’ll teach this week deals with the characteristics of God. In teaching Bible stories to people who didn’t grow up in Sunday school, a lot of times we have to begin with the very essence of “who is God?” And we begin with these: God is an eternal spirit who will never change. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. He is the creator who loves His creation. He is holy and without sin and will judge the people for their sin because He hates sin and punishes the sinner. He is the giver of all grace, because we all need it and because He loves His people. And finally, God ALWAYS keeps His promises. What a great reminder this week was for me that God has promised to raise up His followers from EVERY nation…and that He is faithfully keeping that promise.

McDonald's French Fries

Last night, I walked into my room after a shower and was immediately engulfed by the delicious smell of McDonald’s French fries. No joke, I totally smelled Mickey D’s fries. So I immediately started hopping around and laughing and getting all excited. I yelled at Laura (in the room next to mine) and ran over to her door. She came to greet me, and I yelled, “Do you have MCDONALDS in here? I smell French fries!!!” She laughed at my ridiculous level of excitement and displayed, to my disappointment, a bowl of tomato soup. “This is all I have,” she said. I then made her come smell my room to see if she could smell the McDonald’s. After walking around for a few minutes, she finally said, “Whitney, I sure don’t smell any French fries in here. You must REALLY be missing McDonald’s!”
And the funny thing is…I never really liked McDonald’s French fries when I was in the US. I suppose absence truly does make the heart grow fonder…

It was a proud day for me today. For the first time in life, I managed to get a Land Cruiser stuck in the mud. It's not everyday that one gets to stick a Land Cruiser, but for me, today was the day. Fortunately, it wasn't TOO overly stuck, so that was nice. Nothing a little 4-wheel drive couldn't handle. But still...I have officially stuck a Land Cruiser. Check that off my "bucket list"!

The Communication Barrier...Still Unbridged

In the last few days since I’ve returned from Kenya, I have noticed a serious lack of communication skills on my part, mostly as a result of my limited language speaking abilities. Because it tends to be quite entertaining, I thought I would give you a few examples of what it sounds like when I try to communicate here. Some days are worse than others as far as language goes. Today was a particularly rough day for me. I usually figure out after the conversation exactly how stupid I sounded during it.

After handing a woman two bags of maize to take home:

Woman: Is it for eating or for planting?
Me: It’s MAIZE! MAIZE!
Woman: Yes, it’s maize. Is it for eating or planting?
Me: It’s MAIZE! MAIZE!
Woman: I know…but is this maize for eating or planting?
Me: I don’t understand. It’s MAIZE!!!! I don’t know how else to say “maize”… Oh, you can take TWO bags! TWO bags of maize.
Woman: This girl doesn’t understand me. I want to know if I am to eat this maize or plant it.
Jamie (translating for me): Whitney, she wants to know if you are supposed to eat it or plant it.
Whitney: Oh…ummmm…it’s MAIZE!

A woman sees a small bottle of hand-sanitizer on the table:

Woman: What’s this?
Me: Ummm… (random hand gestures and occasional grunts)
Woman: (laughs at my random hand gestures and occasional grunts) I understand. I want some.
Me: Ummm… (more random hand gestures)…give me…hand.
Woman: (gives me her hand) It feels cold.
Me: Ummm…(grunt)

Man tries to ask us for a ride to town:

Man: Can I ride in the vehicle to town?
Me: We are going to town today.
Man: Yes, I know. Can I go with you?
Me: We are going to town right now.
Man: I will just ride in the back. (climbs into the back)
Me: What are you doing?
Man: Going to town.
Me: You can’t go with us. The car is full.
Man: I need to go to town.
Me: Yes, we came from town just this morning.
Man: Okay, I will wait and you tell me if I can go.
Me: …but now we are many people and the car is full.
Man: Okay, I will wait. You tell me if I can go.
Me: Okay. (random hand gesture) I am working here… (walk off to try and find a translator)

And lastly, a woman tries to determine when she will see me again:

Woman: I will see you again on Tuesday in two weeks.
Me: Yes, I will see you on Sunday in…uhhh…
Woman: I will see you Tuesday in two weeks.
Me: Yes, I will see you on Sunday in…uhhh…
Woman: Tuesday in two weeks.
Me: Yes, Sunday. No…Tuesday. In two weeks. Tuesday in two weeks. I will see you… Someday.

All Things Interesting...

After a long silence, I am finally back. It seems that I am becoming accustomed to many of the things that I would normally notice. As a result, there are fewer times that I think, “This HAS to go on the blog!” Unfortunately, I have not had any of these moments recently, but I thought it was time to update the blog. So, here is a brief update of all things interesting…

We had another termite invasion. For those of you who were not reading the blog at the time of the termite invasion last year, every year all of these termites (which are basically large flying ants) come up out of holes in the ground, fly around in a huge swarm for a night or so, shed their wings, and then crawl around for awhile and eventually die. Every time this happens, I spend an hour or so wielding a can of Doom and a fly swatter, trying to best the few determined termites that manage to squeeze in under the door to flutter around my room.

In other news, we recently returned from a trip to Kenya for meetings, medical appointments, and rest and relaxation. I had a fantastic time buying things, eating ice cream, and visiting with friends. During one of the meetings, we were enjoying some group prayer and worship time from a spectacular mountaintop outside Nairobi. As we discussed Scriptures and what God was teaching us, my supervisor's wife very nonchalantly pointed to the bush behind and said, “Look!” A giraffe was calmly walking right towards us, clearly enjoying the view himself. How cool it is to be joined by some of God’s most interesting creations while spending time to praise Him!

When we returned to Southern Sudan, we found another of God’s interesting creations in our bathroom. The six of us share a long-drop toilet (if you don’t know what this is, don’t worry about it!), and we occasionally share the bathroom with various critters like snakes, lizards, and frogs. Upon our return, we discovered a nice little petrified lizard. He had managed to get himself caught in a door, and in the Sudanese heat, had petrified in quick time. This morning, Jennifer and I were reminiscing about the petrified lizard that we found in the bathroom. As we discussed it, I remembered another petrified lizard I encountered once. The particular petrified lizard I had discovered was about half petrified and was lounging on our porch. Thinking it was dead, as most petrified lizards are, I used my shoe to lightly scoot it towards the edge of the porch, at which point the slightly-petrified lizard quickly scurried off to the bush, clearly very much alive. I mentioned the half-petrified lizard to Jennifer, and asked, “How does a lizard become partially petrified without being dead?” Jennifer responded, “That would have to be one LAZY lizard!”

Well, that’s all for today. Maybe it will be more profound next time! :)

A Banking Update and More Lessons Learned

So, just in case you were wondering…after two more unsuccessful bank trips, I finally discovered that they STILL don’t have American dollars at the bank and the money transfer will never go through because my bank has been banned from the clearing house. Funny? Yes. Incredibly frustrating? At times. Just another day in Africa? Of course…I would expect nothing less.

On a completely different note, I learned a few more lessons today. It seems I am always learning lessons out here…

Today, after another couple of days of women’s teaching, we finished up and prepared to head home. As we were packing up supplies and cleaning, one of my little friends, Elizabeth, came up to me and grabbed my hand. She has recently learned the English word “freckle” and has made a habit of spending several minutes every time she sees me counting the freckles on my arm.

Anyway, at one point I looked down to realize that Elizabeth had a rather mischievous look on her face. She then slowly began to pull my hand towards her mouth. At the appropriate time, I feigned shock and pulled my hand away, just as she was about to bite down on my hand. She laughed, I laughed, and a new game began in which she pretended to bite my hand and I pretended to be shocked and pull away. It was a fun, if somewhat traditional game of “I’m gonna eat your hand,” and I eventually bored of it. Seeking to spice things up a bit, I, all of a sudden, pulled her hand towards me and pretended to bite it. Oh, to see the look on that little girl’s face. She was absolutely HORRIFIED. Her eyes became round as saucers, and you could see the utter panic written in them. She jerked quickly away, and I saw tears well up in her huge eyes just before she ran quickly away.

I was kind of surprised at Elizabeth’s reaction to all the fun and games until I remembered this little tidbit…Dinka children are often told folktales of how the white people--the “kawajja”--eat the little black children. I should have remembered this, as another girl on our team once terrified a little girl by saying in Dinka “Give me your nose!” in response to the girl’s haughty demand for clothes, money, water, etc. However, I didn’t remember this, thus, terrorizing my little friend Elizabeth and making her think I was trying to eat her hand. Today, I learned that it’s not a good idea to pretend to eat little Dinka children.

Oh, and I also learned today that sometimes people who are not accustomed to riding in motor vehicles often easily become carsick. Just in case you were wondering, it is not usually wise to sit next to them, and if you do, it is rarely pleasant.

A trip to the bank

Many times, people ask us “So what did you do today?” I love the days when I can give a good answer to that question, saying something to the extent of “Well, let me tell you about all the amazing and helpful things I did today!” Today was not one of those days. Today, I went to the bank.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Wow, we spend all kinds of money to get our people in these foreign countries and all they can manage to accomplish in one day is a trip to the bank. And is that REALLY helping anything?” On some days, I would agree with you. At times, I appear to be amazingly unproductive, but I came to realize today that there is frequently a reason behind my lack of productivity.

I went to the bank this morning with three things to accomplish: to make a withdrawal, to exchange some dollars to pounds, and to check on a money transfer. I left for the bank at 9 am and made the 10-minute bike ride into town.

The exchange went easily and without a hitch, as I knew it would because the exchange was the only part of the trip to the bank that was not my responsibility. I was simply doing it for a teammate while I was there. That is something I have learned since coming to Africa…if you want something to go smoothly, have someone else do it. If you do it, it will inevitably go horribly awry.

Anyway, I have learned something about waiting lines since coming to Africa also. Here, they are more akin to jumbles of mass chaos. Waiting lines are not based on who arrived first. Rather, waiting lines are based on perceived priority…which boils down to the “me first” concept. As I was shuffled from counter to counter in order to get my tasks accomplished, I continually ended up in the waiting line and kept getting instructed by everyone else in line that I should just go ahead and find my way to the end of the line. I was finally able to get everything settled only after everyone else had finished their business and I was the only customer left in the bank.

By the end of the trip to the bank, I was told that unfortunately, the money transfer had not yet gone through. As this has been a tricky process, I knew that was likely. I was then instructed to visit two other neighboring banks, because it’s possible the money ended up there. And for my third task, I was finally told that they didn’t have enough US dollars in the bank for me to make a withdrawal today. I should come back Monday. So, deciding that Monday is going to be another “bank day”, I headed home with one of my three tasks accomplished. After another short bike ride, I made it home shortly before noon—my entire morning gone.

I think the thing I have been learning most in the last few months is the importance of patience, waiting, doing things deliberately, and being content with small successes. Back in the states, I would have considered a trip to the bank a simple errand, one that would be finished in a matter of minutes at a drive-thru…at least less than an hour if I had to walk in. Now, a completely successful trip to the bank is a major feat…a fabulous accomplishment…something to be written down in the record books. Things take longer, and things do not go as we anticipate, but we quickly learn to adapt and roll with it, or we go crazy instead. So, I will be heading back to the banks on Monday. We’ll see how it goes then.

I met a friend at the bank. Maker (our friend who we met first in Virginia last February!) was finally finishing his business at the bank after his third day in a row of coming to get things arranged. He was frustrated and ready to be done, so as he packed up his things and left, he handed me some money and said, “Go get yourself some sodas. If this is your first day here, you’re going to need them!” And then he left, smiling confidently, his task finally accomplished. So maybe irritation makes us more generous when we do finally see those small successes. I will have to remember that if and when I finally succeed with my current tasks.

An Encouraging Day...

I just wanted to make a quick post about the day of prayer and fasting for leadership for the AIDS project and the local churches! Thank you for those of you who knew about it and participated! I think I may have inadvertently left some people out of the loop…sorry about that!

Anyway, over the last several weeks, I think I have begun realizing that time is short. We will begin giving presentations in schools in the next few months and have volunteers planning to come and work with us. While we are not at the discouraged stage yet about not having national helpers, I hit a point a couple weeks ago where I realized that we have all these plans and no one to help make that happen. Jennifer and I both have really felt God’s leading in the way we have planned this project, and I found myself thinking, “Okay, God…we’ve been obedient this far. Now are you going to do Your part?”

Yesterday was definitely a confirmation that God is indeed, “doing His part.” As part of our day yesterday, we decided to prayer walk through town, walking in a direction we don’t normally walk. At one point, a vehicle stopped in front of us, and a few men got out of the vehicle to stretch their legs. As we passed, they greeted us, and one of them began to ask us a few questions. Eventually, we realized that this man was Maker, one of the two Dinka men we met this time last year in Virginia! He is back in Rumbek visiting and working on a project until April. We were supposed to meet up with him when he was in Rumbek last April, but we ended being out of town and living on a different compound from the one in which we told him we were living. It was a total shock to see him there and to realize that had we not been randomly walking out of town, we never would have seen him.

That situation reminded me of another situation we had recently…speaking of the Dinka men we met last year in Virginia, we have been to visit with Sunday’s (the other one!) dad a few times, and one time were able to take a gift from Sunday for his dad along with a photograph of the six of us, Sunday, and Maker. A few weeks ago, we were meeting with our newly hired driver, Elijah, to discuss the plans for the next week. Out of the blue, Elijah began talking about how now “we are family.” I thought he meant that we are family because we hired him, but he went on to explain that he had gone to visit his brother this week. While telling his brother about his new job with the Baptist Mission, his brother said, “Oh, THIS Baptist Mission?” And he whipped out the photograph of us with Sunday and Maker. Apparently, the ministry of health official is our new driver’s brother, who is Sunday’s (the man we met last year in Virginia) uncle. Small world, isn’t it?

To sum all this up, both of these situations—realizing that Elijah is Sunday’s uncle, and seeing Maker randomly by the side of the road—have reminded me that God is totally in this. This time last year, he made it possible for us to meet and become friends with two Dinka men who I honestly thought I would never see or hear from again. It’s been encouraging to me to see that God has so perfectly orchestrated the people and the events along the way—in this case, beginning about a year ago when we met these guys in Virginia—to make everything work out in His perfect timing.

So while we did not sign any new leaders to the program yesterday, I was encouraged. I was encouraged to remember that I don’t need to rush the timing of God. Just because I am beginning to feel a time-crunch does not mean that God is feeling it also! He is on the move here, working to make this work, and we will wait patiently for Him to show us who He has planned to be the leaders of our project! Thank you for praying with us yesterday. I hope you all were encouraged as well!

A worthwhile day...

Yesterday morning, I had one of those days that completely confirmed exactly why it is that we are here. This is probably too long of a post, but I feel like sometimes, it’s okay to write a lot. Some stories just shouldn’t be shortened…

Our Wednesday morning women’s Bible study was yesterday. Unfortunately, the lady who taught the Bible story last week was sick this week and not up for learning a story ahead of time to teach. Our normal translator has been MIA for several weeks. Finally, Laura and Jamie have begun teaching their women’s English class, so Laura had English class to teach on Wednesday morning and could not be at the Bible study. Normally, if we need to speak Dinka with our Bible study ladies, I do my best but they rarely understand me. Laura tends to get a better response from the ladies when speaking Dinka, but I knew that I was going to need a translator if I was to be understood.

We were able to arrange with one of the local pastors to come and translate for me, and I prepared the Noah story to teach this week. We have been working alongside some of the training that has begun in Akot so that the ladies who are learning stories there are hearing and practicing some of the same stories here…and one of them, Mary, has begun stepping up to help lead the teaching. I was nervous about the Bible study though…I had not worked with this particular translator much, the story is a long one, and I was on my own with the ladies this week. However, as I prayed for the right words and for open hearts among the ladies, I felt like God was saying to me, “Just do what I’ve asked you to do…I’ve taken care of all the details for you.”

Only nine ladies showed up Wednesday morning for the Bible study, and initially, I was a little bit disappointed. But as I talked with them before it started, I realized that these are our “core” ladies…the faithful few who come every week…the ones who are hungry for the truth and eager to teach it to their friends and family. And as we began the lesson, it warmed my heart to hear the ladies retelling the story from last week, correcting and encouraging each other when they couldn’t remember what came next. As the Bible study got underway, I really began to enjoy the time with them.

Finally, I told the story of Noah. The ladies listened with rapt attention, and at the end, I asked them some questions about the story. They answered correctly and seemed to understand the concepts I was trying to help them understand. However, at one point, Mary raised her hand to ask a question. Now, Mary has heard this story before…several times in fact. But for some reason, this week she had a question. Mary said, “I like this story. It shows us how God always keeps His promises and punishes the sinful. But I am wondering about the sacrifices. In this story, Noah made a sacrifice to God when he came off the ark. And here in Sudan, many people make sacrifices under the trees and to the witchdoctors. We have always heard that we shouldn’t make sacrifices, but in these stories, you tell us how Abraham and Noah make sacrifices to God. Should we make sacrifices to God, too?” And in that moment, you could see the despair in Mary’s eyes. I wondered if she thought she had been sinning against God and angering Him for years by not making sacrifices to Him, or if she was thinking of the few animals that they have as it is and how hard it is to feed an entire family with those few animals.

Then something amazing happened. I was able to explain to Mary and the other ladies in great detail (because we had a translator) that God demanded sacrifices for our sins, but He knew that we could not always make sacrifices to Him. He sent Jesus to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins…that when Jesus, who was completely blameless, died on the cross, He became the final sacrifice to cover our sins so that God no longer demands the sacrifice of animals from us. God knew that we could not do it on our own, so He took care of it for us, and now we do not sacrifice animals to God anymore. And as we continued to discuss the matter of the sacrifice, I was able to see in each of the women’s eyes the moment that comprehension dawned. The lightbulb went on…for all nine women! The ladies took turns asking more questions, and as I looked around, I was blessed to see the joy that immediately filled their faces as they grappled with what this meant for them—what it meant for Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for them.

It was one of those moments of complete understanding…one of those moments that could only be orchestrated by God. These ladies have HEARD this story before. They KNOW the story. But only yesterday did God choose to reveal Himself to these nine ladies. I don’t know why He chose to do that yesterday, other than to show me that it’s nothing I can do. My level of preparation, my comfort with the situation, my opinions about what is important in the story, etc…none of them are as important as the Holy Spirit’s moving in the lives of the individual ladies.

As the Bible study continued, the ladies were an utter joy to behold. They laughed. They giggled. They talked about God’s promises and the rainbow that will now always remind them of how God keeps his promises. They talked about God’s grace—how God loves people and allowed Noah’s family to live. They talked about how God punishes the sinners—how if they are sinful God will punish them, and how He will punish the witchdoctors and the people who make sacrifices to the spirits. And as I left Bible study yesterday morning, I heard one of the ladies call my name. As I turned to see what she wanted, she said, “Remember that God always keeps His promises!” And the smile that lit up her face made every second—be it challenging, irritating, discouraging, or completely joyful—that we have spent here in Sudan completely worthwhile.

Coping...

As I write this, I am sitting in my room with my feet scrunched up on my chair…not because it is more comfortable to sit this way, because it is most definitely not. My legs don’t really fit and I’m sure I look ridiculous, but yet, I am doing it anyway. You see, I just found a scorpion in my room. And after an unsuccessful attempt to kill him, I lost him somewhere in my room. That should make for a fun find one of these days!
But until I find him or until I forget that he is somewhere loose in my room, I am keeping my feet off the floor. Illogical? Yes. Necessary? No. Am I doing it anyway? Most definitely. I have come to the conclusion that sometimes the ways we choose to cope with our fears, while not healthy as long-term solutions, are the very things that keep us in uncomfortable situations when we would prefer to run away…or at least run screaming for my roommate to come help me search the room and kill the scorpion for me. Come to think of it, perhaps I’ll go do that now…