Monday 28 May 2012

Rain!

Rain....our experience of rains in the US may be very different, depending upon your home area. I remember hard thunderstorms in Iowa; gentle spring rains; and summer showers, which cooled us off for a few minutes. Winter rains often meant sleet or freezing on the roads. Wherever we live, rain means life and growth in the fields - often bringing more GREEN and colorful flowers to the landscape! Sometimes rain brings heavy flooding and problems. It can be a blessing but also a problem! Well, here in South Sudan, the rains have been different from our experience in Kenya. The rains tend to come during the daytime hours and often blow in with strong winds, thunder and lightning! A few days we have seen the clouds hang low and produce rain for hours. Such was the rain of last Wednesday! We left Yei with clouds and could tell the rains would come as we traveled 11 miles out of town to Ligitolo! (it only took us 45 minutes to travel those 11 miles!) When walking is the primary means of transportation for people and many activities (like cooking)are enjoyed outside, heavy rain is more than inconvenient....it can be "event-changing!" The rain started soon after our arrival before 10 a.m. and only 4 people had gathered, and they were there for a different training. We moved into an unfinished church building to stay drier, and people slowly arrived over the next 3 hours as the heavy rain continued. Some conversations were possible with individuals - YET THE TRAINING COULD NOT START AS THE SOUND OF THE RAIN ON THE METAL ROOF WAS SO LOUD THAT LITTLE ELSE COULD BE HEARD! We Americans were obviously more bothered by the disturbance to our schedule. The church building was filled with chatter; people welcomed each newcomer; and some leaned against the wall and rested. Finally, about 1:30 pm, the meeting started, with 10 women from 3 different churches (plus others who were still waiting for their trainers to arrive!). The schedule for the day's training of TBAs (traditional birth attendants) was re-adjusted and the meeting proceeded well. Tea and rice was shared with everyone; UMCOR birth kits were distributed; singing and dancing warmed us up!; and everyone considered it a wonderful day! Of course, the road was full of mud and puddles as we tried to help participants avoid such long walks on their ways back home. Most still had 3-4 miles to walk back home, even with the lift. The day ended later than we expected. But, all in all, the blessing was ours!

Friday 18 May 2012

Welcome!

WELCOME! So often we say these words without really thinking about them. And our attitude might not be so "welcoming," even if we say the words. Well, in much of Africa, welcoming visitors is truly amazing! Take this past Wednesday, for instance! Here in South Sudan,the UMC vehicle got stuck on a really bad road on Tuesday evening, and the vehicle was very noisy on the trip back to Yei after finally getting out of the mud! So our scheduled leaving time of 8 am was delayed on Wednesday morning as the mechanics checked the vehicle over. Thankfully it was just a jammed bolt on the bearing (or at least that is how I understood it). So, we were on the road in just 3 hours (pretty amazing on a public holiday), headed to a small village called Gwiria, where there is one of the United Methodist Churches. We were speaking at a Regional Training for TBAs (traditional birth attendants). We wondered if anyone would be there as the trip takes nearly 2 hours to complete during the rains! Yet - as we drove onto the church grounds, there were 50+ children and adults singing and dancing to welcome us to their church! Many handshakes and smiles met us as we climbed out of the vehicle. Children clamored to grab our hands as they danced and sang praises to God. They had stayed 3 extra hours just to welcome us - they should have left for home hours before. The training went well, with great discussion about ways to teach community women what they needed to do to have safer pregnancies and deliveries, as well as ways to avoid problems with their newborn babies. UMCOR birth kits were handed out to many of the trained TBAs and all were satisfied after taking tea, rice, cassava posho, and beans with cabbage. We all left for home full with food, fellowship, and more education. Although I have enjoyed this kind of welcome before - I thank God for teaching me over and over again how important it is to make visitors feel TRULY WELCOME, just as our new friends in Gwiria made us feel this week!

Thursday 17 May 2012

Sunday Service at Kelego UMC

15 April 2012 Today we went to church at Kelego. It is one of the newest United Methodist Churches of the district of South Sudan. It was the first visit there for a worship service for District Superintendent, Rev. Fred Dearing, and for me. The church in this village has just been meeting there on Sundays since the beginning of the year. What an amazing experience to see the church – coming to meet regularly under this mango tree. There were a few white plastic chairs for the visitors to sit on, and a very small table in front of them – draped with a white cloth. There was no building, no pews, no floor, and no air conditioning! Several thin, but trimmed, tree branches were lined up in rows on the ground near the chairs, where about 25 small children sat together. 50-60 adults either sat on a log, on blankets, or just on the dusty, hard ground. Yet, with the shade of this massive tree, the soothing presence of Jesus was present with His beloved family – amidst the heat of the African mid-day sun. During our 2-3 hour stay at Kelego UMC, we saw and heard many amazing things. Deeply sincere prayers were offered and all the people prayed out loud together in their own mother-tongue. Several rousing African hymns were sung to drum beats and clapping. The Word of God was preached. An offering was taken. Testimonies were given by two men about how God had convicted them of and, then freed them from, alcohol and its destruction of their family life. One man experienced this just that very week, and he came with his wife and child, along with another villager to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. They were baptized with water from the village borehole, and the church danced (yes, danced!) with joy at their new-found life. Also, about twenty sick people came forward for prayer for healing. They were prayed for individually by Rev. Dearing, Pastor Sebit, and me. There were older people with pains and aches, a new mother with a breast infection, babies sick with fever, and a 10-year old boy named Agele with an extremely severe eye infection – that had not been treated for several months. It appeared that the eye had been completely destroyed and infection was spreading under the skin to the other eye. We prayed, and we advised on their medical care – especially on what steps must be taken for Agele to be helped. We heard the pleas of the pastor and the village chief – for a school for their children. Right now, the closet school is 5 miles away. Even the youngest ones would have to walk 10 miles each day in severe heat or rain to get even the most basic education. (There are actually a couple of hundred school-aged children in that village area.) We were shown the site where they want to build a church someday, and we were shown the humble beginnings of what they want to become a basic school – several roughly cut, large tree limbs stuck in the ground and joined together by other limbs. The hope is that it can be developed into a thatched-roof structure where the school and the church can meet – at least protected from the rains. The need for education, for help with agriculture, for income-generating projects, and for even the most basic medical advice and disease-prevention teaching was starkly evident. But the first steps had been taken. The people had come forward in faith and hope that Jesus, who had brought them together as a church under a tree, would begin to help meet these other needs. Rev. Dearing reminded them that it would take time and hard work. But God and the church would stand by them and help them to improve their lives. The church service was closed with prayer. The church fed us with rice and tea. Blessings and good-byes were exchanged. The hour-long, bumpy ride back home gave me much time to mull over in my heart and mind – what God can do and will do in His church – which meets under a mango tree.