Weevil City

One of my tasks for the team is to make granola a few times a week. One of the key ingredients in granola is oats. I grabbed a brand new box of oats from one of our trunks and when I opened it I got the nice surprise of weevil city. Weevils are these tiny black insects that can somehow get through cardboard and plastic and really like to infest our flour, oats, rice, etc. It would have been really sad to throw a whole box of oatmeal away and so I decided to try and deweevil the oats by spreading it out on cookie sheets and placing it in the sun. For some reason this causes the weevils to surface and then leave. After letting the oatmeal sit in the sun for a few hours I examined it and noticed only a small amount of weevils still present. I decided the oats were now good enough to use for granola, a little extra protein never hurts. I think I am going to become very familiar with the deweeviling process.

Walking in the Light

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 5-7
In Mundri there is no electricity. If people have power they get it either from solar panels or generators. The house on our temporary compound does have solar power, but my tukul does not. There are some nights when I forget to take a flashlight with me over to the house and so when I go to bed I literally have to walk with my hands out in front of me and very slowly so I do not run into anything or step in a rut. In Mundri once the time has reached 7:30 or 8pm people are no longer moving as much. Because there are no street lights taking a walk at night is not a good idea because you can’t really see where you are going. This week I was reflecting on these verses from 1 john and thinking about what it is like to walk in complete darkness from the Masso house to my tukul. I flinch if I see the shadow of something, I have hit my head many times on the thatch of my roof, even when I walk slow I still trip over things. We are not meant to walk in the dark. God is light. If we are walking with Him we will always be in the light. I was also thinking about these verses in terms of guidance. I tend to look ahead and then feel like I am in the dark because I do not know what will happen tomorrow or next week. But when I feel this way it is just a reminder that I should be walking in the present and everything right before me is in the light. In the light I can walk to people’s homes, sit with them, and build relationships. Let us all continue to walk with Him who is light.

SPLM Day

May 16th is SPLM Day here in s. Sudan. It is a day where they now celebrate that 26 years ago the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement was formed. This year the people did not celebrate on the 16th because of a burial service happening for someone very important and instead celebrated on Monday the 18th. The even started around 10am and went up to 4pm. Many people from different groups representing women, youth, the church, the government, etc. spoke. Each primary school also had students present to share songs in between the speakers. I did not attend the whole event, but I did go for about an hour to sit an experience a public gathering. Many speakers also used this time as an opportunity to encourage the people to vote. This year there were supposed to be elections for a new president, but it got postponed and will now be held early 2010. The people of Mundri are very thankful for peace and desire to remain unified to keep the peace. Please continue to pray boldly for peace in Sudan.

Brain Freeze

You know how when you drink a slurpee or milk shake too fast you get a brain freeze? Well I feel like I have a brain freeze from an abundant intake of foreign words. Each day after my 2 hour language lesson I feel like my mind needs a time of nothingness. I have developed a good routine of taking a break after lessons, studying a bit, and then going out in the community to practice what I learned earlier in the day. It is amazing how learning a language can be so mentally exhausting and I feel like I need this whole weekend to recuperate and prepare my mind for next week. But the exhaustion is well worth it. Even though I have only had five days of lessons I feel like a lot of what I am learning is really sticking and I have many willing and helpful neighbors to practice with. The Moru language is difficult to learn in the sense of new sounds that I am unfamiliar with, but at the same time the sentence structures are pretty easy. For example to say I go, I went, I’m going, etc. the same word is used. You can tell what a person means by the context in which they are saying it. I am so thankful for this time that I have to slowly adjust and really dedicate my time to learning the Moru language and as much about the culture and daily living as I can.

The Sudan Team

Here is the Sudan team. The adults left to right: Larissa, Michael, Karen, Kyle, Ian, Christine, and me. Then the three children Gaby, Acacia, and Liana. We make up the current Sudan team minus Ian who left Mundri today to head back to the states. We are a team interested in various ministries such as counseling, water, education, pastor training, etc. Please pray for us as we continue to seek out ways to best serve and live among the community in Mundri.

Soaking it In

When people visualize what Africa must look like, they picture flat, barren, dry, and dusty land. Mundri fits this idea in its flatness but it is far from barren. There are many local trees that have wonderful uses besides a sanctuary of shade and rest. There is the Lulu tree, which if you take the nuts of the tree, dry them and press them, they can be turned into Lulu butter or soap which hydrates and beautifies the skin. There is the Maringa tree that bares beautiful white blossoms and tiny leaves. These small leaves can be dried and pounded into a powder that if added to food provides extra nutrition. And then there is the Mango tree which is in plenty here in Mundri. During Mango season people know they can always rely on the succulent Mango to satisfy.
As I begin to plant my own roots here in Mundri I have been thinking a lot about trees and plants and how they start out as a seed and over time with the right care and nourishment turn into a useful blessing for the community that provides for years and years. The Lord has been reminding me that acclimation and relationships take time. In these next few months I want to be that seed planted in the ground. It can’t really do much, but it sits there waiting to receive the necessary elements that will help it grow. Each morning I have the opportunity to wake up and receive the nourishment of truth from God’s word, from the power of His Spirit, and the strength of Christ. It is through this nourishment that I will be able to just BE and soak in all that is around me believing that through this time of soaking and receiving I will be more useful in the future.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth; It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of a thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be the Lord’s renown, for and everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.” Isaiah 55:9-13
I will go out in joy and be led forth in peace as I continue to just BE here in Mundri.

Magili Muna Ferre Ferre Moru Unine

Magili muna ferre ferre Moru unine (I am try little by little to learn Moru). Today I went on my first language route with my teammate Larissa. Each day she prepares a script or pictures to practice with people in the community, so as we sat it was a lot of pointing and repeating, meàma, youàmi. During today’s walk I was encouraged more and more at how important it is to learn the local language. As Larissa spoke to various people in the market and was able to use Moru their faces just lit up. People were so happy to be able to speak to her in their own language and it really shows that she cares for them. Today I was also given a Moru name Kitu wa, which means like the sun. I think I was given this name because my hair is lighter and is like the color of the sun. Being given a Moru name is also a very important step to bonding with the local people and I am excited to begin sharing this name when people ask because although Kim is a very easy name in the U.S. people are not familiar with it here. Please pray for my language learning and for the Lord to provide a language helper for both Larissa and myself.

Tour of Our Compound

This is my lovely Tukul. You can not see it in this picture, but it as a purple door to make it a little more personal. It has felt very comfy and I am beginning to make it my own.

This is the Massos house and if you look to the left you will see a tent where Christine and Larissa live.

Here is our bathroom(s) and bathing room

Another Tukul that is not livable but is currently used for storage.

More to come later