Hot, Hard, Heavy and Hope-Filled

 Four words come to mind after spending three months serving in South Sudan: Hot, Hard, Heavy and Hope-Filled.

February, March and April are the dry season in South Sudan. It is hot. Most days the temperature is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The earth is dry and dust is everywhere. Yet the mornings are beautiful, with temperatures in the high 70’s. You are not encumbered with sweaters, raincoats or shoes. I am enjoying the hot, dry days as we anticipate the new growth that the rains will soon bring.

I am reminded of Hosea 6:3, “Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” When it is hot and dry, we can anticipate with so much more joy the promise of rain.

 This is my second trip to Africa. It is an eye-opening experience to watch people work so hard to provide for just their basic needs. I am blessed to live in the United States. I received a good education. I have easy access to food. I have water at the turn of a faucet handle. If you live in the States, Canada, or Europe you are likely similarly blessed. 

In contrast, here in South Sudan water must be pumped by hand from a bore well and carried home in large yellow Jerry cans.  Firewood used for cooking must be collected regularly and carried home.  Food must be grown, harvested, stored and prepared daily.  Clothes are washed by hand and dried where ever you can find a place to hang or lay them out safe from the dust. Hard work is required everyday to eat, drink and survive. Do not be mistaken. The blessings of life are still here, yet the common ones are harder to obtain and many of God’s blessings are entirely different than we as Westerners experience.

Women are the backbone of life in South Sudan. Most of them carry – often alone – the heavy burden of feeding and caring for their children. They do it with out complaining as their mothers have done and as their daughters will do. However, as it is with our Western culture, so it is with South Sudanese culture: Some aspects of culture and how women are treated are Biblical, while many other times it is less so. Our hearts should ache when either of our cultures hinder the relationships and abundant life that God desires for us. 

I am hope-filled as I watch God at work here in South Sudan. Cush Christian School is full of students who sing their hearts out to the Lord, memorize scripture, pray and study. They are hiding God’s word in their hearts. God promises that his word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11). 

These boys and girls will become men and woman who will know the truth of the scriptures, as well as mothers and fathers who will lead Christ-centered homes. They will become leaders in their communities and in this new country. They will become tomorrow’s church, witnessing to their neighbors of the saving power of Jesus. 

A Dinka Name

This is Aluel Kuol She is one of the teachers at Cush Christian School. I met her my first day here and she gave me my Dinka name:

Arek Mayuen Padiany

I don't know the history behind it, but it is customary to be given a Dinka name when you arrive. The Dinka consider it an honor to be asked to give a khawaja a name.

Arek  (pronounced Air ache) is my first name.
Mayuen is my surname.
Padisny is my clan name.

Aluel is a mother of four with another baby on the way. She is 34 years old. Her oldest three children attend Cush Christian School. Aluel loves the Lord and is a song leader at church. Her husband is not a believer and does not support her.

She teaches the 1A class. 1A learns to read Dinka, which has traditionally been an oral language. The entire New Testament has been translated into Dinka. Many of the children's parents do not know how to read or write Dinka.

I actually found it much easier to read Dinka than to speak it. Aluel (pronounced L-O-L) is the only teacher at the school who does not know English.

Aluel is a lovely woman who loves the Lord and is raising her children to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30).

The Games Children Play

This tree stump is worn smooth near the bore
hole. It is uneven and rocks like a seesaw

I used to think people were more alike than different. After all we are all created by God, we all come in to the world naked, we all need a Savior.

Yes, we have different colored skin, hair and eyes. We all have the same internal organs, learn to walk about one year, of age, lose our first teeth about seven years,  and we all grow old.

Physically we are all similar. Do life experiences  change us? The life experiences of the children here in South Sudan are dramatically different and dramatically limited.

The list of  things Dinka children don't have would be so long I will instead tell you what they do have.

They have two parents, yet very often the father 's only contribution is his sperm, a last name and a clan name.

A spinning toy made out of an empty plastic bottle.

They have a shelter to sleep in such as a mud hut or an aracuba (a shelter of woven grass mats) and food when it is available.  Clothing is optional when children are young. It is not unusual to see little ones up to age four playing around their compounds with no clothing, or with very limited clothing.

Many of the children at school appear to only have one outfit. Others have a bit more. The clothing on adults and on children is in varying states of cleanliness and repair. Many do not know when their birthday is or how old they are. Birthdays are not celebrated, or  acknowledged annually.

I had seen children play with hoops and sticks
in drawings of Colonial America.
They are still doing this in South Sudan in 2019.

Dinka children may not have much, yet they are children —and they do enjoy playing! They play with many things. Old tires and rims are sent spinning and pushed with a stick to see how far they can go without falling over. Plastic containers are turned into trucks, spinning tops, or a display of goods in a pretend store. They love getting cans from the khawajas to play with. Small stones are added to tin cans and old soda bottles to make rattles for babies and worship music at church. (Video of toy made from empty plastic bottle).

There are no playgrounds here, yet if strips of fabric are available they are wrapped around and around to form a ball, a swing or something else that will move and entertain until the cloth is worn out.

Many of the children are curious about America and think it must be a beautiful place full of plenty. Tong Tong one of the students in class 1B. He frequently asks me to tell him about America. When I reply, I have instead chosen to focus on the beautiful things I see when I look around South Sudan; very large, old trees with so much character; open land that goes on as far as you can see; bright stars light up the night sky; and people that are welcoming to strangers with white skin.

This branch is still attached to the tree but it
grew in such a way that - until the fabric
broke - children could sit on it
and swing one another.

The children are tough here, No one complains about being hungry. When a Dinka chld falls down they get up and keep going without a fuss. When your flip flop breaks you walk barefoot until a solution is found. The older students have to be told several times each afternoon that it is time to go home. It is 4:30 p.m. and they would like to work longer. After all, there is no soccer practice or piano lessons to attend, no TV to watch, no books to read or board games to play.

They are children. They fight with one another from time to time and disobey their parents. They fail tests and study spelling words. The teen boys think about girls and the teen girls think about boys. They memorize scripture and hum worship songs while they work. They have parents who love them and want them to be successful at school. They all need a Savior who will give them a hope and a future
(Jeremiah 29:11).

Things I learned in South Sudan

I return home on Monday, May 6 after spending 3 months in South Sudan. I still have a few more blog posts to share. I hope you will enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed the experiences.

I fully expected to learn many things when I set out for South Sudan. I haven't been disappointed.
I hope you will enjoy a few humorous thoughts I have had while I have been here:

• Nose hairs are undervalued
• Sugar is not King
• Noises in the night are not always as bad as you think, nor do they come from things as big as you think
• Ice cubes are a food group
• You can bathe yourself in  6  quarts of water  ( 1-1/2 gallons) and really be clean
• Clothes don't make the man
• "It's a dry heat" is a thing
• Man does not live by bread alone; you need peanut butter to go with it
• Dirt does eventually wash off
• Vendors won't cheat you in the market, they want more of your money on your next visit
• Expect the unexpected and nothing will surprise you. Expect the unexpected and you won't be disappointed
• It never hurts to ask
• It is good to share your food

If you need further explanation of these points, just continue reading:

It is the dry season. It has not rained since November . It has been at least 90 degrees every day since my arrival on February 1. Most days over 100 degrees. Everything is dry. Everything is covered with dust. I have probably breathed my weight in dust and then some, yet those little nose hairs faithfully do their job keeping my body free of dust and dirt. My nose hurts some nights because it is so dry and has been working over time, but I am thankful. They say God know the number of hairs on our head. Our nose hairs are overlooked but valuable.

Over the last year I have read a few books and articles about cutting back or eliminating sugar from my diet. In the United States this is challenging to do. Sugar is in  just about everything. Not here in South Sudan. You actually can survive with out sugar. 

I live in a house that is constructed of cement blocks and has a metal roof. It is open where the rafters sit on the top layer of block. Nothing big can get in, yet there are lizards, spiders, flies and other bugs everywhere. The lizards are the biggest, but they are so afraid of me I have been trying for weeks to get a picture of one. They scamper away before I can get close enough. That said, when you are sleeping alone 6,000 miles from home you can hear goats, mules, roosters, sheep, oxen, dogs and cows just outside your window. Then when something falls on the metal roof or scurries up the screens on the windows your imagination can get carried away. I use the mosquito net even though it is not mosquito season, turn on the fan, and try to remember I am bigger than most of the creatures real and imagined. It doesn't take long to drift off to sleep exhausted from another day.

I miss ice, ice cubes and any variation of things frozen. It is hot here. A cold drink would taste great. At home, when I get myself a cold drink I fill the glass with ice (to the top), then put the beverage in. That is my kind of drink. So, I miss ice. But I miss my husband Warren a bit more!

Here on the compound there are four house that have been built by different families at different times as the ministry has grown. I live in the Big House. It was the first one built and has housed a family of six and later a family of eight. There is a shower stall with a drain in the floor that goes under the house somewhere. No shower head. No running water. Instead, I fill a basin with 2 quarts of water and take basically a sponge bath, then I use an additional two pitchers of water to pour over myself to wash my hair and rinse my body. I feel clean and it is refreshing to pour water  over yourself when it is so hot and you are covered in sweat. Some of the newer houses have improved the shower mechanics with large containers of water, gravity fed delivery, and an actual shower head.

School Uniforms are very common in Africa. South Sudan is no exception. However Cush Christian School made a decision from the beginning not to require school uniforms. It was an additional expense for the families and considered unnecessary. Many of the students wear the same clothes for days. They are soiled and full of ripped seams. No one teases anyone or comments at all on the clothing they wear. I pass many huts on the way to school where the young children are wearing nothing as they rush out to greet me as I walk by. You just get used to it. They say potty training is very easy here. 

When there is no moisture in the air  it really, really, really does not seem as hot as the thermometer indicates. But let me warn you, you don't want to stand in the sun long, or step in the hot sand in your bare feet. Do one of these things and then it does feel as hot as the thermometer says.

I have found the diet here to be challenging. I would not say I am the most adventurous eater. But I will try new things. Watching people eat with their hands -- that I know they have not washed recently -- is difficult. Knowing that there are no rules for food prep is also difficult. So when all else fails I eat unleavened bread that is available at the market. I split it open cover it with peanut butter. I can last several hours with some water to wash it down.

I can really appreciate the Bible verses about washing feet. My feet are dusty and dirty at the end of the day. Nothing feels better than to get them clean. 

The first time I went to the market I went with a team mate that spoke Dinka. Later, I went with one of the older students. That was easy. When I went alone there was a lot of pointing and guessing, yet I don't worry about them cheating me because if I find out I paid too much for something I will take my money to another vendor the next time. There are many vendors to choose from and they know it too.

Everyday I walk the same path to school and home. I meet the same children who all shout "Khawaja!" from where every they are. They come running to greet me with sticky, dirty hands and runny noses. They ask for food. They ask everyday because it never hurts to ask.

I have observed that many of the students share their lunch out of the same bowl. They eat together from one bowl when that one is empty they eat together until the second one is empty. They happily share and never worry that one person got more than the other person. It is quite heartwarming.

Everything here is new. Life is different. Yet the same God that loves me in Michigan loves me here in South Sudan. He is watching over me, protecting me, and  teaching me to lean on Him.

Living Water

Abuk and her sister carrying water home. 

Water is colorless, odorless and tasteless, yet it sustains our lives.

Seventy percent of the earth is covered with it. But 10 percent of the population does not have access to suitable drinking water.

The World Health Organization considers access to water a basic human right. That means that there is clean water available to you within a 30-minute round trip walk.

Warren and I are counting the days until my return. He shared with me recently that he had hoped to get a number of things done while I was gone. With only two weeks until my return, it does not look like he is going to complete the (somewhat long) list. He had to confess that laundry, shopping, cooking and keep up the house takes a lot of time and energy (I will admit, ladies, that I enjoyed hearing this).
Please be kind to him though, I do appreciate the commitment he made for me to experience this opportunity.

Because as humans we need water, getting water is a never ending task that consumes much time each day for the woman here in South Sudan. Collecting water for the household each day is one thing that Warren can't use as an excuse for not completing his to do list!

I was surprised when I realized how much water I am using here  — 60 gallons a week. I am certain that is significantly less than what I use at home. I used to think nothing of lingering under the shower head each morning contemplating my plans for the day. That 60 gallons here in South Sudan includes everything: bathing, drinking, cooking, dishes, laundry. That makes me feel somewhat better about my consumption.

That 60 gallons of water per week equates to 12 Jerry cans. If you can only carry one on your head at a time that means 12 trips to the bore well each week. In other words, you will spend a minimum of six hours a week getting water for just one person. That does not include any possible wait time at the bore well. Consider the number you would need for a growing family of multiple children.

Can you imagine adding another chore to your daily routine that took so much of your time and couldn't be skipped even for one day?

I can only imagine how excited the Samaritan woman must have been  when she said to Jesus in
John 4:15, "Sir give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to get water."

Is it harder for me to think of the difficult work women and children have fetching water here on earth daily, or of those who will perish without knowing Him for eternity?

Watering station at school. Water needs
consume a lot of time each day.
Students take turns getting water.

Jerry cans lined up at the Bore well.
Waiting for your turn takes much time.

Bore hole well near my home.

Delivering water can be a full-time job for young boys.

Christian Radio in South Sudan

Sign at the entrance of the radio station property.

Weer Bei is the name of the Christian radio station here in Parot. Weer Bei is roughly translated  "Redemption" in Dinka. It is pronounced "Wear Bay" in English.

The radio station antenna went up in the spring of 2009.

Radio is powerful tool in a country with high illiteracy.
Since illiteracy is over 70 percent in South Sudan very few can read the Bible, or own a copy, if they can read.

Dinka is an oral language, however the new testament has been translated into Dinka. We have copies of the gospels in Dinka at Cush Christian School. The school teaches children to read Dinka in 1st grade. All other grades read and write in English. At school all students have access to the Old and New Testament  in English.

Every Village  Radio is a Christian Non Governmental Organization (NGO) that supports long-term missionaries by broadcasting the gospel and community development        

Solar Radio for listening to Weer Bei only.

teaching. The broadcast is received through handheld solar-powered radios. In partnership with Cush For Christ, Every Village operates the radio station and provided funding for its start up.

Radio can reach the masses with the gospel, community development, bible stories, health and hygiene education, educational programming, children's programming, music, local pastors, call in programs and news* all done in Dinka, the local language.

I have enjoyed listening to some of the music myself. The ladies often listen on their handheld devices in the morning as they prepare lunch at school.

The antenna itself is quite impressive. The area is without even a two story building, yet the antenna is 79 meters high. You can see it for miles around. I have used it as a landmark myself as I walk or ride the bike to the market. In this way it is like both a spiritual and physical lighthouse. I know I can always find my way home if I can see the antenna.

The sun coming up beside the radio antenna.

The radio station employs several men full-time. They are all local men or pastors. The radio station building also has space for pastoral training.

A large conference was held at the station in 2018 attracting several hundred men from the  surrounding area for Bible teaching. They actually closed the school during the conference and took over all the classrooms to accommodate the large numbers.

Walking to school one morning, I watched the sun coming up over the radio station and thought it was a terrific picture of the radio station's mission of sharing the Son of God with  communities throughout South Sudan giving them a hope and a future.

Romans 10:14 says, "How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can the believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" Weer Bei is fulfilling this verse here in South Sudan.


* The radio station does not currently broadcast news. The government shut the radio station down during the Civil War for several days because they would not broadcast news that favored the current government. So until that policy changes the station has decided to broadcast no news rather than news that is partial to the current government or untrue.

Joyfully Sew

As I prepared to spend 3 months in South Sudan I knew I was only able to bring 40 lbs. of luggage. That included both my carry-on and checked bag. So, needless to say, every ounce needed to be valuable.

I had been praying that God would give me wisdom as I packed.

He did!

I am happy to report that with only 3 weeks remaining I have used everything I brought for my 3 months stay.  If I had to pack again there is not much I would change.

                                                                                    I was given this small sewing kit many years ago

by a neighbor. I stashed it away in a drawer and really had never had a need for it... until now.
I filled it with a few different size needles, straight pins and safety pins.

Since I brought only a few skirts and tops I thought if anything became torn or in need of repair I better be able to fix it, or I will run out of clothes to wear.

I have put the needles and thread to good use. But not on my clothes.  They are holding up just fine. Rather, the clothes of the students.

I have stitched up skirts, underwear and broken zippers, sewn on buttons, and even repaired a pair of flip flops.

I have one student who has worn the same shirt and shorts to school everyday. I have seen him daily since school started in February. He does not own a pair of shoes. Yet his mother, who I am sure has many needs, is making many sacrifices so that he and his siblings can attend school — Christian school.

The students do not have much clothing. What the do have, they wear for many days (and nights). Much of what cothing that is sold in the market is poorly made or used. They wash everything by hand and hang it in the sun to dry.

I have enjoyed spending time in the evenings listening to podcasts or audio books, doing some hand sewing and marveling at how God has allowed me to use the two things I love doing  (sewing and teaching) to serve Him here in South Sudan.

Psalm 100:3 — Know that the Lord is God. It is he who  made us and we are his.

Prodigal Son

I watched this story unfold after arriving, South Sudan. It reminds me in many ways of the story of the prodigal son as told to us in Luke 15:11- 32.

Scott Brinkerhoff helped to start Cush Christian School and has a close relationship with most of the older students. One of those students is Chech.

Chech is 16 years old and had been a good student at the school for several years. Chech's father is a pastor at one of the Christian churches in the area. Unfortunately, Chech and his father, John, had some kind of a disagreement during the school break in December 2018. As a result, Chech ran away. Far away.

He had no money, no transportation and no phone. He traveled by foot and caught rides on a very dangerous road for five long days before arriving in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. It is about 786 km from Parot Village to the capital (about 488 miles), but the mileage alone doesn't adequately describe the distance because it doesn't account for the road conditions and difficulties of safe travel throughout South Sudan. Fortunately, there in Juba, Chech had relatives to stay with.

After arriving in Juba, he attempted to enroll in a local school. He said that all the schools he visited were very impressed with his skills in English, yet he could not afford the cost of any of the school fees and he had no source of income.

Until God Showed Up

Scott, my colleague Lydia and I had arrived in Juba on Saturday, February 2, 2019. Our flight to Aweil, South Sudan in the northeastern section of the country was not until Monday, since the domestic airlines do not fly on the weekends. So we were prepared for a two-day layover. Aweil, with its dirt airstrip, is the nearest commercial airstrip near Parot Village where Cush Christian School is located.

However, when we arrived in Juba, our luggage did not.

We returned to the airport the next day in hopes of locating our luggage. We followed a man around the makeshift airport. We went from one out building to another and from one cargo container to another. The situation seemed dim as we searched for our suitcases. Praying as we went, we finally found three of our four bags, which was quite remarkable.

The last missing bag was Scott's. It was his extra bag – full of books and school supplies. We set off back to our hotel with a promise from the attendant at the airport that they would contact us "when" the bag arrived.

Meanwhile, Scott knew that Chech had run away from home. While we were in Juba, Scott learned that Chech was also in the city. So, he reached out to him. Chech agreed to meet. Chech quickly admitted that he had made a mistake in running away. It became clear that Chech wanted to return home and once again enroll at Cush Christian School.  But he had no money, no means to return home, and no way to pay his school fees for the upcoming term should he return.

A Plan with a Purpose

It  certainly would have been easy to have paid for Chech to return with us. Yet the only lesson from that potential approach was likely that white people have money and money solves all our problems.

Chech needed to have some skin in the game and God needed to get the glory.

As a result, Scott agreed to pay for Chech's return trip to Parot Village in exchange for him retrieving the bag when it arrived and bringing it with him. Chech would have to be responsible and manage many things to make this plan work out. For one thing, it is no easy feat getting in and out of the airport in Juba. And the bag would have to actually "arrive." However, God appeared to have laid out a plan to make it all possible.

Scott, Lydia and I left on Monday. The bag had still not arrived.

Yet miraculously, on the following Friday, with the missing bag in hand, Chech arrived back at the school. His father was waiting for him with a big hug, a sign of affection not often seen in the culture.

Chech is now working as a junior teacher in the 2nd grade classroom. Each week a portion of his pay is subtracted to cover his school fees. He is making good progress as a student, as a junior teacher and as Godly young man.

Several days ago, I put up a map of South Sudan in the classroom that I had brought with me. Many of the students quickly gathered around to look at the map. I overheard Chech showing some of the other boys the route he took to Juba,  He indicated it was a long journey — and that he did not look forward to taking it ever again.

Recently, Chech did devotions at school. He chose Matthew 19:26. "But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" Knowing his recent experience made the choice of this scripture particularly meaningful. Chech had lived out the parable of the Prodigal Son in his very own life.

Chech with one of his students

Chech pointing out his journey on the map of South Sudan

Weekly Routine

With only 3 weeks remaining in my time here in South Sudan I would like to share with you my schedule or routine. I have a new appreciation for missionaries on the field and how hard they work.

Although, I would say nothing is routine for me here in South Sudan, it is beginning to be more predictable! I am always discovering and learning new things about the culture, about the students at school about my team mates and myself. There is a wonderful team here that is very supportive. Their experience, advice and encouragement has been invaluable to me as a short termer.

You can count on the sun coming up at 7:30 a.m. and and setting at 7:30 p.m.,  The weather is rarely anything but sunny with cloud-free skies and temperatures that are 100+ degrees Fahrenheit (37+ ℃).
 
I also have a schedule that I follow.

Sunday

10 - 11:30 a.m. — Church meets here in Parot Village at Parot Community Church. The drums start beating at 8 a.m. to call people to church. After collecting my water bottle and chair, I walk about five minutes to the church. The service is all in Dinka, yet I can follow the order of the service. I don't get much out of what is said; however, I think it is an encouragement to the students and their parents for me to attend. For this reason, I go because it is not always about what I will get out of worship, but rather what I put into it.
4:15 - 7 p.m. — The team meets for our own worship service and a meal together.


Monday - Friday

 7:30 a.m. — I leave the compound for school. It is a 15 minute walk to school.
 7:50 a.m. — We pray with the junior teachers
 8 a.m. — Assembly with all the students. Classes begin for students in grades 1- 3.
 11:30 .am. — Break for lunch.
 1 p.m. — Students in Grades 1 - 3 go home. Most South Sudan schools only meet in the morning.
 1 - 4:30 p.m. — Classes for students in Grade 4 - 6
5:00 pm I usually arrive back at my house the first order of business .... wash my dirty feet!

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
I set out my  3 Jerry cans and Abuk brings water for me while I am at school.

Tami, Lydia, Jan (L to R)
In the afternoon we correct assignments, tutor,
explain directions, give tests, encourage students
and anything else that needs done

Thursday
5:15 p.m. — Team meets for prayer

Friday
11:00 a.m. — The morning classes end a little earlier on Friday. We clean the classrooms, which essentially means the girls sweep the rooms. Then we have 50 minutes of recreation time. Boys and girls separately play soccer (they properly call it football). Others jump rope, play "tho stones"( it is a game similar to jacks if you played that as a kid), or just watch the others play.
1 - 4:30 p.m. — Classes for Grades 4- 6 meet

7 p.m. — The team meets together for dinner.

Saturday
7:30 a.m. — Ladies on the team go prayer walking around the village. Abuk comes to do the laundry and have tea. From Friday's water delivery I save her two full Jerry cans for washing of the laundry and rinsing.

This is my day to catch up on blog posts, email, reading, journaling, going to the market, cleaning all the dust that accumulates daily, and make phone calls — if the internet cooperates. Frequently, many students stop by wanting to talk, get a drink of water, play a game or pray with me.

The weeks are busy, the days are long and hot. I often am in bed by 9pm  but I am enjoying this opportunity.

"This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! "- Psalm 118:24

Going to the Dentist in South Sudan

This post is for my friends at Bailey Family Dental and Braces.

It may seem odd when you first arrive in South Sudan to see children and some adults walking along moving a small stick about in their mouths.

They are brushing their teeth. The small stick is cut from a "beel" (pronounced bell) tree or bush. This is an African toothbrush.

Dental experts that have studied this method say it works quite well.

After breaking off a live branch about the length of an american toothbrush, you peel about 1- 2 inches off of the bark at one end using your fingernail.

Then you bite on the end you have prepared. Biting frays the wood into finer strands. The frayed  wood has a brushing and flossing effect. Additional rubbing up and down cleans  tooth enamel.

Scientists believe it  is possible the chemicals in the wood may contain fluoride as some plants

Abuk demonstrating brushing her teeth

do and that it has some ability to promote fresh breathe.

The World Health Organization has encouraged the use of chewing sticks for oral hygiene in poor countries. Consistently providing commercial products to the poor in remote areas would not be sustainable.

But then God knew that when He provided the beel tree for the people of Africa and lots of beautiful cavity free smiles.

I did give it a try. I am always eager to learn something new. I think it is an acquired skill and not very glamorous.

So, I will stick with my toothbrush, toothpaste and floss.

Giving it a try

The Science of a Cool Drink of Water

I am  already longing for a cold glass of water filled to the brim with ice cubes when I return home. I can see the condensation on the outside of the glass and the moisture that will drip in small rivulets down the outside of the glass.

The temperatures here in South Sudan have been over 100℉ for the past two weeks with no relief in sight. 

The low temperatures of the day are in the high 70's, which occurs about 7 a.m. As a result, we enjoy a pleasant walk to school in the morning. The daily high is reached by about 4 p.m., shortly before our walk home.

We have solar power that we use for lights and for charging cell phones and computers. We also have a fan to blow the hot air around, but no refrigeration. 

Thanks to our creator God, and with a little understanding of science, I can still enjoy a fairly cool glass of water. On special occasions I even celebrate with a cool Coke.

The Science

When a liquid evaporates, its molecules convert from the liquid phase to the vapor phase as they escape from the surface. Heat drives this process. In order for the molecules to leave the liquid surface and escape as a vapor, it must take heat energy with it. The heat that it takes with it comes from the surface from which it evaporated. Since the molecule is taking heat with it as it's leaving, this has a cooling effect on the surface left behind. This is "evaporative cooling."

So, when I fill my water bottle with water as I leave in the morning, I wrap the bottle with a wet sock. By the time the sock is dry, my water is cool and refreshing. (Don't get too excited. It is not "cold." Yet it is definitely cooler and refreshing.)

I repeat this process several times throughout the school day. It is very important to stay hydrated when it is so hot. Thankfully there is often a light breeze as well that helps to dry the sweat!

My water refrigeration system

Beauty in the Dust

I wonder what kind of a housekeeper I will be when I return home.

Dust covers everything here in South Sudan during the dry season. You could sweep inside everyday and still not sweep it all.

I heard my daughter-in-law tell one of her friends that visited our home that I was a good housekeeper. She said that everything was always tidy and in order. However, even if I never dust again, I will never accumulate the amount of dust at my home in Midland that I am living with at the present.

As far as you can see it is flat, brown and barren here in early March. There has been no rain for many months.

Yet surprisingly there is still beauty! Many of the older trees are substantial in size and have much character. An example is the tree that is a gathering place in the center of the school yard.

Large tree with much character and shade
in the center of the school yard.

This tree is full of fruit. Unfortunately they will not be ripe
until June - long after I have returned home.

Largest Aloe plant I have ever seen.
It is currently in bloom.

 Plumeria.
The bush is all sticks with not a single green leaf.
However, many of these beautiful blooms
are all at the top.

Unfortunately, there is much that is not beautiful. Africa has a trash problem. The missionaries here say the problem has worsened over the past 10 years.

Random trash on the way to school.

Plastic bags and other trash
collect against fence lines

As the borders have opened and more and more products have become available to purchase, there is more packaging waste. People can purchase small packages of cookies or biscuits at the market. They come with plastic wrapping as they would in the States. Store owners offer you a small plastic sack to carry your purchase in as they do in the States. Bottled water, soda and other carbonated drinks are available in disposable plastic bottles as they are in the States.  

Yet unlike the States, there are no garage men, trash cans or garbage bags to dispose of the trash.  At the market they burn the trash nightly. At the compound where I live we burn our paper trash and compost any food waste. At school each classroom has a trash can (an old jerry can that has the top cut off) for collecting trash. There is never any food waste at school. In the past month I have never seen a child leave even one bite uneaten.  Weekly, we burn the trash that accumulates at school. We are trying to train the students to take care of the world God created for all of us and to have a better community for them to live in.

In areas where  governments have limited resources, waste often becomes a lower priority. High population rates and high poverty rates exacerbate the problem.

The South Sudanese are resourceful people. If they find a use for it, then you will not find any of these items by the roadside. They reuse Jerry cans, plastic soda and water bottles, any kind of jar, any kind and size of can. At school we use the pencils and crayons until they are too small to hold and no one complains. Clothing is worn until it is past threadbare and then the fabric is used for rags.

As evidenced by the number of plastic shopping sacks littering the path to school, the South Sudanese have not yet found a use for them. The women sweep the dirt around their huts and inside their compounds until they are spotless, yet they only sweep the trash an established distance away from their homes. The trash collects where the animals graze and along the fence lines that are erected around their cluster of huts.

This is a growing problem across Africa.  Congratulations to Kenya and Rwanda, African countries that have banned the use of plastic bags. Based on my observation it is a step in the right direction.

Taking care of the world God has created ─ as our contribution and responsibility to our own community ─ is one of the messages of a book "Community: Whose Responsibility?" by Bob Nsumba, a Ugandan pastor that my husband and I met in 2017.  As Pastor Bob said, "At the end of the day, it is my responsibility because it is me who throw the trash out of the window of my car or throw out the candy wrapper" (Video clip).

Jan, a fellow team member, spent her first three years here doing hygiene education with the women at the church. Now,  seven years later, she is able to work at the school instead of concentrating on hygiene education alone. The local ladies have taken over the training of others in the community regarding hygiene. This is an example of how these women have taken responsibility to contribute in a positive way to their own community. For example, this past Saturday they held a workshop with about 20 women, continuing to education one another and improve their lives.

Jan has begun having discussions with these same woman about the trash problem. Because I have seen their success in other areas, I am excited about the successful  they will have in addressing this growing problem of trash here in South Sudan.

Please join me in thanking God for what he is doing in South Sudan and for what He will continue to do in lives lived for Him.

Lunch at School

Sorgham cooking

Thanks to the World Food Program, World Vision and some great Mother's at the school a hot lunch of sorghum and beans is served everyday at school.

The World Food Program (WFP, which the kids tell me stands for "We Feed People") provides the raw materials. They use World Vision to distribute it to those eligible. The schools have to meet certain qualifications (such as having a  separate kitchen with a roof) and have to submit reports indicating the dates they served the food and how many children and adults were fed.

Beans cooking

We have been told that there is much abuse of the program at many schools with the students are not getting the food.

The mothers come at 8:30 a.m. to begin making lunch and they are there until about 3 p.m. cleaning up.

They cook the beans in one pot and the sorghum in another pot over 2 open fires. Then they are stirred together and served to the students.





Everyone loves getting their picture taken here. I was happy to take these ladies' pictures. They always want to see it as soon as you take it. They always smile. I know they were laughing at me when I took a picture of their pots cooking over the fire.

The women are never idle.

When they put the pots away after lunch they are spotless. They cut up the nylon bags that the food comes in to make scrubbing cloths.

The women work hard here, often supporting many children without any help. Many of them sell ground nuts and peanut paste.While waiting for the beans to cook they shell peanuts.

The students each wash their own dishes in this wheelbarrow,  rinse them in another pot and lay them out to air dry.

The students each bring a piece of firewood a couple times a week to fuel the cooking fires.

Water is collected by the students 3 times a day
from a well nearby used for drinking and washing

Dishwashing

Mixing the sorghum and beans together

Clean dishes and utensils

The Blessing of an Education

The literacy rate in South Sudan is about 27%. Most people in the area I am serving depend upon the land. They grow sorghum and keep a few animals, cows, goats and sheep.  They live with their families and sometimes extended family in a cluster of huts with very few belongings.

The school was started 11 years ago to support the church. Those who came here to train pastors and plant churches  saw a need to raise up young people to love the Lord, who can read the scriptures, understand the word and eventually become leaders in the church.

It is a blessing to be a part of that vision and to see it begin to bear fruit.

This "bell" is the school's communication system (Video). It is sounded to mark the beginning of the day, as well as other breaks in the day.

I am not sure what it is made of but it works well. The people here are very resourceful.

 The students line up by class each morning for assembly. They sing several  Christian songs in Dinka.

The songs are typically  lead by 4 of the students in a "Call and Response" style. After announcements and prayer the student follow their teacher to the classroom.

Students in 1st - 3rd grade come in the morning from 8am - 11:30. Students in grades 4-6 go to school in the afternoon but many of these students are employed as junior teachers, teaching the younger students in the morning. All the schools in South Sudan only meet in the morning. The government schools struggle to pay the teachers for even half a day.


One of my responsibilities while I am here is to mentor 3 of the junior teachers teaching 1B. Class 1B students are learning to speak English.

Junior Teacher Awan

Awan (left), Achol and Akuem (below) are all about 14 years old. They have been students at the school for several years and speak English very well.  But, they are teenagers....

Please pray for them and my ability to mentor them well while I am here.

The Dinka appear not to have words in their language for 'please' and 'thank you' and they rarely ask questions of one another. The style of communication is very direct and authoritative.

I am both enjoying and frustrated by the experience, yet  trying to see improvement in some small  area everyday.

Junior Teacher Akuem

 Although students speak Dinka to one another, we are making good progress in English and I can communicate with them with the help of the junior teachers.


The students have learned over 50 words and phrases in two weeks.

 I enjoy thinking up games and props to teach the words.

I made this replica of the school to teach the words boys, girls, floor, ceiling, table, bench, chair and walls.

The front has a door and windows to teach open and close.

They are eager to learn and fascinated by everything.

Shown here is a matching game made from cardboard. It is about the only resource that I have, but a good one.


I miss having Erik Johnson to help me do illustrations.

The students love to color. They would do it for hours. They only have a few crayons and they are just stubs, yet they color every detail, holding the paper on their laps completely consumed without saying a word to one another while working.

This page is illustrating the words we learned in lesson number one - boy, girl, boys, girls, teacher, sit down, stand up, jump, draw a line, number 1.

The students hear the words for five days before they are asked to speak the words. They point and respond yes and no, so you know that they understand the word before expecting them to process it verbally. Some of them started to say the words before the five days are up.

Picture Perfect Summer Day

I am sitting outside  my temporary home under a large shade tree composing this blog post. If you sat here with me with your eyes closed you could imagine you were in Michigan on a perfect summer day. There is a light breeze blowing, not a cloud in the sky, birds are chirping, you can hear children voices in the distance and it is a pleasant 80 degrees.

When you open your eyes you would be shocked to discover that you must have traveled back to another time. Maybe an old western TV set. Light brown dust covers the ground as far as the eyes can see. Trees spot the horizon and cows, oxen, goats and sheep graze in open areas for anything left edible after weeks of no rain.

We are currently in the dry season,  December to April,  with very little change from day to day  -- just  hot, sunny  and dry. The day reaches its highest  temperature at about 5 p.m. when we are returning from school. As a result it can sometimes be a bit hot for falling asleep. Yet during the night it cools down nicely. My home has solar power. I have several ceiling lights and a fan to make things comfortable. It is pitch black by 8 p.m. and the sun comes up about 7 a,m.

One of my junior teachers took Lydia and me to the market yesterday morning to act as our guide and translator. He did a great job, but he told us he took a ribbing for being with Kahwajas (white people). He really was concerned about us. He gave us specific directions on how he wanted to operate the transactions so that the shop keepers did not try to rip us off because we are white people.

It went very well. I was able to get enough basic supplies for a few weeks. The supplies are very basic -- no meat, no milk, no eggs, no cheese. Pasta, peanuts, peanut paste, rice, sugar, tomato paste, soap, bread and  fresh tomatoes are readily available.

I have oatmeal for breakfast most mornings and the menu for dinner is rice or pasta mixed with various canned veggies that the team brings in from Uganda and Kenya. We have had some local dishes at the market on a few occasions. Eating with my fingers will definitely take some getting used to.

God has been good. I feel safe. I am healthy.  I am working hard with the three teachers I am mentoring in 1B -- Awan, Achol and Akuem  (more about them later), I am enjoying all the students but working on learning all 170 of their names is challenging. The  team gets together for prayer, worship and a meal at different times during the week. They are very supportive of one another. Those of us working at the school meet  with all the  Junior teachers for prayer each morning at 8 a.m.

Thank you for your prayers on my behalf. Please continue to pray for me on Tuesdays.

Khawajas

In South Sudan Khawajas are white people.

White people are a novelty here. As Lydia, Jan and I walk the dusty, well worn path to school each

morning and evening, the path winds through small clusters of huts. The children seem to see us
coming from a long ways away. They start shouting "Khawaja, Khawaja, Khawaja" as they run to greet us.

The are often naked, toting another little one on one hip and very dirty, yet always wearing a big smile with their bright white teeth.

They always stretch  out a hand (Hopefully the right one, it may be a bit cleaner) seeking a handshake or a high five. The excitement is palpable, they got to touch a Khawaja today.

We greet them and smile as we make our way to another world.

I suppose that the Dinka may see white people as those who offer hope and support in this difficult region. Yet we know that only Jesus provides true hope and support for life. We are here as fellow humans with Good News and a desire to help our Christian brothers and sisters who are living in economic poverty, while learning from their example ourselves. As Brian Fikkert said, it is important to remember we are all poor, just in different ways. I am here as a teacher, yet I know that I have things to humbly learn from the Dinka too.

Many of the men and woman at the Parot Community Church provide services here at
Cush4Christ. Some serve as watch men guarding the compound. Woman have a rotating schedule preparing the lunch meal at school. Several woman worked to clean the classrooms before school opened.

Each occupied house in the compound has a woman that is assigned to fetch water for that house 

and do the laundry. During my time here, Abouk delivers water to my home 3 times a week on 

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. If I am not going to be home I leave my Jerry cans outside the front door. When I return they are full and waiting for me. They are very heavy.

On Saturday, Abouk fills the 3 cans and uses 2 of them to hand wash and hang my laundry to dry. Afterwards we are suppose to have tea together, but this past Saturday I had other plans so I left the

tea, peanut paste and bread for her to enjoy by herself. I look forward to the next time she comes.

I pay her 30 South Sudanese Pounds for each Jerry can of water and 100 pounds* for doing the laundry (That is a steal). The tea is our way of tipping her.

Abouk only speaks Dinka, which is true for most of the women. She is currently having some

challenges with her husband so I am happy that I am here and can provide her with some much 

needed income.

I did not want to ask Abouk if I could take her picture doing laundry so I took the pictures from the house. I hope to be able to share a much better picture of this beautiful Christian woman in the future as we get to know each other better.

Abouk did use the wheel barrow from the compound to fetch the water so she did not have to make 3 trips. But it is still a very time consuming and heavy task. I thank God for her faithful service that allows me to also serve.

* 100 pounds is about $.30