more pics on facebook

Yo fellas,

I'm about to upload more pics on facebook of the trip.  We had a great time rafting the nile and bungee jumping in Uganda before heading back here to the States. 

I feel privileged to have met the people I met in South Sudan, leadership and children and missionaries.  I was privileged to serve the ways that I served, learning so much about construction, tiling, woodwork, and helping in something bigger than myself.  South Sudan truly has a lot of need, but I was privileged to experience the culture and meet some people. 

I just read this book on serving the poor in a way that doesn't hurt called When Helping Hurts and I recommend this book to anyone going on a short term mission trip to a poorer place.  (random)

I truly miss the guys that we discipled/knew/hung out with and I have been trying hard to pray for them every day (literally).  I want to make this a habit for the next few years at least.  I want to go back to Yei one day, Lord willing.  Not like I played a "huge" role in their lives, but I did get to know them fairly well and I appreciate their faith, so I'd like to see/encourage them again in a few years. 

I'll end this with a video of the kids singing in the morning chapel service.  This is what we woke up to every morning.  Oh how I miss it there.  Words to the song are "One more time, Lord I need your touch.  Every day, every hour, every second, Lord I need your touch"

Oh God, how I need your touch right now.  In this moment.  Always. 

Nic T

pics

 On Monday of last week we decided to visit secondary school with some of the older guys.  We stayed for about 2 hours, through Chemistry and African History class.  The school is probably one of the best in South Sudan.  They have 10 subjects that they study every year, going to school from 8 am to 4 pm.  This school was built by EPC (evangelical presbyterian church) which is headed up by Bishop Elias Taban who is head over Harvesters.  Anyways, it was fun to hang out in class with some of the fella's.  However, I should say that there were very few girls in the school, most likely because after primary school it costs too much money to send them to secondary school, and they are worth more for the bride price that they can get for their families.  This class is S3 (the school has S1-S4) and there were 2 girls, 1 from Harvesters.

 This picture was taken by Dr. Perry's wife, she graciously offered to take pics of us while we were doing the Bible study. So kudos to Elizabeth Perry.  But this is how we meet every week, under some trees, sitting on some benches, studying the Word of God, asking his Spirit to reveal new things to us (and for them to be able to understand what me and Ben say).

 We took a walk to Yei on Saturday, to spend a few pounds on some random souvenirs and get some rolex's (a chipati with a cooked egg rolled up inside of it).  On the way an old lady was harvesting her G-nuts (small peanuts) and she offered a plant to each of us.  Because they weren't roasted yet, they tasted almost like green beans to me.

Here's one of the main stretches in Yei.  Its funny because when we first got here, we looked at this and thought, "yikes, this place is rough."  And now I'm like, ah, this is totally normal, really not too bad.  And really it isn't.  I think Calcutta, India had worse conditions as far as slums and living conditions go.  But, people drinking bad water would still be a big problem in Sudan (and people starving).  I remember in Terekeka a woman taking water from a random pond and Kim saying "oh honey please don't drink that" as we drove by.  I was thinking, wow, she's going to drink that!

So, we are used to the African look of things.  We will be stunned when we hit London in a few days lol.  Next stop is Kampala Uganda, leaving tomorrow morning on the Eagle Air flight. We plan to go rafting on the Nile river.  It's going to be incredible.  Hope to upload some more pics on facebook and/or the blog when we get home. 

Peace, thanks for praying, and keep praying for South Sudan:  that the country would have peace, that the leaders would be wise and Godly, seeking the Lord and not greedy; and for Harvesters, that God would continue to bless this place and shine through it.
Nic

Day after tomorrow

I'm really not looking forward to leaving on Tuesday.  This doesn't mean I want to live here, it just means that I love it here.  It is really hard not to love this place, I mean we've been loved genuinely by everyone we've come in contact with.  From Momma Lilly, Pastor Dennis, to leaders on the compound such as Mr. Morris (the head guy in charge under Pastor Dennis) to Josephine (who is another key leader to keeping everything running), to the kids, to the older guys from outside of the compound that we've met with and discipled. 

Its been encouraging to meet with guys who know the Word so well and are already so strong as leaders in Christ at the age of young high school students.  We've truly been blessed by these guys.  I hate to leave them.  Wish I could stay like 1 more month at least. 

But I am looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone in hattiesburg.  Tomorrow I'm going to try to post some pics of what we've done in some of our last days.

Nic

1 week left

Our time in South Sudan is drawing to a close with one week left. It's sad to be leaving such a wonderful place with so much need.

This is a random picture of the landscape.  They have these volcanic plugs that are scattered around.

This is Angelo on the seesaw.  We have a lot of stories of Angelo, he's a trip.  Me and Ben are actually planning on fixing the broken seesaw this week!  

 This is the birthday party they had for July kids.  Most of the kids here don't know exactly how old they are.  Some don't know what year they were born, most don't know the month.  So they have a birthday party every month at Harvesters.  It's funny because people that sponsor these kids from churches back in the states always want to know the birthday, but they pretty much have to make one up for them.  No birth certificate.

This is a picture of church in Yei.  We have always enjoyed church but probably our favorite time has been the weekly prayer meeting that happens on Saturday.  It really just seems to be a true time of worship of God and connection with him.  Also, after worshiping, we get into groups and read pieces of paper that Pushani prints off with different prayer needs.  It's been fun praying for the nations and the local body with the orphans. 

As far as work goes, Pastor Dennis and Mamma Lilly headed back to the states last week so we have spent a lot more of our time chilling out recently.  Its been good to work at a slower pace, and read a lot.  With our week left we are still going to be working some on the Perry's house, and lead 3 discipleship groups.  Continue to pray for these groups and our relationship with the guys here.  We desire for the time we spend here to glorify God and recognize that we are powerless on our own. 

When I think on the relationships that we've formed with all the kids, it makes me pretty sad to know that we will leave them soon, as so many before have. 

Nic

BACK!

 We are back in Yei! I am going to show some pictures to tell about Terekeka.  It was a great time.  The kids were much different, being from another tribe called the Mandari.  This tribe is known for being warriors and they have orange hair because they literally bathe in cow urine to keep mosquitoes away.  I'm impressed with this.  They also have some sick V-shaped scars across their foreheads. Once again, impressed.  But, me and Ben found the Mandari very kind, always smiling at us and saying hello, or sometimes "good morning" even if it was 5 o'clock pm. 

The first picture above is from July 9th (independence day) where we went to town in Terekeka (this is a small town) and  watched the celebration.  The cow that you see in the picture was soon after sacrificed.  The Mandari are also vehement cow herders.  Its funny because they really don't eat their cows either, they just keep them to pay bride prices.  Lance, Momma Lilly's son who runs Terekeka with his wife Kim, told me that it is really sad because people will let their children starve while they have these cows.  So, instead of killing a cow to save a life, they let the kid die.

 This pic is of the church at Terekeka.  They meet in the "dining hall" on the compound and this is the part where all of the kids gather into an open area and dance as they sing songs.  These kids are still young (12 or under)  so most of the time they yell more than they sing.  In any case, me and Ben learned some great new songs.  One that they sing at school (which is a series of benches and a chalkboard under some mango trees) goes "Good morning good morning Teacher, Teacher, How are you? Good morning Teacher, Teacher"  I'm just going to let you know that it is incredibly catchy.  A rap artist could take this melody and make millions, literally.

 This pic is of a walk that we took to the spanish mission that they set up a long time ago.  It's abandoned now but still a cool site to see, and its right on the Nile.  The walk was fun.  Saw a monkey, lots of naked people, and the mission (which was just a bunch of mud huts or tukals).

 One day we finished work early and took the middle aged (8-10 yrs) kids to go fishing.  Some village kids were there who fished up in those reeds that you see and caught like 5 small fish.  This pic is of Phillip, if you look close you can see some V-shaped scars.

 This is Mary, he's hard not to love.  The kids were so fun because their attention span was for ~5 seconds so when I handed them a fishing pole, they watched the cork for a very short period of time before staring off in another direction.  They really enjoyed fishing though, which made it quite fun for me as well.

 This is a pic of the compound, left building is boys dorm, right for girls, middle for dining hall/church/multipurpose center.  Also you can see the well where all the kids get their water for bathing/drinking and two posts of wood for the soccer field.  I should add that Terekeka was much hotter than Yei.  Who would've thought that 140 miles north the weather could be so much different.  It being by the Nile also ups the amount of mosquitoes.  So, in a lot of ways, Terekeka is harder to live in.    Also, this compound has to buy all of its supplies from Juba, so it doesn't get as much variety in food.  We ate oatmeal for breakfast every day and beans and rice every other meal.  Its what all the kids eat, so I felt a little more African doing this.

This is the road we took.  140 miles, 6.5 hours on the way back.  It took longer on the way up as we had a flat tire.  When I ride on roads like this and my butt feels like it is literally going to fall off, I become very thankful for the interstates at home.  Its amazing how much land we can cover in one day in a car in America.

Off to Terekeka!

Yoyoyo fellas,

We are getting into a car tomorrow and driving for ~8 hours to get to Terekeka, South Sudan.  We will stay for 13 days.  It is a smaller orphanage of Harvesters (40 kids rather than 150) and happens to be on the Nile river.  Can't wait to go swimming with the crocodiles! ;)  Its also gonna be fun to be crammed in a car with Ben Baker and Johnson, a Ugandan worker at Harvesters.  We should get to see some cool Sudanese countryside.

We met tonight with our 5 brothers:  John, John, John, Samuel, and Nicholas.  Good guys, had a good time talking about Luke 9.  "Take up your cross and follow Jesus"  Praying that God would use us to bring more glory to himself in these guys lives.  Such potential exists in this orphanage for future leaders of this nation.  When we get home from Terekeka we have the privilege to lead 2 other groups of guys that are high school age.  Can't wait, as we've already become friends with most of these guys and have spent considerable time with them. 

For the record, I agree with Ben by saying that making cabinets is one of the most frustrating things on earth.  You seriously cannot be 1/16th of an inch off on a lot of your cuts, then you have to take account for boards being warped.  Being a perfectionist doesn't work well for me with this job.  It didn't work well with tiling an uneven floor either.  lol.

Ok enough rambling.  Off to Terekeka, pray that we can be a real encouragement and help to Lance and Kim, the leaders of the orphanage...and that we'll love some cute African kids to the glory of God.

Pray. Love. (A Month Living in) Sudan.

So, I'm ashamed of myself for not blogging before now, but I think I underestimated how difficult it would be to blog while working over here.  As for Treat, he's such a seasoned veteran when it comes to mission projects that he's figured out a way portion out his time so that he can keep everyone updated on our comings and goings.  BUT... as for me, I'm a rookie.  So, with that being said, please excuse my delay.

But, let's get this thing started.  Like I said, this blog article is long overdue, but once I realized how miserably I'd failed at keeping you guys updated, I tried to time it out so that I could give you A MONTH IN RETROSPECT.  So that's what this is -- a collection of several memories from Sudan thus far.  So… Sit back, relax, grab some popcorn, and… ENJOY!

1) Terrain, Terrain!

I'm not an experienced flyer, and flying to Sudan was BY FAR the longest flight I have ever experienced in my life.  Flying into Yei, we landed on a dirt airstrip, and as we were descending, the computer in the cockpit audibly started saying "Terrain.  Terrain.  Pull up.  Pull up."  I looked down, and all I saw was green.  I laughed it off at the time, but I literally felt like my time had come -- I was going to see Jesus.  But, alas, we lived.

2) Singing.

Every morning at 6:30am in the building where the children eat, about 120 orphans gather and, acapella, sing praises to God.  It's one of the most beautiful things that I have ever heard… And is definitely quite a way to start a morning.  If I don't have this when I get back to Hattiesburg in a month, I will be supremely upset.

3) Ruben.

I can't write this without mentioning at least one child.  Ruben.  He's the child on the top.  By far the cutest child I have ever seen in my life.

Needless to say, if adoption in southern Sudan were easier, this one would be coming home with me.

4) The House.

This entire past month, my life has been consumed by working on a house.  On July 2, a doctor with his wife and 8 kids moves into this house, and we have been sprinting to finish it ever since we arrived.  I have tiled.  I have wired up electricity.  I am building mahogany and teek cabinets.  The work has been difficult and tiring, but it's so cool to literally be the hands and feet of God for a doctor who is going to save thousands of lives.  We had no idea that they would need this much help with the house when we signed up with Harvesters about 4 or 5 months ago.  And they didn't know either.  But, God's timing is perfect.

5) Cell Groups

The older students here at Harvesters are trained and are given the opportunity to disciple groups of kids and adults from surrounding villages in the Word of God.  It's so cool to see the Great Commission fleshed out through the lives of these guys and girls.

I actually had the opportunity to teach a cell group about a week ago.  About 70 kids crammed into this tiny hut to hear the story of Jesus calming the storm.  It was a beautiful thing.

Cell groups also give Nic and I the opportunity to see some of the Sudanese countryside.  This country is so beautiful.

6) The Goat

On the way back from one of the cell groups, Nic and I were surrounded on either side by thick African bush.  When the bush suddenly started shaking, I braced myself for a hyena to jump out and eat my face off, but I felt like a fool when a goat emerged from it.  Actually, an entire family of goats surfaced.  Nic laughed.  I punched him.

7) Father's Day

I should have made this a separate blog article in itself, but, oh well.  I may later on down the road, just to further flesh out my thoughts from this day.  The Sunday before Father's Day, Pastor Pushani reminded the congregation that the next Sunday was a day where we were going to be celebrating fathers.  As cold-hearted as this may sound, I naturally started asking myself… "How does a large group of orphans celebrate Father's Day?"  Many of these orphans don't have parents or have been abandoned by the fathers that brought them into this world.

The next Sunday, as I listened to 150 children who don't have daddies shouting out the words to the great hymn "I Surrender All", my question was answered.  As I held back tears in my eyes, I realized -- these children have a daddy.  In fact, these children have nothing BUT that daddy.  And they love him that much more for it.

                       

                        "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

                                                                                                - Matthew 5: 3

These pictures were drawn by the children in their Sunday school classes that morning.

8) Woodwork

I am terrible at woodworking.  Building mahogany and teek cabinets has shown me this fact.  I mess up frequently, and I have no patience when I do mess up.  Oh well… Doing it for the kingdom.  But, just for the record… Don't ask me to build your cabinets when I get back home.  My rates are high.

9) Pushani

Today, Nic and I had to say goodbye to one of the godliest women I, personally, have ever met in my life.  Pastor Pushani is leaving Sudan for about 2 months to rest and grow in the Lord.  It was tough saying goodbye to her.  What a fire and a passion she has for the Lord.  I covet that passion.

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SOOOOO, yeah… That's about it up till now.  Hopefully, in the coming month, I'll update more than once.  At least that's the goal ;-) 

Thanks for listening.  I wanted to add more pics, but the internet connection here really isn't capable of uploading too many of these pictures  Keep Sudan in your prayers.  In 2 weeks, this great place will be the newest nation in the world.  May that day be a peaceful day.

Ben