Day Seven.
The sounds of thunder awoke me very early in the morning, before the sun was even up. There was a pretty hefty wind howling, and mist was blowing onto my bed. The air was chilly, so I snuggled further under my sheet and blanket, and I thanked God for giving me the sense to bring a blanket! Mandy was already up and moving around, so she closed our little metal door and I laid in the relative darkness for another hour before finally getting up.
The rainy season beat us to Sudan, and this was our first day of experiencing Nasir’s twak (mud). Andrew warned us that the mud there was altogether different than anywhere else. It turns to a really sticky, tar-like consistency when wet damp.
I got up and dressed and headed out to use the duel wodora. It only took me about 3 steps to realize that Andrew was not only correct, but far underemphasized the stickiness of the mud! By the time I made the short trip to the long drop and back, I had several inches of mud plastered to my shoes, and each shoe weighed a few pounds each. It was like wearing ankle weights.
The rain postponed the Bible school that morning, so Mandy suggested that us girls head over to the women’s duel sut (kitchen hut) and spend a little time with the amazing women who kept us fed and in clean clothes. The heaviness of the shoes was not working, so we threw caution to the wind and we decided to venture outside with no shoes on…in Africa. It’s not a big deal to the Sudanese, but every healthy travel book I have ever read cautions against being barefoot in Africa. Oh well. It was much easier to walk in the twak with no shoes, and the Sudanese loved watching us crazy kawaja women copying their traditions.
Snapshot of Friday:
-Discovered the truth about Nasir’s twak, and ran around our compound barefoot all morning
-Hung out with Nyaret and the other ladies in their duel sut
-Bible school, beautiful message, and troubleshooting the recording equipment
-Used new commissioner’s car to head to Kierwan to visit Aid Sudan’s Village to Village projects…we had a slight snafu with the driver, so we walked home
-Went with Nyabol to fetch pihw from the borehole…tried to carry the jerry can on my head and failed…gave the Sudanese women a good laugh
-Andrew’s sweet surprise for the team
Sora time!
Twak.
Mandy’s initial idea was to wear plastic bags on her feet so the mud wouldn’t stick so much. That was more trouble than it was worth, so we just went barefoot!
Enjoying my view as I lay in bed journaling…
Mandy, Angie, and I hung out with the ladies for quite a while before the rain eased up, and then Andrew fetched us to head to the Bible school. We arrived at school that morning in true Sudanese style: barefoot and late. The message was really powerful as we shared stories 12 and 13, both from Revelation. Each story contains somewhere within it the line about God’s people “from every tribe and language and people and nation.” I was really overwhelmed with a sense of the truth in the Word as we sat together- American kawaja and Sudanese Nuer- sharing God’s Word in the beautiful and simple mud hut Bible school.
I was told that in Africa, having a good smile draws people’s attention and gets you far. I smiled at everyone, just because I was happy, and my smile drew the attention of the man in this shot smiling at me (as well as one of Nasir’s former chiefs)!
Aid Sudan has many projects, and one of them is the Radio Station Project in which radio towers are being erected and hand-held radios (solar-powered) are being distributed across Southern Sudan. The radio stations will broadcast chronological Bible stories, hymns, and teacher training materials in Dinka, Nuer, and other tribal languages, and will give thousands of Southern Sudanese access to oral Bible messages and songs in their native tongues. During my time in Nasir, I had the opportunity to watch the students record songs in Nuer to be broadcast over the radio…
After the students were dismissed, we learned that the commissioner was going to lend us his truck and driver so that we could get to Kierwan and visit the Village to Village project’s progress. It was a huge blessing to have the commissioner behind Aid Sudan’s work, so we loaded up and headed into town to fuel up. I’m laughing so hard in this picture because truck rides in Africa are more like wild bronco rides…you sit down and hang on for dear life!
The agreement was that Aid Sudan would pay for the fuel to get us to Kierwan and back; however, when we got to town the driver started demanding far more money than agreed upon (200 Sudanese pounds for a 12 mile drive). Basically, he was trying to charge more for the fuel so that he could take a cut from the costs. Andrew low-balled him, and he refused the offer and drove off. We walked back to the compound, which was great with us because we loved being out in the community, and we ran into Canada while he was playing some kura.
Once we arrived at the compound, Peter received a call from the commissioner, who was angry about the driver and apologized for the whole situation. He promised to send the truck and another driver in the morning to take the team to Kierwan. Praise God!
That evening, Andrew surprised the team with a little something to satisfy our sweet spots. Kerry and I became fast friends as we gorged on the candy together!
Highs:
-Running around barefoot in the twak and receiving many nods of approval from Sudanese men and women at our bare, muddy feet
-Sharing powerful stories from Revelation
-1 mile truck ride into town
-Trying to carry the jerry can on my head like a true Sudanese woman…and proving that I’m definitely a kawaja
-Candy!
-Reading back through my journal entries from early March, and realizing that had I let my skeptical family members talk me out of going to Sudan, I would have 1.) not been obediently following God’s calling and 2.) missed out on the single most amazing experience of my life.
Lows:
-Having to stay up late because a nyis (mosquito) got trapped inside my net, and I had to stay away until I could catch and kill it. (Okay, so that’s not a real low, but I didn’t have any lows because the whole day was awesome!)
Lessons God Taught Me:
-The power and truth of the Bible. Jesus really did purchase people from every “tribe and language and people and nation,” and I was in awe of His calling to each of us- Americans and Sudanese- to come together and share in His Word in a small village in Southern Sudan. Wow. Kuoth goa e long!
-He has ultimate control over every situation. God placed a new, supportive commissioner in Nasir just days before we arrived, who then lent his own resources to Aid Sudan. Then, when Andrew had to negotiate with the driver and “lost”, God provided him with confirmation that the commissioner really is on God’s side and wishes to see Aid Sudan’s work to completion. What seemed like defeat was really an answer to a prayer, and that, in turn, became greater blessings and miracles in the days that followed.
