let's be social!
There are many people who believe in this journey and are supportive of me as I slowly begin the preparation stages of a mission trip. As I tell each member of my family the news, the whole thing becomes a little more real to me. Last night, I visited with my grandparents and told them the news (and when I said I had news, they thought I was pregnant! Nope…just journeying to the other side of the world). They were surprisingly supportive and encouraging! Up to now, the response has been very underwhelming and slightly disappointing; for some reason I thought that because I am so excited that everyone else would be, too. I am already having to readjust my expectations, but I consider it training for what is to come.
So, as I spread the word that I’m about to join the masses of Christian missionaries in the world, I am consistently faced with a battery of questions from the normal, “When are you leaving?” to the extreme, “If you die over there, are you certain that what you die for is worth it?” The answer to the latter question, by the way, is yes, I am absolutely certain. As people ask the tough questions, I do not dismiss them, but I usually bring them home with me and consider them carefully.
Today I want to deal with only one question asked of me by several people: What do you think it will be like?
I will answer with what I know from what I have read…but this only deals with the physical aspect of the trip: hot and humid. July is the rainy season in Sudan, and the Dinka have dozens of words to describe mud, so I expect to see and walk through a lot of it! In addition to the rain, the temperature averages between 100 and 115 degrees Farenheit during July, so hydration will be imperative.
I will take a small prop plane from Uganda to Sudan, and from there we will hike, with our 33 pounds of luggage, to the small village of Nimule (pronounced Nim-yul-ay). We will stay in these cute little huts with grass-thatched roofs, and we will sleep under treated mosquito nets on small, wooden cots in sleeping bags that we bring with us. We will use long-drop latrines (basically the equivalent of outhouse toilets in state parks here), shower infrequently, and have to avoid touching any water that has not been boiled. We will eat a diet of mostly rice and beans, along with some local foods (think liver, bush meat, and lots o’ maize). Fortunately, Aid Sudan brings in bottled water, so we will have plenty of clean drinking water. There is no electricity, running water, or cell phone service in not only Nimule, but most of southern Sudan.
To say that I will be removed from absolutely everything I know is an understatement! However, I am excited to live as the locals do while I am there. I want to experience that level of simplicity while there because it will help me to not ever take a single thing for granted again! I also want to live amongst the impoverished because I believe that we cannot truly understand someone’s needs until we have “walked in their shoes”. While I will take my very own shoes, this will be far from anything I have ever experienced.
So, in the months leading up to this adventure, I ask that you do two things. One, of course, is to pray. The second is that you chuckle along with me at the image of me hiking through the rain and mud in Muck boots and a skirt, lugging 33 pounds (the plane’s limit) of clothes, photography equipment, and MREs on my back, in 112 degree temps-OH, and we all know how much my hair loves the humidity!! Don’t worry, I’m not too proud to take pictures of myself to prove just what “roughin’ it” will look like!
