Yesterday, we received our first Tonj team email from Andrew (team leader), thus officially kicking off the preparations for our women’s ministry team in southern Sudan. We are going to try to begin team trainings in the next couple of weeks, and I am thrilled to meet everyone. I cannot even begin to convey how excited I am to be this close to heading back to Sudan, and I know that the excitement will only grow in the coming months!
What I am especially thrilled about is the fact that I will be going to a different village at the start of my three months abroad. Please don’t misunderstand, I am very excited to go back to Nasir in July, but it will be really neat to visit a completely different region, live among different tribes, and of course, fumble my way through the Dinka language! (In my time with our refugee family, I have learned that I am pretty much tone deaf, but it’s very fun to try anyway!)
I still do not know all that much about Tonj, except that it is home to the Dinka Rek, Luo, and Bongo tribes. It is also the birthplace of Emmanuel Jal, and it lies in the Warrap State several hundred miles West of Nasir. I’m very excited to learn more about the village, the people, and the ministry work as the team trainings begin!!
I do want to say that the challenges are very different for me this year than they were last. The biggest thing is probably that my entire family is no longer terrified that I will disappear into the wilds of Africa never to be seen again, and that has tremendously eased the burdens I felt last year with so much fear, criticism, and tension. After having heard the stories and seen the pictures, they are pretty much on board with this summer and though they will always worry about me, it is not nearly the same magnitude as last year! This year it is much more about Blaise and I, and the length of time we will be apart. However, we both deeply believe that God laid all of this out and not a detail will be overlooked…He will provide us with the exact strength and comfort we need.
Another big difference is that, to some degree, I know what to expect. Last year I really had no clue what I was doing or walking into, but I had faith that God had a pretty good plan laid out…and He did. This year, I can at least anticipate what I absolutely need to pack and what I can leave behind, I know that jetlag is real and is really overwhelming, I know that I will mourn when I leave Sudan both times and again when I leave Kampala, and I know that once again God has a plan for my time there. So while I’m not going to be surprised when I start weeping at an airport overseas because I’m too tired to even drink my coffee, I know that I will be surprised by a million other things along this journey. I also feel like I am able to really free myself from expectations as far as my actual time in Sudan and Kampala is concerned, because really, aside from a handful of details (such as flight times and living at the Hendersons), nothing about this summer will be even remotely the same as last.