Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Nasir, South Sudan
The first thing I noticed when I stepped down out of our small, prop plane was the crushing heat, but soon I dismissed it from my mind as I recognized face after face in the crowd that had gathered to stare at the khawaja who’d just landed in the village. John Chuol was there, William Deng was there, Gadet was there, and then the March mission team was there (although they were there to load up and leave just as we were unloading to stay). It was a happy, healthy reunion in the middle of that dirt airstrip, in the village of Nasir, in the Republic of South Sudan.
It was a homecoming of a new kind. This was my third time in Nasir, but this time I was looking at the people and the village through a new lens…seeing everything as if for the first time, because this time Nasir will become my home for real. Despite the heat, I had chills as I thought about how God grabbed my heart three years ago and started me on this journey that would lead me to Nasir for a couple of years or more. I was humbled. I was overjoyed. I was a little scared.
Snapshot of Wednesday:
-Packing up once again, this time to fly into South Sudan
-Flying from Arua to Juba to Nasir
-Reunion at the airstrip
-Reunion with Nyaret and Nyabol at the compound
-Setting up camp
-Walking to the radio tower
-Rice and beans and devotional time
I’ll start with a few pictures from the morning…
As we flew into Juba, we could see all of the UN helicopters and humanitarian aid planes at the airport…
Christina…
Laura…
