In Sudan: Sowing Precious Seed

Pictures From Pibor

2010-03-23T16:57:00.006+03:00

It was my last day in Pibor, and as we had stopped to visit one of the school supervisors who had been ill, I looked down the street, and just snapped: I did not even see the little naked boy until after I'd taken the picture; some of the houses show the signs of "development" in Pibor with those "iron sheet" roofs...there are women gathered at a bore-hole with their geri cans to get water...each can is about 20 liters, and they carry them on their heads; I think you can see a woman with one on her head in this picture...

I decided to take another snap when I saw the woman with the baby on her back, and that little bundle on her head...(the houses in this picture are typical of most of the houses in Pibor; there are still other typical houses that look like bird's nest, but those are not always seen in the center of town area)...

The street looked so empty because most of the people in the Pibor "town" had gone to the airstrip from early in the morning to wait for the arrival of President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, who was coming to Pibor that Friday morning as part of his re-election campaign visit...

Needless to say, after we waited at the air strip for about 2 hours (was a real disappointment we could not take any pictures of the airstrip because of the tight security! because it was quite a site there, with all the people, so colourfully dressed, waving little blue and white flags in unison each time a plane or helicopter landed, and that same strong, harsh, dry, choking us with dust wind blowing, and us taking refuges in the pickup truck), watching all the UN helicopters and other small planes landing, bringing many other Murle, and South Sudan politicians and security detail, our plane could not land when it did arrive, but instead, we just watched it circle and then take off to the north west, heading for Lekwongale, which was about 3o miles from Pibor...

So, we quickly made a SAT call to our logistics guy in Loki to tell him what happened, and asked him to please ask the plane to wait for us, as we hopped into our pick-up truck, and "rushed" to Lekwongale to make our flight...we'd told them it would take 45 mins but because the road was so so rough and bumpy, it took us well over an hour to get there...and as the driver tried to go at a fast pace to make that 45 mins a slim reality, the front bumper of the truck just came a loose; we tried to tie it back on (see other picture) and it lasted for just over a minute of bumps, then we had to stop, and this time, Lucy suggested we just take the durn thing off, so we did and put it in the back of the pick-up, on top of our luggage!

Here is another one from Pibor! 'Is of a woman and her baby boy...she was so thin and tattered looking, and he looked sickly too, but he was hungry and food was on her wasted body, so he just reached in and took her breast and began to suck...i was in the truck, parked on the street in front of this new Chemist/Pharmacy in Pibor...and I didn't want to get out to take another shot from the other side, so this is what got...

Here's the whole Chemist, with that same woman and her baby out fornt...this is one of the newest buildings in Pibor market area; it's made of the ubiquitous iron sheets that everyone has begun to use for their roofs, (and it is what most of the Darfurian traders use for to make their shops out of) instead of the thatched leaves, because these "iron sheets" last longer, obviously...and hey, this is development, though they make every single building in which they are used that much more hotter...

The women in the store with her hands on her hip is my Ugandan colleague, Lucy...she had gone in to purchase some de-worming medication for herself...I chose to wait until I got back to Nairobi for that...

Tying the front bumper back on, after it became loose as we tried to go fast on the extremely, bumby, rough road to Lekwongale to make our flight out of Pibor...

About a minute, late, it was loose and again, and so we just took it off...

In the picture is Rev Orozu, and Joseph of SALT, the local, indigenous NGO where we stayed in Pibor, and the woman is my dear colleague and friend, Lucy Aceng, who is from Uganda.

One more . . In the background are two of the bird'snest style houses I'd mentioned...notice the dry, ground, full of cow dung, as the cows move to and fro freely, and see the thorn on the branch of the tree...in this semi-acrid area, most of the trees and plants have thorns

This little girl is dressed as lot of Murle girls are dressed...I did not take this picture: it is one shared with me by Rev. Orozu, of SALT, Pibor...
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Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Feel free to leave comments.

God's All Sufficient Grace

2010-03-12T16:48:00.000+03:00

AAAHHHHH! I am exhausted. I have come undone...

I'm now into my third week here in Pibor, and it is taking all I have and don't have to make it through each day! It is unimaginable here...as if though things have gotten harder here since last March when I was last here: our coolest day is in the high nineties; we have a constant dry, harsh wind blowing, surrounding us in gritty sand laced with cow, human and bat feces and who knows what else, so you could say we are here drinking sand, and it is causing us to have a terrible cough and breathing problems!

Then the flies, hundred hundreds, whrring whrrring, bzzzing around us, landing on any part of out bodies they please, in our ears, on our lips...yuck! pestering, billigerent buggers that we must swat at all day long, till night time, when they miraculously disappear, only to return wtih a vengence at sunrise the next day! It is wonder to type on the laptop as I swat flies from all parts of my body at the same time!!

Then there are the swarming beeesss...stinging us as we try to bathe in the bathhouse in the mornings, and the never ending swarm of scorpions at night, uncovered by the wind, out hunting any moving prey...and the nasty, stinking little brown bats all hanging in a row, high up in the roof of the class room, their droppings on out seats and desk all the time...and a lingering weariness that drains my soul ... ohhh! it's been quite an adventure, requiring more grace than even I knew was available...

I am simply exhausted...

BUT then, there is the never ending, quickening, visibly active mercy and grace of Almighty Jehovah sustaining the bare- bones lives of the Murle people, who have survived in this harsh land for much more that the mere three weeks that I am here...

AND the starry, starry starry nights in a sky that seem to have no end as I lie on my back on my bed, now outdoors, avoiding the heat of the room....and the moon, now only a quarter of it grand size, rising at about 1:00 am in the morning now, and still so bright, it seems to light up the entire community!

Pibor is a misery and a miracle every day! The children drink the stagnant river water, put into rusted drums to be used by the builders, in which animals and people bathe and drink everyday. And yet they are still up and about, running around in the scorching, afternoon sun, no shoes on their feet, as they run amidst the thorn infested bushes, collecting discarded, plastic, soda bottles they wear like special badges on the bottom of their tattetered shirts! Ay! nothing about life and living it in Pibor is easy!!

The women, mostly bone thin, babies strapped to their backs, their bodies looking like they haven't washed in weeks, carry huge loads of dried leaves, twice their weight, used for thatching roofs, walking in the heavy light of the early morning light, or else with huge bundles of fire wood on their heads, walking to the the market to make a sale so they can make some money to buy food for the one evening meal they cook per day!

Pibor! It haunts, tortures, and angers me deeply me at the same time to be here! There are times, when I wish I had wings like a dove, so I could just fly away and never ever come back, ever! And there are times, when the deep need of the people make we wish I was a Murle and could stay forever and spread my healing wings over all, and make everything better, especially for women and children...

Am I glad to have returned? Yes and no....yes, because it amazes and humbles me that God has seen fit to bring me, of all people on the face on this earth, to serve Him here amongst his people.... and no, because I feel the weakness of my physical body more than ever here, and this saddens me...

Still, I am thankful to be here, if for no other reason than to be able to assure these teachers, that even though it might seem to them "that kawajahs are more clever than Africans," this is not true in the least bit!

The kawajahs are all those not from South Sudan, whites and Westerners....with the exception of Arabs. The teachers need to realize that if kawajahs seem more clever, it is primarily for two reasons:

1) The long standing peace they have enjoyed, fostering cooperation between "tribes" who used to kill each other. This enabled them to develop and prosper, making much use of other people's resources, including Africa's.

2) The teaching methodology used in their schools to teach students, that makes learners believe in themselves, that there is nothing they can not do or achieve if they just try long and hard enough!

Training native Sudanese teachers certainly requires more than superficial learning of techniques. I'll share more about this in the future.

Pictures From Recent Conference

2010-02-17T04:31:00.013+03:00

It's been a while since I've posted pictures. Here are a couple from our Scripture Union Conference in December 2009.

Below are some South Sudan youths at the conference. The conference took place at the YTTC Campus in Yei.

Joyfull Worship and Praise celebration of Youths and Others

More photos soon!

Danger on Our Doorsteps

2009-03-22T14:16:00.002+03:00

I'm safely back in Nairobi, having been evacuated from Pibor, S. Sudan this past Wednesday, February 11th after the Murle town of Lekwangole, only thirty miles from us, was attacked and captured by Nuer cattle raiders: men and women were killed, girls were kidnapped, and the property of the 2 NGO's one the ground was destroyed.

While I don't believe I was in imminent danger, most of our Murle brothers and sisters felt differently. For on Monday, March 9th, the morning planned for closing the training, Lucy and I were the only two women to be seen: all the others, even the elderly, had ran to the bush for safely. All the men we saw passing our compound had either long sticks, spears or guns. As the teachers trickled into the compound to greet us, one of them said reassuredly: "Don't worry madam; I shall protect you." He spoke as a fearless warrior to be sure, but in reality, everyone was intensely concerned whether the raiders would come to Pibor or would they seek out the cattle camps where the balance of the cattle were located?

With all of our cooks hiding in the bush, we postponed the elaborate closing we'd intended and instead, held a prayer meeting under the big tree that provided us with the shade we so needed to conduct our classes from after 11:00am to 5:15. Five teachers, Lucy and I prayed.

They had just learned the song, "My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there is nothing my God cannot do." They'd sing it throughout the day; thus, it was no surprise that as I stood top pray, it was these words the Holy Spirit brought to my heart. As I spoke, sang them, I also acted out the words. The teachers, some armed with their sticks looked at me, smiled and began to talk/sing the words of this little song; they began to act out the words too, and as we sang together our one our child-like confession of faith in Almighty Jehovah to keep us, we all felt the atmosphere of fear that was hovering over us lifted. As we sang and concluded in prayer, we knew deeply that our God was indeed so big, so strong and so mighty, there was nothing that He could not do, including keeping each of us and our family members safe from the attacking Nuer cattle raiders.

On Tuesday morning, they all returned and we held a more subdued, but no less elated completion, where upon receiving their participation certificate, each teacher held it high above his head, while the seated others shouted their approval. When we traveled later that afternoon to the airstrip to be picked by the AIM flight that would evacuate us, many of them were there to see us off…

As ever, I can't thank you enough for continuing in prayer for us in Southern Sudan, that come what may, the peace of our Lord Jesus would reign in our hearts into all of our relationships, that His kingdom may come on earth in S. Sudan as it is in heaven, amen

In the Body of Christ, Ingrid

Update on My Return Home

2008-12-20T01:06:00.004+03:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It was over a month ago that I wrote asking you to please be in prayer with me, for my dad and family, as I'd just learned that he'd been diagnosed with advanced bone cancer…At the time, I wasn't even sure I'd arrived home in time to see him alive…

Thanks to all of your prayers, I arrived safely in Oakland, California in early November, and will most likely be here until mid-January, 2009. I had been planning to be in Oakland this Christmas anyhow, from Dec. 22nd - Jan. 15th, so that I could be here to celebrate mom's 80th birthday on January 12th. ' Dad's illness just brought me back a little earlier…

Thanks to all of your prayers, dad is making a valiant and most grace-full fight for his life. So far, he's had two "successful" operations to repair his left shoulder and right hip bones that had fractured because they'd become so fragile… And just this past week, he's begun radiation therapy, to last three weeks, till around the 7th of January. His has a large tumor on his spine, and on his hip and shoulder and in his skull…

YET, he keeps insisting he "feels" no cancer in him, and he "feels" no death in himself! His attitude is miraculously upbeat with everyone he meets! It is as if he's becoming a "new man" right before our eyes! Surely, this could only be so because of the work of the Holy Spirit of our Lord Jesus in his heart, amen!

My mom has also not been well (congestive heart failure), and for awhile when dad's condition had seemed to deteriorate, hers had also taken a turn for the worse; indeed, she told us clearly that if he died, she did not want to live, and that she's never wanted to be the one to have bury him…

I cannot thank you sufficiently for praying for us…I know it is because of your prayers that both mom and dad are struggling to live and be here on this side of the river of life, for just little while longer…My prayer requests at this time are as follows:

A truly lovingly gracious heart towards my parents and family…
For me to be a true blessing (in words and in deeds, equally) to my sisters as they most stand in need of salvation and in other ways in their troubled lives…
For the surpassing peace of our dear Lord Jesus to saturate my parent's hearts at this time…
For dad to have a healing/positive response to the radiation therapy that has begun…
For all to go smoothly and affordably with the funeral/cemetery arrangements we are seeking to put in place for both mom and dad…
For my sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews to be at peace and rise to the occasion gracefully, whatever the occasion may be, and may they come wholly to Christ during this time…
For me, much energy and strength and deeply abounding health to keep up this amazing pace physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually…
And for wisdom and clear leading regarding my travel plans to return to Nairobi/Southern Sudan in January…

Thank you all so very much for your loving support at this time…

May you each enjoy the deep joy of Immanuel this Christmas, and I pray much more of His presence with you now, and in the coming New Year 2009, amen.

In the Great Love of our Lord Jesus, Ingrid

The Difficulties of This Work

2008-10-13T04:12:00.006+03:00

On the left is a picture of the bathroom we use in Ler. It's separate from the tukul hut where I live. And here's a picture of the inside of the bathroom . . .

Today I'll answer another question I'm often asked . . .

What are the difficulties involved in your work?

Ah, where do I begin? Please don't think I'm getting negative, but I want to give you a realistic picture of what's it's like to work here.

I think the most pressing difficulty is to do this work without a "community;" often, we are solo in the field, or the only non-native person among the natives, and this can become wholly taxing! We need to go out in two's at least (very good Biblical example for this, I dare say; and even the UN sends its people out in twos), but Across does not yet have the human-power to do this, so… it seems that too many of us get wearied quickly, complain a lot, get negative without realizing that is what we've become, and become sick in mind, body and spirit…I pray against this for myself, and trust the Holy Spirit to keep looming larger and larger with/in my daily living/activities in the field.

We do have a half hour "devotions" every morning (on most of the bases) on the bases, where all the local and seconded staff come together, sing praise/worship songs in either English, the mother-tongue of the people or else in Arabic, read the scripture with some exposition, and we pray for whatever needs are raised; this pretty much serves as the means of "community," mostly, and apparently is working, for even when people leave and go else where, what they always say they miss are these devotions; so far, they have not meant a whole lot to me, except for when the people sing in their mother-tongue or when they sing in English, but the patterns and rhythms are in their own language. Then, I usually experience (yes, experience because the Spirit of the Lord Jesus can be experienced, the same way we experience love/loving each other in any/all of our love relationships as human beings) the presence of the Lord and the oneness of the Body of Christ.

Practically, everything u can imagine is a "difficulty:" the lack of maturity/maturing Believers; the lack of trained pastors & evangelists; the lack of people to train and help equip them; the lack of training places for this to be done; the water we drink; the water we bathe in; the bed we sleep on; the hut/house we sleep in; the roof over our heads; the lack of permanent structures to live in; the toilet we use; the food we eat; where & how the food is cooked: the people who cook (lots of times, they're sick!), the flies; the mosquitoes; the snakes; the scorpions; the roads and lack thereof that we walk/travel on; the too much sun/heat at times.

I'm not finished yet! There's also the lack of electricity or solar power; the cost of everything always so high; the place of worship; the cultural and lack of cultural exchanges; the flagrant, destructive (satanic!) tribalism, even in the Church; the flagrant, oppressive devaluation of women and their overburdening work! The physical and verbal abuse of women; the sometimes disregard for children and animals; the way even the smallest child, girl child especially, is expected to begin working from very early in life; the paternalistic, still overly colonial attitudes of "Christians" we work with; always this inability to see ourselves as are in relationship to others as well as to ourselves; the lack of funds and donors to support or help us to help the people with basic, but dire needs, like healthy drinking water that is near to where they live, and so and so on…

Certainly in the midst of all these difficulties I have to remember to "Rejoice in the Lord always." The circumstances often don't give reason to rejoice, but I can always rejoice in the Lord who loves and cares for me. Please keep me in your prayers!

That's it for this post. What you you think about what I just shared? Leave your comment by clicking the link labeled 'comments' below.

It's Picture Time!

2008-10-07T14:40:00.029+03:00

Greetings from Sudan! I thought you might be interested in getting a glimpse of the houses or buildings I encounter in Sudan. The dwelling huts are called tukuls. On the left is my first tukul. This tukul is modern in that the walls are made of block and it has a metal roof.

To the right is a semi modern tukul with a traditional thatched roof. The people use whatever is available to build their huts. Most often the walls are made of sticks and sometimes plastered with mud. The floors are most often dirt, but modern tukuls have concrete floors.

Below is our deluxe bath/toilet facility:) Notice the stick walls.

Here's a picture of Irene, a dear Kenyan sister with whom I shared the tukul. She works from SLC. You also can see me and Jolly, the Ufandan English tutor at the Yei Teacher Training Center. (YTTC)

Our major base of operations in Sudan is the village at Yei. Below is the teacher training center classroom building. You can also see the YTTC staff offices. Pretty fancy by local standards, heh?

Finally, below is a view of the Yei River that runs by the village.

That will be it for this post. You can leave your comments or questions by clicking the link labeled 'comments' at the end of this post.

God's Good and Perfect Gifts

2008-06-17T02:41:00.006+03:00

HalleluJah in the highest!

Recently, through one of my neigbours, I came again to taste our Father’s abundant goodness. Stephen is a 20 year old Kenyan, who is the foster son of a Marta, a fellow PCUSA mission-coworker, who’s been ministering in Kenyan over 10 years. He will be 21 years old in June, and I’ve been searching for the best, gift for him. I’ve spent so much time talking with about growing in grace and knowledge of our dear Lord Jesus, you’d think he’d get tired of all my “preaching,” but in fact he responds with, “Hey, Ingrid, you know, you’re my booster; you really boost me all the time.”

Well, it dawned on me that as his “booster,” I was searching to find him just the perfect gift because he’s become as precious to me as my nephews in Belize, and I want only to be good to him: this goodness means giving him what is best for him. (I know you know where this is leading, especially those of you who are loving parents). If, I, in my imperfect capacity to love, desire the best for one I love, how much more does our Father in His perfect, infinite love and goodness to us, desire to give us His best? Because he is omnipotent, giving us the best is never a problem, except when we get in the way of Him doing so.

Of course, I realize that this is not such a new revelation. What’s made it more meaningful is this: in the midst of searching for the best gift for Stephen, our Father gave me what could be the best gift for me at this time: Since last year, I’ve been hunting all over Nairobi for a particular song. I’ve asked my brothers and sisters in Christ to please send me this song, for I know how much it would nourish me (I can still remember singing it in the choir that was assembled to sing at Ruth Bell Graham’s funeral: it had seem then that the angels in heaven had come and sang with us!), but no one’s been able to send it thus far. Well, I purchased a gospel music dvd for Steven’s birthday, and last night I played it (to make sure it would be something that would really minister Christ to him), and the very last song was Richard Smallwood’s “Total Praise,” sung by Donnie McClurkin, a favorite gospel singers.

So that is what I mean by being overwhelmed by our Father’s oh so tender goodness unto us. Last night, weeping with thanksgiving and praise, I understood that all of my concerns about whether His goodness would extend to all areas of my life, especially in my capacity as Across’ new Donor Relations Manager, were being enveloped in His abundant goodness unto me. Now, I am encouraged and strengthened anew knowing that in His abundant goodness, He not only goes with me, but before me as well, arranging the meetings and preparing the hearts of those through whom the people of Southern Sudan will be richly blessed.

Thank you for joining me in giving deep thanks and praises to our great God and Saviour, Jehovah, Lord Jesus, for His abundant supply in all areas of my life, that I may faithfully and fruitfully minister Him in Southern Sudan, Nairobi and wherever He places me, amen.

For His Utmost Glory, Ingrid

P.S. The picture is of me and Stephen taken in the lobby of the hilton hotel, Nairobi; we'd gone for his 21st B-day celebation dinner; 'was his choice because all his life he's lived in Nairobi, but had never set foot into the Hilton, but have always wanted to do so...

Your Questions Answered

2008-05-20T01:26:00.004+03:00

I've found that many of you are very curious as to what it's like ministering in Sudan. You have many questions. So I thought it would be good to answer some of the questions I've been asked in the next few posts. Enjoy and don't hesitate to leave a comment or ask further questions. I'd love to hear from you.

Question: I know you're somehow involved in education, but who and what are you teaching?

Answer: I teach primary school teachers, between the ages of 21 - 60's, how to teach, how to read and write English; I teach them how to use English; I teach Accelerated Learning Classes as part of an Accelerated Learning Program (ALP), level I, II, III & IV to young adult learners; ALP consist of 4 courses: English, Math, Social Studies and Science. Level 1 combines primary 1 & 2, Level II combines primary 3 & 4, level III combines primary 5 & 6 and level IV combines primary 7 & 8.

Ostensibly, I am teaching primary school English to young adults and adults who have not been able to receive an education during the 21 years of civil war. But because they have had no schooling for over 21 years, and these are teachers who will be teaching others, I usually find myself teaching not only English, but Social Studies, Geography, African Diaspora History, Christian Religious Education, Church History and of course, Women's Studies. I also teach Teaching Methodology and Leadership Skills.

Question: What is the classroom like?

Answer: Sometimes, the classroom is a brick building, without a ceiling but iron (tin) sheets for roof, with steel/tin bar widows and doors, so that the termites can't eat through them; the chairs are always plastic, lawn chairs, that are portable so the teachers can take with them when they go to eat, and back to where they sleep and return them to the class for the next day's lesson. Sometimes the classroom is a mud building with iron (tin) roof, and dirt floor.

That's it for this post. What you you think about what I just shared? Leave your comment by clicking the link labeled 'comments' below.

Welcome to 'In Sudan'

2008-05-12T22:02:00.004+03:00

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God! Therefore the world knows us not, because it did not know Him" (I John 3: 1)

I am so thankful to our Father that He's provided this space for us to have exchanges about what, by the power of his Holy Spirit, He is doing with/in my life in Southern Sudan. I am thankful, too, for our dear brother in Virginia, Charles, who has set up this blog, and who has promised to assist me with it in the future. Most of all though, I am eternally thankful for each and all of who will visit the site regularly to get some additional insights into my experiences as "we" labour together in southern Sudan, and who, I hope, will be encouraged to pray without ceasing for the members of our eternal Family in southern Sudan, that "they may prosper in all things and be in health, just as their soul prospers" in our Lord Jesus, amen. I bless Almighty God our Father for your continued loving support of me in His mission in Southern Sudan.
All for His utmost glory, Ingrid

I thought I'd share with you a poem I wrote over two years ago, while I was on an ecumenical silent retreat in the hills of Virginia. The Holy Spirit had impressed on my mind that He wanted me to follow Him more concertedly into His mission, internationally; this poem was a part of my response to Him:

Calling?

Here, in Beulah Methodist kitchen
where ladybugs like spring flowers bloom
I embrace my cup, its scooped
heart now raised to my mouth.

I'll drink and eat where life is weaved
with bread and wine.

My calling: a blue-hued pitcher
pouring
Water
here
below. . .

Copyright 2005 Ingrid Reneau