The Earth is Slower Here

Dear Friends,

The traffic is mad and crazy here and people are always walking about, on their way to and fro, from somewhere going to somewhere. On the other hand, there is a sense of timelessness here and a different sense of movement. I am sure this is in part why it is taking almost a week for my brand new water machine to be repaired. There is not a Western sense of urgency here. Things will be done when they are done.

In chapel this morning at the college I was aware of what a privilege it is that this is the place to which God has called me. The men and women here are solid and they are on a path. I am at the margins of life, and this for me is where life is the most vibrant and full of color. By the time the margins reach the center there is too much to lose. The center has become the status quo and is invested in remaining the same. Here is Sudan there is hope for change. At this little college in Khartoum the students ARE the change.

I don't know how different the poverty would be in the country if the British had not colonized Sudan. My understanding is that colonized countries often struggle with the realities of independence for a long time after the occupying country has left their lands. Would it have been a different story if Great Britain had not come here in the first place? Of course the reality is that GB did come so that there is no way to know what things would have been like otherwise.

Wahiba drove me to some remote, dusty and impoverished areas of greater Khartoum today. In its own way in the dust, the brownness, and the occasional burst of green growth in the form of a tree, this place is beautiful. It is so different from the West that there is simply no way to describe it adequately. I am hopeful that some of the pictures which I took today will aid the descriptions. It is a land of donkeys, goats and cows. It is a land of women in tobes. It is a land of men in the long white gowns and coverings on their heads. It is a land of extreme poverty. It is also a land of hope.

I realized today with a chuckle that if I do not feel called to serve the wealthy it means that I am not going to be wealthy. I am going to be on the margins. But, I have known before that the margins have been for me where life is. And beauty. Brokenness and healing. Hospitality and love.

The African dresses that I will soon be wearing are in a sense the reflection of all that this continent is for me so far, and I believe that my awareness and oneness will only deepen and grow. The dresses are colorful, comfortable, not form fitting but still attractive, made for the hot weather that is here. A hot climate produces both dust and color.
Blessings,
Debbie