Church & Other Things

Dear Friends,
Greetings! I have been kept very busy the past two weeks or so since the end of classes at NTC. I have also had a cold as so many other people at the college did towards the end of the semester.

I have attended a church community meeting comprised of primarily lay people with a sprinkling of pastors. I was the only female pastor in attendance and there were perhaps two other women, lay women who were sent by their congregations. I met a deaconess (female who holds the office of deacon) which I was glad for; as of yet the Sudanese Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) does not ordain women as elders or pastors.

I have been told that the women in Africa buy gold jewelry when they can afford it. This is their banking system. They have the gold when times are tough and they need money. Once I understood that I began to notice that many women, even those of modest means, do indeed wear gold earrings or necklaces or bracelets. They may not trust the banks or other financial institutions and jewelry is under their own control.

Several weeks ago I visited a church in an area where many satellite dishes were visible. I assumed that this meant the area had electricity. I found out that this is not so and the TV's were powered by generators. Yesterday, Sunday, I was taken to another church which was more than an hour's drive from Khartoum. The area in which this church was located does not have government services for electricity or water. There were however electric lines and poles. The area produces its own electricity which costs about $16.00 a month. While the church did have several light bulbs which were turned on as darkness overtook the dusk, there were no fans or swamp coolers. They probably cost too much to operate.

This church consisted of a large compound and within that compound was a wall with three rooms in it. There were two worship areas and a small office area between them. The rooms are all made of mud. In the far room worship is held during the cold season (since I didn't think winter here was cold I was a bit puzzled about that). The pulpit was made out of mud as well and painted white. The floor is dirt and the walls had crosses painted on them.

The second worship room was the larger one and this where we worshipped yesterday. It is the room for hot weather. The pulpit in this room is wood but the floor is still dirt. Women were on the left in chairs, men on the right sitting on metal benches. The children were anywhere they could find a parent. In the front row was the music director and two amazing African drums. One of them had a very deep booming sound and the other a lighter one.

The church has a Presbyterian pastor and an Episcopalean pastor (I don't think they are called priests in Africa). The property belongs to the Presbyterians but is shared with the Episcopals which I thought made great sense from a stewardship point of view.

As we drove through the narrow alleys with the mud buildings of the refugee camp we encountered a donkey drawn water cart. I had not seen one of these before. Since the government does not supply water it is delivered to the residents in a large metal tube, poured out into containers that are left besides the entrance to the mud buildings.

During our service the children were free to play outside in the compound. I found myself thinking what a perfect solution it was. They were close by their parents and there was plenty of room for running and playing.

I also found myself realizing what a privilege I have in visiting places in this country that most people from the United States will never see. Khartoum itself is a cultural revelation for me, and when I am driven to points outside of Khartoum it is like traveling to another planet. Mud floors, mud walls with beautiful crosses painted on them, holes in the walls for ventilation and then the doorways that have no doors because there is no need for them.

I could tell as I preached that some of the people know English which indicates that some of them have at least some level of education. I knew this because when I said something funny two or three of the men would laugh before what I said was translated into Arabic. The congregation was made up of Nuer and Dinka tribes people but here in Christ they are one and I believe that the common language of Arabic was being used in the worship service.

The Presbyterian pastor had six beautiful well-behaved children, two boys and four girls. And his wife had a beautiful voice. She did a solo which I cannot describe -- it was African in nature and she beat the small drum and the choir leader punctuated on the larger drum here and there. Because of the language she used I couldn't understand her, but it was profound.

I have learned now that there are approximately 560 languages spoken in Sudan. Sudan is made up of many tribes. Arabs are a tribe, then there are the African tribes and tribes that come from the Nuba Mountains in the West. I have finally reached an understanding of why people have been asking me about the tribes in the United States. Now I explain about the Native Americans and the tribes that inhabited North America before the Europeans colonized the land. I also have a greater appreciation for the linguistic richness of Africa in general and Sudan in particular. Most of my students at NTC know at least three languages; their tribal language, Arabic and English.
Blessings,
Debbie