A Busy Week

Dear Friends,
Greetings! This has been a busy week and it is only Wednesday night!

I do not have a car in Sudan so I either hoof it (walk) or take rickshaws (small motorized quick rides) or buses. I have discovered that when there is a lot of traffic the best way for me to cross streets is to walk by the side of the buses that are turning the same direction as I am going. I am protected from the oncoming traffic and can move forward much more quickly than if I waited for traffic to stop for me.

Several things happened today that I am going to share with you, my reader, in various ways. The first was at a doctor's clinic. With the upcoming Referendum on January 9, 2011 which will determine whether Sudan remains Africa's largest country or divides into two countries, there have been rumors abounding. One of the rumors is that medical facilities in north will no longer (be allowed to) treat Sudanese from the south as soon as possibly December.

The doctor today was very clear that Christians and Muslims worship the same God through different religions and that we are to obey Allah (The Arabic word for God) and Allah tells us to love one another. He said that he is always available to all of his patients and it doesn't matter to him if a patient is from the north or the south. What a blessing this man was! I have no idea if doctors all over the world take the Hippocratic oath, I do know that God has touched his heart and spoken truth to him.

The second thing that happened took place on the bus coming back from the city to the suburb where the Nile Theological College (where I teach) is and where I live. There was a Sudanese Arab woman wearing a tobe. I have mentioned these tobes many months ago. It is essentially a large piece of cloth that married Sudanese women wrap around their clothing in a particular way. It is considered the National Dress of Sudan. The tobes can made of very beautiful cloth, I myself have had a two piece outfit made of a beautiful tobe.

This woman was sitting in the bus crying and was clearly pregnant. It was distressful to me to see her crying and I kept making eye contact with her to try to let her know that she isn't alone in the world. When it came to my stop I got almost off the bus and then was able to put my hand out and touch her hand. She touched my hand back and when I looked up at her she was smiling! I pray that she understand that she is not alone.

The third thing today was also an encounter with a Sudanese Arab. I don't know if people come to me for help because I am a foreigner and they assume I have the ability to help, or because of something more personal. Today was one of the few times I have wished that I could be transported back to a somewhat comfortable middle class existence in the United States for a day or two.

I had to explain to this person that I am a widow, that I have no brothers and sisters and that I am supporting myself. I do not have the ability to pay back rent for anyone nor to support a family. Unemployment is so rampant here that I can understand that desperation that underlies the desperate hope that a foreigner will hold the solution to the lack of money for food and shelter. There is not a social welfare system as far as I can tell, that appears to be The Family. If someone is a converted Muslim then The Family is no longer available. And if The Family is just as impoverished as the one seeking help then all of them are together in the need and not able to be a part of a solution for one another.

When I speak of converted Muslims losing family support I should add that I don't know what happens when Christians leave the faith and perhaps turn to Islam. I don't know if the remaining Christian family members will support that person or not.

I think the deeper point of this sharing with you is that instead of treating people as people, instead of realizing that whatever the religion we are all God's children and we all must eat and have shelter, sometimes this gets forgotten as people create criteria for something that is not meant to have criteria.

There are no social welfare offices, no social workers that I am aware of, no community agencies. The churches appear to be financially unable to step in and help their struggling brothers and sisters.

I watched a special on AlJazeera English TV this week. It was about the marshlands of Iraq. The particular tribe who has inhabited the marshlands for thousands of years angered Sudan Hussein when he was living. In retaliation he dried up the marshlands and an ancient civilization, culture and way of life was destroyed. The people in the marshes used to be able to meet their daily needs, their daily bread, in the marshes through fishing and hunting, etc. Now they go at 2:00 a.m. every day to try and find reeds to bundle up and sell. If they have no customers to purchase their bundles they have no money. They are unemployed and have no future. This is what it fees like here in Sudan much of the time.

I do not think that the God that we Christians know in the testimony of the Gospels in the person of Jesus Christ intends for people to live without hope. There comes a time when a forward movement must happen, something must change. The status quo becomes intolerable, unsustainable and has no life left in it. This is what has happened to many people here in Sudan, and perhaps in much of Africa.

When someone has no prospects of employment, no food to feed the children, no money to pay the back rent, what does a Christian say to that person? What is the plan for moving forward? What is the plan for changing what doesn't work any longer? Yes, Jesus provides. And some of that provision comes from the good sense that he has given to us. Some of it comes from a sense of desperation being turned to joy in the morning.

I pray constantly for the people of Sudan that their pain may turn to joy. Please join me in these prayers.
Blessings,
Debbie