Prep time....

Dear Friends,

Greetings. As I spend my time in Louisville, Kentucky focused on preparations for returning to Africa I have learned a few things.

What will soon be South Sudan is considered a hardship post. This not only means that there are what, to an American, seem to be very basic living conditions, it also means that even just getting there to begin one’s work is hard. It takes more work.

Some of this is because there is not an infrastructure to speak of in a country that has been torn apart by almost 50 years of civil war. Looking the last few days at pictures and readers journalistic renditions of what is happening in Sudan in general I realize that it is very hard to focus on things like getting an education when most of the llife’s energy is spent trying to find something to eat every day.

Therefore, there is very little infrastructure. This means that there is no easy way for foreigners to get money to the south for daily expenses. There are no banks in Malakal, where I will be living. Because of the border disputes with Khartoum in the north of Sudan there are many road closures. The cost of gasoline has risen and this means that food prices are going up and there are severe food shortages in many areas. The water in Sudan is not drinkable, at least not for an ex-patriot from the United States. I must plan ahead as to how to obtain clean drinking water and what food to take in order to be able to eat while I am learning the lay of the land when I arrive in my new home.

There is a shortage of electricity. In the area where I will live in Malakal there may be 12 hours of electricity per day. I am having to learn about inverters, rechargeable batteries and solar cooking. I am taking a battery operated fan with me and will need to look for a solar powered flashlight.

There are limited supplies of things like shampoo, no one I’ve spoken to has seen conditioner so I am having to take in my own supplies of those personal essentials. African hair is different than Western hair and so it makes sense that the stores in this little town would not have the kind of hair products that I need.

I’ve been told that there is no hand lotion to be had in Malakal. So I am taking my own supplies of lotion, feet become very dry and flaky in the African climate. There are probably few doctors and no dentists where I am going so I am investigating where I can find services when I need them.

Some of this looking ahead is because eventually I will be returning to a first world country and I will need to keep myself in a physical condition to be able to return with grace. An analogy would be this: I used to wonder why missionaries sent their children to ex-patriot schools instead of to school with the local children to whom they ministered. At some in Khartoum I realized it is because the missionary kids need to be prepared to re-enter, or enter for the first time, their first culture, the culture of their first tongue. Those young people may choose to go to college in the United States, they may choose to follow God’s call on their lives in the United States. In order for that to be an option for them they must be able to relate to the academic curriculum that other children who are in school in the United States are experiencing.

My issues are something like that. While I am spending a significant amount of my adult life in other countries, I must be prepared for the time when I will return to the culture of my first tongue, to the United States.

In a sense I have a foot in both worlds. I am living and serving in Africa, and yet I must always remember that to some degree the United States is the home to which I will return when God calls me back there. In advance preparation for that time I care for myself as if I was in the United States to the best of my ability in a country that is far, far different from my own.

I hope it is helpful for me to share some of my journey in this time of preparation for my return to Sudan. It is a time of trails and exhaustion. What keeps me going forward is knowing that God is sending me to South Sudan for Such a Time as This. I have an assignment and the Lord is providing me with the means to fulfill that assignment. God has given me a strong love for my students and that is my driving force.

Blessings,

Debbie