Easter in Malakal!

Dear Friends,
Blessings to you on this Gregorian calendar Easter, April 8, 2012.

I attended a Unity Worship service this morning...apparently there were three churches together in the yard at the BAM Center....this is the center which hosts, among others, the Nile Theological College.

As I listened to the drums helping the singers keep rhythm I realized again that there was no keyboard -- and I like not having a keyboard. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a piano in South Sudan, they are probably too expensive, and certainly I have never seen an organ. Keyboards are rare but present.

I watched the children today especially. I have heard that children have absolute authority over the children who are younger than they are. That appeared to be true. Lots of little kids being carried in the arms of slightly older kids who had to keep shifting the weight of the little kids on their hips, they were probably really a little too heavy to be carrying.

At the end of the service some of the children did a beautiful presentation for the church -- probably some mother’s were involved in doing their best to create costume’s that gave some cohesion to the group. I saw a lot of what looked like the embroidered sheets and pillowcases (incredibly beautiful embroidery in lovely, lovely colors) that were being used as skirts. The idea seemed to be white on the bottom and red on top.
There were three older girls who it appeared had been in charge of the children learning dance movements with their feet and hands as well as the words to the song. They herded their little charges along very well, it really reminded me in some ways of Christmas pageants at home in the states....the director mouthing the words to the kids and the kids bright eyes upon the director and seeking direction out also from one another.

It is humbling to attend a worship service in another country and another tongue. I find myself thinking how it would have been done at “home” in the United States. Sometimes I miss the order and the liturgy, and the bulletin. On the other hand I know that this is for only a season of my life and I try and milk the time for everything it is worth. I know that there are many people in the world who will never be able to worship with another people group in another country on Easter.

It is difficult working on the Doctor of Theology in Missiology here. Right now I have disconnected the computer from its lifeline of the solar generator. I watch the percentage of time left go down and I know that if I write very much on this blog and we don’t have power tonight I will have to wait until tomorrow’s new supply of sunshine to do anything else.

It is very hot here. There really isn’t relief from the heat because I am living in a Nuer (one of the tribes) area and we have not been getting power consistently. I admit that when I decided to move to this house i thought that there would be power every night. It turns out that it is more like two to three times a week. This is not enough for a refrigerator, at least I don’t think so, and doesn’t help in the way of allowing me to use fans, swamp coolers or air conditioning. The water that I drink is hot.

The point of my sharing all of this with you is that i am finding it difficult to work on the Doctor of Theology in this heat. I also have moved into a family neighborhood. This is not a bad thing, it is kind of pleasant to have the sounds of everyday living all around me. It also means however that there are inconsolable crying babies, there are little children’s voices constantly in action, there are shrieks and laughter, and lots of adult conversations that I can’t understand late into the night. Last night the singing for Easter began by 3:30 a.m., maybe before that. Hard to sleep. Without sleep hard to work on the DTH.

There are so many new things that I observe everyday that I am eager to share with you, some of them I remember and others I don’t. What it is like when I go out the gate of my house and see the dirt road. How I get stared at, the people who are dressed differently than me even though I try to dress African. The donkey carts that are hauling water in large cylinders down the road. The groups of little children. They are so often dressed in what looks to be recycled Western clothing. I can’t figure out where it has come from. The culture here has an expectation of very large families and it must be very expensive to try to clothe all of the children who are produced. I consider it a miracle to see as many school uniforms as I do when I venture out around noontime. And I thank God for that miracle!

Tomorrow, God willing, someone from the college will take me to a tailor who works with clergy apparel. I have beautiful green material to be made into a top and a skirt to match the clergy outfit I had made in Ghana almost two years ago. When I am home this summer June - mid September I will be preaching and doing talks and I want to have another African clergy outfit to add to the one I already have. I’m also hoping that the tailor has other fabrics as I’ve realized how nice it would be to have clergy shirts made in the African style, with the special sleeve treatment available here, in many colors....I have a real problem in having only one suit (top and skirt) and one shirt with collar opening here. For instance, today at the Easter service most of the clergy were wearing their clergy collars. If I can have a pink, yellow, blue, green, etc., shirt made in African style then all I need is my jean skirt and I’ll be set to go when I need to look the part...so to speak.

I feel a need to dress as clergy here as often as possible so that the church sees that women clergy are a reality in God’s church, in Jesus’ realm. I was seated in the men’s seating at the service this morning. I didn’t protest because I realized they really wouldn’t know where else to put me. That is another of the things that is so eye opening to me. Families do not sit together, this church (in South Sudan, and possibly Africa in general) continues to be segregated.

It was a lovely service and it is clear that people love singing. The women’s group sings, the youth sings, the little children sing. This is their gift to God and to God’s people. Unfortunately my camera batteries died at the Easter Retreat on Friday that the college had. We have not had power for the past two nights and so I did not have a camera at church today. That was very hard!
Blessings,,
Debbie