Saturday, March 30, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
All caught up....as much as that is possible! :)
March 29, 2013
It is Good Friday and I have
some time in the air-conditioned hotel room to catch up on the blog
Palm Sunday, March 24, I
attended a Presbyterian Church of South Sudan worship service and then
ordination of many, many people who were becoming Elders, Deacons and Pastors
in the church. There apparently had not
been an ordination service for several years and there were over one hundred
who were ordained for the various offices in the church. One of my colleagues, a female, became a
Reverend on that day! She is only the
second or third female to be ordained as a pastor so this was a momentous
occasion.
The worship and service for
ordination lasted for about three and a half hours. The worship service was a Unity service for
all of the Presbyterians in Malakal.
There are many Presbyterian churches in town because each people group
(tribe) has one due to each ethnic group having its own language. The Unity service was primarily in Arabic
with some English, an apology was given at the end of the service for not
having translation for those whose first language is English (I may have been
the only oneJ) and a promise to have translation next time. The service was definitely unifying with each
church being called upon, one right after the other, to present a gift of
singing. This is one reason why the
worship was so long.
The ordination segment of the
total time was lengthened by the number of Deacons being ordained as there were
so many of them that the officiates had to ordain them in several small
groups. I was witness to quite the
organic movement of the Holy Spirit in the church!
This past Wednesday the 27th
I flew to Juba from Malakal in order to obtain a multi entry visa. These can only be purchased in Juba and I had
to obtain it in order to reenter the country after my return from the Gathering
of African Mission Co-Workers in Cape Town, South Africa on April 10th. One of the men from the Presbyterian Church
of South Sudan spent quite a bit of time with me on Wednesday on the compound
of the Office of Immigration going from office to office, the end result of
which was a three-month multiple entry visa in my passport. I had to come to Juba earlier than I had
planned because, while I don’t fly out to Cape Town until this coming Monday
April 1st, there was a strong likelihood that because this is Holy
Week (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Saturday Vigil and Easter Sunday) that the
Office of Immigration would close early on Thursday and I could not risk having
to leave South Sudan without a way to reenter.
I am learning that it is not
good to travel in foreign countries on Christian holidays, nor probably the
holidays of any other religion. I was in
Nairobi at Christmas and had challenges getting my South Sudan visa renewed
there. This time it was Holy Week in
Juba and I had to adjust my schedule accordingly. Now that I have obtained my first multiple
entry visa this situation may become a little less urgent. I hope
I realized on Wednesday as I
was in a car with only two other people and not a public transport in Malakal
with several people, driving down a paved road that I was driving down a paved road.
Then I realized that the culture shock going from Malakal into Juba is becoming
somewhat less jarring. I think this may
be because it is happening more often.
However I then was taken to an actual grocery store, not just a pop and
biscuit stand on the street, and I wanted to break out crying because we don’t
have actual grocery stores in Malakal! I
was actually able to buy a Snickers bar, even though it cost me almost
$2.00!!!! I also got Diet Pepsi, even
though my true love is Diet Coke it isn’t to be found in South Sudan, and that
is cheaper than in Malakal. So that was nice.
I have decided to call the
car rides in South Sudan “Oh Lord, the potholes are so deep and wide and the
car in which I am being driven is so small.”
Up and down, being thrown about, it hurts! Someone told me that most women wear a strap
and I was finally able to figure out that this is different than a seat
belt. It is something that supports the
back and helps to keep us from being thrown about quite so violently.
I will tell you that Juba is
a HUGE city. Huge, huge, huge. It
just keeps going. And going. Yesterday, Thursday, I got to see quite a bit
of it because two men came from the church to help me run errands in the
morning. We were looking particularly
for fuses for my solar battery for one of my two not functioning solar
systems. We could not find them. But we certainly gave it a good try going
from store to store in the heat with sweat running down our faces and
backs. I got to see many parts of Juba
that I have not seen before. I realize
that is simply because Malakal really is a town and not a city that Juba seems
so big to me, and yet I realize that my perspective has changed on what is
little and what is big. I fear that at
this point New York City would totally overwhelm me.
There is a shower in the
bathroom here at the hotel. It is one of
the best things about staying here.
Having a shower where the water actually comes out of a showerhead that
is on the wall and having HOT water if I want it is so delicious! I could wash my hair under a stream of water
coming from above and not bending down over a bucket. I hope never to take such wonderful delights
for granted again.
There are so many other
things that I could share with you.
Every time I am out and about I see and observe a lifetime of thoughts/differences/people/events/etc.
that I forget if I don’t make notes to myself for the Blog! I do keep in mind very often that I am the
door for many of you into a world that you may never step foot in for
yourself. I want to share what is on the
other side of that door, and I try to do that, with God’s help.
May your Easter be bright and
revelatory for those of you who are Christians.
For the others, may you have a peaceful and restful remainder of the
week, which is basically the weekend by now!
Blessings,
Debbie
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Catching up on posts from Malakal....
March 23, 2013
How does one begin to
describe the differences between even housekeeping in Malakal and in the United
States? For one thing in the Pacific
Northwest, Seattle, area we have glass windows and we do not have the kind of
dust that this part of Africa has. We
have running water and carpets, generally.
This means vacuuming. I am not
aware of people feeling a particular need to wash walls frequently because they
simply do not become so dirty, from dust blowing in through the mesh in the
window frames….the floors here are covered in bat dung (poop) which I
personally have never encountered in the states, although that of course does
not mean it isn’t there. Fortunately for
the most part my two rooms here at the guesthouse are not so much the victims
of the bat poop.
I washed some dishes this
morning and discovered a gravelly residue at the bottom of the metal
bowls. I realized it must be from the
water I used to wash them. Rarely find
that situation in the states. There is a
piece of broken glass over the hall sink that shines up quite nicely with water
and a piece of newspaper. I am no longer
accustomed to looking at myself in a full length mirror before leaving home….
March 20, 2013
Today, walking to the school
in the morning, I had a Palm Sunday surprise.
There was an African man riding on a donkey. People usually don’t ride the donkeys around
here. I found myself thinking, this is
much more like Jesus on the donkey than the usual blond, blue eyed, missionary
pictures of Jesus on a donkey! It was
liking seeing the Triumphal Entry in person!
It was quite an amazing way to begin the descent into Holy Week!
I found out tonight that
people other than Americans can play the lottery, and that sometimes they win
and it changes their lives! This was
news to me!
March 19, 2013
We have trees on the
guesthouse compound that are growing what appear to be squashes. I am puzzled by this as I thought that
squashes grew on vines that grew near to the earth, hugging mother nature in
their quest for survival and size.
I don’t think I have
mentioned before what I have learned about “mother universities” and
offshoots. This may happen in the United
States and I was simply not aware of it….well established universities that
lend their name to smaller institutions so that the smaller school does the
educating but a student graduates in the name of the established school, thus
having a more prestigious diploma, I suppose.
This has been fascinating to learn about.
March 16, 2013
I think it bears repeating
how time consuming life is in a country without running water or power
24/7. While not trivial of course to
those involved, a week without water and/or power is not the same as living
without it day in and day out.
EVERYTHING takes more effort, time, and energy. And I don’t even have to haul the water
myself! I can see why women and girl
children who must bring water and fuel for cooking by hand and by carrying on
their very strong neck and heads have so much time consumed each day that they
are unable to participate in education.
Noted yesterday: there do not appear to be pet dogs here, only
snarling predators running in packs.
They are downright scary. In
contrast, the lines of sheep are always orderly and obedient. One right after the other, like a
congregation in its pews. This is not an
insult, Christians are often referred to as sheep. Indeed I have heard before that sheep bite,
but I feel much safer around the sheep than the dogs here in Malakal.
March 14, 2013
I forgot to mention in the
March 13 post that another thing that varies from country to country is the
quality of, say, construction.
Constructing houses can be quiet cheap relatively speaking if one cuts
corners. There are quality cement
fixtures that are not going to crumble upon the slightest provocation and there
are cement fixtures that use primarily plaster in order to save money, they can
actually be dangerous.
March 13, 2013
Back in Malakal and back
teaching at the college today. I had my
first session with the juniors today teaching Apologetics. Once again my American accent is a
challenge….one of the seniors told them during the breakfast break that in
about two weeks God will open their hearing so that they can understand meJ.
I suggested to someone today
that glass in the windows of buildings in Malakal might help keep the dust
out. I was told that it is cheaper not
to use glass and that is why folks changed to mesh wire….with metal security
shutters over them. These are in two
forms, the first is a metal form that has a design and lets much of the mesh
flow free in order to have air come into the building. The second is a metal shutter that is solid
and closes over the mesh and metal. I
just realized as I looked at my security frame here at the guest house in
Malakal that even if a potential thief was to break through the mesh in this
room the metal design is fitted over the mesh; at my former home near the
college there were just wide expanses of mesh which meant that all a person had
to do was cut through it to gain access to my veranda. Hmmmmmmm.
When I was in the Philippines
four years ago I learned that really only high rise office buildings use glass
there. Perhaps they have air
conditioning available to them during the sweltering days of summer. The other structures may have wooden shutters
and mesh in order to control air flow and this seems to manage cooling the
homes fairly well. The disadvantage to
glass windows is being stuck in a glass house when the power goes off, although
I suppose in a house the windows would open whereas in many office buildings
windows do not open and a person is at the mercy of climate control.
The issue for me is that the
dust is a real problem. It is everywhere
and one cannot keep ahead of it. I did
bring two dustpans with each their own small broom back from Addis Ababa, and
they should arrive soon.
It was very good to be with
all of my students again today. My
students that I have had for three years, and the ones that I have had now for
one day. Does anyone know of a child’s
version of C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity?
That book is excellent in cutting down arguments against Christianity, and
it is absolutely steeped in Western Civilization. I don’t want to translate the whole darn
thing into simpler terms and language…am hoping someone else has already done
that!
I have learned another
lesson, rather the hard way. That is
that dental care does vary from place to place (meaning country to country and
continent to continent). It seems that
some of the dental work I had done in China may need to be replaced whereas the
work that has been done in Africa appears to be fine. As the dentist in Nairobi said, “sometimes
going cheap isn’t the best.” Yes well in
my defense I didn’t know about all this in China….
Blessings,
Debbie
Monday, March 11, 2013
Juba Juba Jubilate!
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March 11, 2013
I flew out of Addis Ababa on
Sunday afternoon, this is Monday in Juba and tomorrow morning I head for Malakal.
I am enjoying a second night
with TV, wireless internet and air conditioning. I am even having a vegetarian pizza brought
to my room that also happens to have a frig!
I have it packed with 7-UP and water and soon it will have leftover
pizza for midnight snack attacks!
My dilemma at this point is
how much to sleep because I want to enjoy all of these luxuries while I
can. In the morning life will change
dramatically for about three weeks. Holy
Week I fly back to Juba, probably on Easter Sunday, and Monday April 1st
I will begin a journey to South Africa.
I have never been there before and anticipate being there two times this
year!
The Africa Mission Co-Workers
will be meeting for six days in Cape Town for a time of renewal and
training. I am sure this will also be a
wonderful time of catching up with friends and acquaintances who none of us get
to see very often because of our diverse working locations in Africa.
On one of my recent flights I
realized that flying has something in common with hospital visits. There is always someone interrupting my
attempts at sleeping! In a hospital it
might be visitors or lab work or meals coming in. In an airplane it is the flight attendant
with a meal or asking what beverage a person wants.
I continue to experience the
culture shock of leaving Malakal even while preparing to return. In Addis Ababa and in Juba there are paved
roads…this continues to amaze me! I did
ask the church vehicle driver today if Juba also experiences pot holes and
damaged roads during the rainy season, as does Malakal, and he said yes. I imagine some of the distress to paved roads
is normal wear and tear; I recall seeing road repair being done in the United
States. Again I remember being told that
paved streets in Malakal would help both in the rainy season with making the
roads more passable and with runoff and in the dry season with the dust.
But perhaps first on my wish
list for Malakal is power for everyone.
Blessings,
Debbie
Friday, March 8, 2013
Waning days of Addis Ababa R & R
Blog
March 5, 2013
Big spider morning,
yucko! The thing jumped on my ear, I
thought perhaps it was a mosquito and was very shocked to see a big spider when
I brushed at it. A very persistent big
spider I might add, clung to my clothes until I finally managed to haul it off
me and SQUISH it, with great delight I might add!
I think I forgot to mention
many moons ago the God orchestrated happening of meeting an acquaintance on
Facebook who told me, “I never go on FB!” which led to my having company
through the ordeal of the plane back to Malakal from Juba in January. The chance meeting also had a lot to do with
my move to the new home in the two rooms at the Mission 21 Guest House. It is so wonderful when I can actually SEE
God’s hands in things, even though I know that they are always there.
As the friend with whom I am
staying and I walked down the street this afternoon to find lunch somewhere I
was again struck by how easily I come to take paved streets for granted here in
Addis Ababa. In my mind’s eye I could
see the dusty and unpaved streets of Malakal, and all of the potholes. In the 2 ½ years that I have lived there now
always during the dry season there is talk of the roads being paved, and it has
not yet happened. The roads being paved
would help with drainage during the rainy season and with the dust during the
dry season.
I also realized this morning
as I gazed out of the glass windows in the house where I am staying that in
Malakal I have only seen one glass
window. In the Guest House where I now
live in Malakal I have two rooms. One is
an older room and one is a newer room.
In the older room the window is actually glass. In fact it is so
glass that it has a curtain hanging over it.
The window in the new room has the usual mosquito mesh over it with a
metal piece over that for protection against break ins and then finally two
metal shutters that close and shut to keep dust out. Glass could be problematic in such a hot
climate without having power and therefore access to fans; however I do wonder
if the amount of dust would be diminished inside of the houses.
Here in Addis Ababa the
weather is generally milder than in Malakal and therefore glass windows are
helpful because an open air house would be awfully darn cold with the colder
nights. While this year the March
weather is warmer than usual, in the past I have longed for a space heater to
take some of the chill off.
March 8, 2013
Yesterday I literally watched
a man on the sidewalk here in Addis Ababa carry a lamb over his shoulders. I was seriously thinking about The Good
Shepherd. I realize that he was probably
taking the lamb to slaughter but it gave me great pause to consider the lost
sheep that Jesus carries every day. It
was a sweet thing to contemplate…..there are not herds of cattle here in Addis
Ababa as there are in Malakal but as I go by car on the odd day I see markets
where lambs or goats are kept to be sold….and the streets usually smell
absolutely terrible as the animals are not kept clean or in sanitary
conditions. I feel very sorry for those
who work with that all day every day.
Blessings,
Debbie
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