Yesterday was a long and great day. We started with prayer at around 6am. We have been doing that for an hour or so since we got here and it has been a sweet time. I was asked to speak for their Sunday morning service and I was glad to do so. After all, I came a great distance and I want to give and serve as much as I can. Teaching the Bible is the main area that I came to minister in. Hopefully when I am all done here I will have taught over a dozen times. Church was fun. The choir sang and danced for about a half hour. I wish we had that kind of energy in our American churches. I did my best to encourage the people out of Hebrews 4:16 -Let us come boldly to the Throne of Grace.
Later in the day me and Ed Gaunt took a walk through Nimule. Ed is a big guy, 6'5" and well over 300lbs. Needless to say, these Sudanese are fascinated by white men. They stare and whisper as you walk by. Now they are friendly and as you wave to them they wave back, but they can be scary looking at first. The children will run out of their tukuls (huts) yelling "kawaja kawaja" hoping to shake hands with you. After church they would line up just to touch you and then run away only to circle around and get in line again for another handshake. They can't understand the hair on your arms. It is so weird to them. They have smooth hairless skin.
Ed and I walked a few miles for exercise and sightseeing. When we got up to the jail we turned around and headed back. Ed says he has put men in that jail and taken them out. In all the years (over 10) they have never fixed the jail. As we stood there looking at this stone windowless dungeon we could smell the urine from across the street. Then a hand reached out of the slits near the roof and from inside a man yelled, "Eh Muzungu, eh muzungu." That is the Ugandan word for "white man." Here in Africa I am either Kawaja or Muzungu. Someone in prison was calling out for help. There was nothing we could do but I thought of how appropriate that was as a metaphor. We stand in the world looking at the dungeon of sin, smelling the stench of guilt and wrecked lives. Then a hand reaches out and we hear a call for help. Will you hear that call and preach the gospel to set the captives free?
When we got back to the FRM base we set about to paint the church. The whole place is buzzing with activity for tomorrow's graduation. After the youth and choir finished washing the walls and concrete floors we repainted. It is fun painting with Africans eager to help but with very little skill with a paintbrush. Imagine growing up never painting, sketching, drawing or doing anything that we are used to. It would be hard for them to vacuum or set up an email account. They all have cell phones now which is interesting.
What they can do is amazing, especially the women. I don't think I have ever seen women as strong as these. They will pump water up from a well 200 feet deep and put a 6 gallon jerry can on their head and one in each hand and walk a half mile like that. Many have been hired by the ministry here to feed the chaplains and care for the property. I see the young men hauling water early in the morning so that we can shower and flush the toilets. The women boil water and prepare tea before it is light at around 5am and then they are serving dinner late into the evening. FRM is very generous with them and they are able to provide for their families but they are so hard working it is amazing. On the other hand so many of the men are absolutely worthless. In the village areas men will just get drunk and play dominoes all day. It is sad and shows the need for the growth of the church and training of men like the chaplains here.
Before dinner I sat down with Peter Agoth, a chaplain who is 28 years old. He joined the army when he was 14. Many of these men went in the service to fight for their country at a tender age. The youngest they allow is 12. I asked the man on the other side when he joined. Also at 14. Peter comes from a family of nine children, three girls and six boys. He is now one of the three left alive. He has two brothers and the rest died as children by the age of 11 from disease. He is from the Dinka tribe. The Dinka are a very noble looking people. Both the men and women are very tall and lithe. The women look like queens. Maybe that is why a Dinka bride is the most expensive. Other women cost between 3-5 cows to marry, but the Dinka are 100 cows. It is their custom as a cattle raising tribe, but it makes it difficult for a young man like Peter to marry. He just can't afford it especially now that his sisters are dead. He could have used the dowry paid for them but now it seems he will never marry a Dinka woman. That is ok for Peter. He is willing to marry from any of the 66 tribes in Southern Sudan. He even offered some cattle for one of my daughters. They say if I was Dinka here with four daughters I would be a rich man. Don't worry I didn't accept the offer. Many Dinka practice scarring on their foreheads around to the back. Even some women do this as a rite of passage.
We are excited about the graduation that will happen today and know the men will be so proud to celebrate their hard work over this past year.
I have so many great pictures but the internet we use at the UN camp down the road is so slow. You'll have to wait until I come home for the full visual experience.
--Jesus Lives,
Bud
1 comments:
Awesome
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