LIFE in Torit..... November 2007

“ A Vision with a Task makes a Missionary”

Lord, may this be the case. “ Torit, is becoming the small Babylon.” Said Julius, a local Kenyan worker who I saw reading on his own the book of Thessalonians.

How right he is. At night here in Torit you can hear the drunkenness and debauchery. It’s everywhere. Even last night we were all praying here in Torit. Phil and Linda, The Nobles, Meghan, Kelly and I, when we heard the outside bell ring. Phil returned about five minutes later and said, “ There is a young lady, saying she is looking for Matthew Lovelace.!” I am thinking, OK. Hmmmm.

I went outside in the darkness with Phil and sure enough, there was a young, pretty high school aged girl, looking quite intoxicated and lost. She kept repeating my name and emphasizing that she wanting me for……. Eventually, we convinced her that she needed to return home and not be hanging outside the gate. She did, then returned shortly later that evening. It is sobering the level of need for the young in Torit .

A day later Linda Byler and I were walking to the local Torit Hospital. There is an AIM doctor from Uganda coming this next week to perform eye cataract surgeries. As we were outside the hospital I saw a young teacher from the Torit Day School shouting my name from a far. He came close, grasped my hand and immediately I could see that Vincent was extremely intoxicated. I took his hand, kept looking into his eyes and asking him how he was…really was? It was only maybe four in the afternoon. Literally two hours after school had just ended. And this guy was already smashed sadly! I have noticed other teachers as well leaving school, then returning with bloodshot eyes after lunch. Sad. Anyway, the teacher and I talked a little then he left me, returning to his home. He boasted then about the four beers he had and said as he left, “ Matthew, we are preparing for battle, we are prepared to fight!” Perhaps he was a former soldier. I would say though that his attitude reflects a growing number of young men around me.

The Torit day school resembles a bombed out collection of large outhouses.

Well, not exactly, but close. The area itself has about eight main buildings. Each has a nasty, gray color to the outside and all are very outdated. This contrasts to the extreme with the Torit Primary elementary School that is brand new, named after the late Sudanese leader John Garang and is beautifully constructed. How this happened? I would reply in Arabic “ Ana ma aruf?’ I have no idea. Sudan!

One of my prayers recently has been immersing myself into the Sudanese culture. Language, relationship building, and teaching. Africans and African educational leadership highly values the sciences. When I met with the Deputy Educational Leader of the Government of the South Sudan, James Amoko, I joked that my father was a science and biology teacher! And then I said, “ Yeah, he didn’t pass any of those science genes onto me though!” Mr. Amoko looked sternly, though not angrily at me, and stated bluntly…“ that is too bad, he should have!” End of discussion. Thankfully, the Lord has given me the chance to be persuasive and persistent in seeking that which He puts on my heart. God opened the doors into the school system amidst the initial refusal of two men. The Government of South Sudan Educational Deputy Minister, and then the Principal of the Torit School itself. Without the Lord’s help, those would be two pretty big no-no’s into working. When Phil had originally met with these men at first many weeks earlier their initial reactions were…not good toward a missionary/foreign teacher “infiltrating” their school systems. Especially, a teacher with no science background!

I love having my back against the wall. In the sit down discussions/interrogations with both men I was honest, forthright and truly trusting that Christ could remove any boundaries that laid in the hearts of these two important men. But yeah, I was sweating a little bit. I asked God to allow me to be a trailblazer for His work here in Torit. As AIM, we need inroads into the local community here of Torit. Teaching is the first step into the city really. Now, I have a job and base of work, acceptance, and relation to the community. I fill a tangible need and a respected position at that. We can continue to lift up and pray now for the salvation of the men within the school system. Mr. Perligreno as the Torit Head teacher has since been very welcoming to me and our relationship has blossomed. God, God, God all the way!

I of course am not certified in any science field. Yet, I had been praying much recently over becoming a more vital part of teaching. This meant looking into a science field for me. Biology is about plants and animals right, how hard can that be! So I borrowed a copy of the Sudanese Secondary Education Curriculum book and copied out the entire syllabus outline for years one and two. I then prayed about asking into teaching the field of Biology. I finished writing, reviewed everything related the Biology field, then walked into Mr. Perligreno’s office and approached him with the syllabus booklet. I offered to teach Biology! And thankfully, he accepted. A new challenge for the coming year.

The Torit staff is split in two sections. The teaching staff is half Arabic, meaning teachers from the Northern Sudan ( Khartoum ) and the other half is Sub-Saharan African instructors. The Sudanese curriculum is in shambles. There are NO books to be used by the students. And there may be two hundred or more students. The past few days after returning from Ikotos my entire task was to understand the Sudanese system of education by asking questions of the Deputy Headmaster and the staff. To my surprise, this only complicated the situation. No teacher is even sure of when the exams will show up. The staff of about thirty have/share maybe one textbook for the entire school!

Further confusing the situation is that the law requires an Arabic curriculum and English curriculum. So literally half of my teaching co-workers are Northern Arabic speaking, sent by the Northern government to instruct the Southern Black students in Arabic. Another motivation for me to immerse myself in the local Arabic. So there is an Arabic stream of students and an English speaking and learning stream of students. Learning Arabic now is a great value. I do believe that part of truly loving people in another culture is learning the language.

I have made this my goal to be done so completely, even to the point of walking around the town with my notepad and memory cards for using not just Arabic, but funny, Swahili as well. The rest of the Torit Day School teaching staff comes from Uganda, Kenya, and nearby areas of the South Sudan. Outreach is right in front of me now!

One of the difficulties that we have encountered to a degree here in the Sudan is developing a strong, outreach mindset with the Africa Inland Church leadership.

So much of the local AIC leaders are interested only in local church planting and missionary staffing at their local institutions. Adding to the problem I believe is the AIC concentration on their own people groups and local areas. Phil has felt this “pressure.” When the AIC leaders discovered that a new, young missionary teacher was coming into the Sudan their was an overwhelming sense of agreement, made without my consultation that I would be “placed” in Ikotos. The local AIC leaders were very, very much desiring the new, young missionary man ( me) to be in Ikotos. My opinions and heart felt leadings were not in the discussions. Phil courageously stated to the AIC Church leader of the Eastern Equitorea State of the Sudan that he couldn’t just demand and mandate that an AIM missionary go to a local place. But that God would call that person to the location that He willed. Many of the AIC South Sudan leadership staff were themselves former soldiers. The military mind set goes deep, even amongst the believers in the country. So a personal prayer request of mine has been the AIC Torit Church to see the VALUE of outreach. Not just church planting and local tribal school ties…. This needs to develop for true reconciliation.

After arriving back into Torit I immediately returned to the Torit day School. Phil and I met with Mr. Perligreno, the Headmaster and we clarified the nature of my work. We set up a contract agreement that he thankfully accepted without questions. Seeing faith in action amazes me!