Back in Torit, Sudan--Apr.8-08

Upon arriving back into Torit I immediately left for the local hospital, not for myself, but rather to “see” the work being conducted by a visiting eye clinic team that came up from Uganda and stayed at our AIM compound for the week. So the week has already been full.

The local secondary school is still not in session…for many reasons. One is that the school system is in chaos, but we’ve covered this in previous writings haven’t we? The other reason school was closed was due to a national census that the government had spent months training hundreds/thousands of employees for the sole purpose of registering the entire South Sudan.

And now, as of today, the national census has been cancelled indefinitely. Ouch. Rumblings are starting again. The South saying the North is behind the stoppage, the North blaming the South. The Northern government registering and claiming the entire nation as either M. or animist, no Christians apparently! The Southerners are expressing anger at the North. So where do we go from here? This may become international news soon. For all the wrong reasons unfortunately. Let us continue to pray for this obviously fragile peace.

Torit itself continues to build at a rapid rate, we have another cell phone tower!
And this weekend ALL, the AIM South Sudan workers will be congregating at our Torit compound for our yearly retreat. Beginning Tuesday, the 15th of April ( Taxes! ) fellow missionaries will be arriving by land and place to stay with us here in Torit. It will be a crazy and filled week indeed….what a life.

Please write when you are able. Some of you have been giving and praying and blessing me behind the scenes in unbelievable ways. What fantastic confidence you have in His work here…may I burn into the work here. No matter what is before me, thanks so much.
A few, short prayer items if you will….
For continuing outreach in the community of Torit…I am praying for relationships with Jesus to develop with many of the Arab men and teachers I work with daily in & outside of school.

A healing body and specifically lower back….yes. How much fun I know.
But to have a developing injury in a area when ALL my transport is based on carrying and lifting and walking…makes a tender injury slightly concerning. Love total healing and relief and I know He can do this…

The month of May will see many fellow friends and co-workers leaving the Sudan and specifically Torit. Phil and Linda Byler, will be leaving for a four month furlough back to Pennsylvania. Kelly Miller will be leaving Torit this month for a "permanent" return to Virginia and several other fellow South Sudan colleagues will be returning to Canada or the States. Always in transition…..

Love, Lovelace

April in Uganda 4-08

On the 8th of April I returned from a lengthy stay in Uganda. Since landing back on the Africa soil in October I had yet to take any break from the ministries and work… Sometimes I become so absorbed in my present ministries that leaving is an after thought. I left Torit before the Easter weekend for a short “time out” and traveled by road through the South Sudan country spending one evening in Gulu, Uganda. This was my first encounter with the area of Northern Uganda which had until recently been engulfed in civil war. A war lead by the Lord’s Resistance Army and armed by child soldiers stolen from the Northern Acholi Ugandan tribes. Gulu, Uganda is now a prospering, developing East African town, comparable to any place in Kenya or Uganda. Sorry, but the Sudan isn’t quite there yet. When Torit has a gas station with apples and Diet Coke, then we’ve arrived! After an evening in Gulu, I hitched a ride on a large bus at around four thirty a.m. and arrived the same day into the heart of bustling Kampala town.

Thankfully, the time away from the Sudan in Uganda was refreshing and of course busy. I have earned the nickname “ Motor” from my beloved Aim colleagues at the Kampala, Uganda Central region offices. Never slowing down. So true. Absorbing and treasuring the time in Africa, whether Sudan, or Uganda, or Kenya makes my life blessed. How I desire to share this time with all of you. I have become close friends with another AIM’er named Gene Tan who works in AIDS research at a well-established Kampala, Uganda health clinic named MildMay. Together Gene and I shared a flat in Kampala alongside other AIM co-workers

The few weeks in Kampala were filled with various activities. Had the opportunity to volunteer at a local street children’s shelter named Dwelling Places. Gene and I were even able to take a few of these young men out to a movie…“ The Spiderwick Chronicles?” Does that ring any bells…anyway. The boys loved it. I also found new ways, even in a foreign city, to integrate into the very large, and visible, M. community. During one day a local M. Sheik took me to his Arab/M. training school located outside the Kampala area. I then spent an afternoon at the Mosque as a “guest” and visited his extended family and home. Hopefully, as time goes I will have further opportunities to reach into the M. community that is very open, and populous in the capitol of Uganda.

A Time of serving

This past Saturday evening, before a lesson, one of the men who I have befriended explained that he would need to leave to tend to his neighbor. I nodded. Then I became curious as to what was really happening next door. I left his hut, walked next door, and saw one of the young men who had been attending the classes writhing in pain and agony on his sweat drenched old mat. He had contracted what seemed to be a severe case of malaria and was being tormented by pain and discomfort. As I watched, my Arab friend began feeding and tending to this man. Here was a humble example of a man, who prays day and night to a god who cannot hear, serving and loving one in desperate need as Jesus commanded me. I decided to help. Through the early evening we both took turns feeding and giving water to this young man. As my friend went for evening prayers I stayed with K. and his wife, praying over him and sprinkling his body with water.

These men desire to be purified from their sin but we know that only Christ can offer eternal cleansing. After writing to this point I returned to this man’s household yesterday to discover a mourning service in his memory. K. had passed away the evening after I was with him, leaving a young wife and one year old son. We have NO promise of tomorrow here.

Jer. 12:5 Feb. 2008

Jeremiah 12:5 “If you have raced with men on foot and grown tired how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in a safe country how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?”

Scripture doesn’t always encourage me the way my heart believes it must. Jeremiah was disturbed at the injustice he witnessed in the world around him. He brought his concerns before the Lord, and the Lord responded with the above words. Do these comfort a wounded and weary heart? Will they bring strength to me? Or you? Still, they must for God is good, all the time. Every life experience prepares a believer for what the Lord has for him… walking in faith is indeed life’s most challenging work.

Honestly, at times seeing the surrounding misery makes me long for the strength to work harder… and other times to crawl into a hole and watch Super Bowl re-runs and eat frozen yogurt. No frozen yogurt in the Sudan yet. Mmm, what I wouldn’t do for some frozen coffee flavored Yoplait.

Lately, the wind and dust have picked up considerably here in the Torit area. Wind is blowing through the streets like an old western movie, complete with swirling dirt and at times, the banging of a saloon door.
Seriously, my Harley Davidson boots and lengthening hair are adding to my developing cowboy persona with the local people.

Beside the sudden change in the weather, the past two months have seen other changes in my ministry work. I have become more and more ingrained into the social life here in Torit. With these friendships have come new opportunities for witnessing and ministry. Recently, several Arabic men approached me in the market and asked if I would be willing to teach them the English language. As I have been praying for open doors into this unreached and Arabic community I readily accepted. Will you remember this in your prayers: that the Lord would stir in the hearts and dreams of these Arabic men who may have never heard the Good News.

Almost daily I venture into the Arab section of the Torit city, meeting with the tradesmen, speaking Arabic and learning about their life and culture. The North African people are uniquely mystifying to me. Embracing and tender toward me, yet rigid and harsh in their own beliefs. Much of this of course directly ties to their suffocating religious convictions. Slowly, God is bringing in His light.

KENYAN B. Study 2/08 -- Excerpts from letter to LCS

The Bible study with our Kenyan neighbors meets in our yard every Tuesday and Friday night. Thanks for your concern and questions about the Bible study. We just had another bible study last night under the stars. We have spent many weeks reading through the book of Daniel. Fires, lions, hands writing mysteriously on the wall, miracles, dreams, Angelic deliverance and stories of very dedicated and faithful soldiers for Christ! What incredible reading Daniel is! We have really grown from reading the true tales of men pushed to the limit by their faith and have seen firsthand our Father’s deliverance. Just last night we reviewed the first three chapters of Daniel and had a time of singing (songs in Kiswahili, not English) then concluded with prayer. These men and the Bible study has meant a great deal for my own spiritual growth.

This Bible study is made up of many Kenya (African ) men who have traveled into the Sudan as hired, foreign laborers and construction workers. Kenya is the country I spent two years living in and teaching before the Sudan. Kenya is located just south of the Sudan. Here in Torit there are many Kenyan men and women working or looking for work. These particular men live in an adjacent compound next to our compound. Will you pray for men such as….ready for some more names? Raphael, Julius, Daniel, and Joseph. Many more men attend the Bible study however, these men help guide and lead. Our study would not be possible without their steadfast work and dedication. Their faith is stronger than mine. Very difficult lives these faithful men have. So far from home and family, displaced in a foreign, neighboring country, living in tin shacks and sleeping on old, dirty mattresses but still praying and singing glory to the Lord out of thanksgiving, not obligation!

TEACHING IN TORIT 2/08 Excerpts from letter to LCS Students

Where can I start? Many of you asked about the weather…it’s hot. The average temperature is between 90 degrees and often even 100. It is not humid here but it’s very dry, almost desert like scorching, windy heat. The past week I have been sleeping outside our compound in a tent as it is far more cool in the open air overnight. Here in the town of Torit, many…if not most, of the Sudanese people live in open air houses made out of mud and bricks so that the air and wind can cool them during the evening hours. This is the dry season so rain has been scarce. That is one of the differences in African climate; Rain is seasonal and of course, no snow. Which I do not miss, sorry guys! I heard how cold it has been in Lincoln. Maybe you can send some ice and snow in the next mail package.

I love teaching. Working within the South Sudan school system so far has been a very hit and miss process. I taught for three weeks, then the students had two weeks for the Sudan examinations. So my job was to proctor, or observe, the students to make sure they were diligently finishing their tests without cheating. The classrooms are dirty as wooden desks litter the rooms, and the windows are old and damaged. In every room are chalkboards; Ancient relics from years ago that create dust storms every time they are used. This Torit high school has yet to be rebuilt after the long civil war that destroyed the region.

The new school year began exactly one day after the end of the year! So on the 15th of February all teachers were reporting back to begin duties. Biology and English are now two subjects that I have been able to teach to the high school students here at the Torit Secondary School. The students do not have access to all the reading materials and textbooks that we do in America. No Encyclopedia Britannica’s, dictionaries or almanacs. The Sudanese teachers themselves use very old, and dusty hand-me-down instruction books and small hand size notebooks. Since the Sudan is rebuilding after many years of civil war the new government of the South Sudan is re-writing new curriculum textbooks for science, math, chemistry and history. Unfortunately, at the beginning of a new school year here the new textbooks are not yet even finished and have not been distributed to the Sudanese schools. So, you can see how chaotic and crazy is this school system. It is very unpredictable.

At the Torit Secondary School classes begin at eight in the morning and last until almost three o’ clock in the afternoon. Every day, at ten-thirty in the morning, the teachers eat a large meal together. This meal is called “ Fatur” which is Arabic for breakfast. Every day, twice a day, the cooks serve a very sugary drink called Shay. This is a sweetened tea. Most Sudanese eat only at ten-thirty in the morning and then again at four in the afternoon. These meals are almost always rice, beans, lentils or thick bread. These eating times are so different from our schedule in America!

My co-teachers are also very different! I am the only American on a staff of almost thirty teachers. Every other teacher is from Africa; Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan and North Sudan. Several of the North Sudan Arabic teachers are polite gentlemen who moved from the very large Sudan city called Khartoum. Khartoum is the capital of all of Sudan but is located hundreds of miles north from Torit. So these Arabic, men have traveled far, far from their homes.

January Conference in Kampala

The conference in Uganda in January, was great fun. Expecially the time in the evenings with the other young missionaries (mostly young ladies.) We played Uno until 11pm a few nights and ate well. It is certainly an emotional time for me when I go from such a time of social engagement and then leave those people. Perhaps this is part of the sacrifice that Christ want me to make.

At the conference I laughed so hard that tears were streaming down my face. Can't remember precisely what the tears of joy were for; laughing at a stupid joke I made I'm sure. Most of my jokes are stupid. As God is the creator of our hearts, He surely desired us to express laughter and merriment as often as possible. We are created in His image, we laugh, sometimes so hard
we stream tears; therefore I believe Jesus also must have used humor to express love and truth.
Tell me your picture of Christ. Is it wrong to think of Jesus doubling over with a side ache as a result of laughing over many funny jokes with the disciples. I feel both images (Jesus on the Cross and Jesus laughing) are true of our Lord; great sacrifice and great humanity.
Does God laugh?

"Tears of joy will stream down their faces and I will lead them home with great care!"
Jeremiah 31:9

The time in Kampala, was a gift. The fellowship with other AIM believers
from eastern and central Africa was a great encouragement.
Our speaker spent three days teaching on the theme
of unity. He emphasized the crucial role all Christians are called to perform in loving other followers of Christ. And this unity starts with your own family, and then extends to your fellow missionary partners. The scripture came from the book of John (chapters 17-19).
A highlight for me was reading John 17:20-23, "My prayer for all of them is that they are one." Unity. Jesus fervently prayed for each one of us to demonstrate our love by living in harmony with our fellow missionaries on the field and in the workplace.

Thankfully, the Lord was crucified and resurrected in order that we can be cleansed from all
unrighteousness.

Upon my return to Torit I began my usual journey through the marketplace. Torit is a stream of shops strung together with a few open and large city streets. As I walked through one of the main strips, near where many young Sudanese boys hang out with their motor bikes,
I noticed a fairly large crowd. Now, I was curious. I meandered through to the side of the hardware shop and witnessed some very hard core pornography. Shocked at the movie being shown...in public!! I let the operator of the video (& the local Dinka store owner) have it. Not sure what the Swahili word for #$!@ but my pronounciation wasn't too far off.
What should I have done?
What would Christ have done? I believe he would have also angrily lectured the owner.
Perhaps He would have done more? Jesus was exposed to sin .. but never corupted. Never.

I love the smell of smoke even though I don't smoke. But smoke, and crowded pool halls draw me in. So yes, I played my first pool game since arriving back into Africa. It was located in one
of the make shift bars that are popping up through out Torit. As you might guess, the pool
table was ripped up and lopsided. And I was easily defeated by my experienced Sudanese opponent. Better luck to me next time huh?

I have a weight room. Hugh, life altering news I know. But it's finally assembled. Tree pulley
system, cement and re-bar barbells and water jugs, a bench and now even professionally made dumbbells. I can now fully commence with my favorite hobby. Far better than the rocks I used while in Uganda. The shredded fingers prove that.