It has been hot and that's a fact! We thought the days were hot when we first came -- and indeed they were -- but that was just a taste of what was to come. The other night it was a balmy 94*F as we went to bed and it cooled off to 85*F right before sunrise. This is our favorite time of the day, 5:30 a.m. before the sky lightens, before the day begins in full; while the calm air is the coolest it will be until the next day at 5:30 a.m.
I'll be the first to admit it, we are wimps! Yet, God knows what each of us can handle. He provides for us so many things to help us survive this heat, so many things that the South Sudanese people go without. He's given us water right at our finger tips (we don't have to haul it any more from the well), a shower from which the water pours freely (which we stand under often when it is 110*+ at mid day), a refrigerator/freezer (out of which we extract frozen water bottles to suck on during the day), and a rechargeable fan (which God dropped in our laps the day before we left Nairobi).
Well, it is amazing, I was remarking just this morning how the trees and the ground seemed to cry out for water under the scorching mid-day sun; how the very air fairly crackled as it blew harsh hot breezes through them; how the earth itself seemed almost at a crecendo of dryness and a breaking point for rain... then it happened... the first drops of rain fell in Rumbek. It was glorious! The birds who had been silent for wont of water started singing, you could almost hear the ground soaking in the welcome refreshment and relief; the air was filled with that wonderful scent of moist earth. It wasn't much and it didn't last long. It doesn't mean that the rains have fully begun; it was probably just a bit of respite to help us hang on a bit longer until the rains do come in their course, but it was glorious! The temperature cooled by at least 10* and it was quite comforable sleeping last night. Now the sky is clear and the sun is rising, it will probably be another hot one ... but yesterday... it rained!
Pray for the people of South Sudan -- Psalm 63:1 says, "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Pray that even as they look heavenward for signs of rain clouds forming their hearts would look to the One who provides rain to the earth and rest for the soul.