Exploring the South and West - Part 2

Yambio (Yam-bee-oh)



Wow! The south of South Sudan is very lush this time of year.  We were impressed by all the fresh produce available in the market and we filled up on pineapple, bananas, cucumbers, and onions – what a treat!  Much of the produce is grown right there and in the Democratic Republic of Congo which is a close neighbor to the south.



We visited Yambio, the capital of the Western Equatoria State.  This town has electricity 24 hours a day – when the town has enough diesel fuel to run the generators.  There are many Zande people living in Yambio. Besides South Sudan, the Zande also live in the D.R. Congo and Central African Republic.

We were privileged to meet Pastor Sanango.  He is living in Yambio ministering to the Zande refugees from the DRCongo. He is fluent in four languages; French, Zande, Lingala, and Swahili and he apologized to us saying, “I am working on English.”  Well – I don’t think any apology is needed – do you? 

  I watched his little daughter/grand-daughter (we didn’t quite understand the relationship) for quite some time.  Her responsibility was to keep the chickens away from the food which was cooling. Her mother has a small business baking and selling cakes – I believe it was a sweet cornbread type cake.  She poured batter into a small, well-oiled pan and place it on the fire; then she put hot coals on top of the lid, a flat metal disk which fit on top of the pan.  After the cake was baked she popped it out of the pan, placing it on a plate to cool.  Of course all this was done near the ground, close to the fire, there was no table to use; so this little girl had a big job – to shoosh away the chickens and not let them take a beak-full of mom’s cakes.  She was very good at it too!

Here is the tukel (too-kul) we stayed in during our visit to Yambio.  It’s one square room, quite adequate for our needs, especially after we made a modification here and there.  We brought a mosquito net and a nylon cord along with us, so Jerry strung up the cord enabling us to hang the net and have a clothes line so that I could do some needed washing as well – see, all the comforts of home. 

"Pray for Pastor Sanango and others whom God is calling to minister to the Zande people and refugees from D. R. Congo. These refugees are dealing with long-term trauma issues after past conflict with the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army).  They have witnessed unspeakable horrors at the hand of the LRA. "

Pray that God’s children would gather around these and help them know of His love, mercy, forgiveness and peace.

Exploring the South and West - Part 1

This week we find ourselves in Western Equatoria State of South Sudan. This state is in the south and west part of the country.

We began this adventure on Monday and we are still on the road. The first day we almost turned around and headed back to Rumbek when we saw the condition of the road ahead.  It seemed pretty heavily flooded, yet we thought that perhaps it was just a small section.  Jerry locked the wheels into 4-wheel drive, put it in low gear and started out.

We always start each journey with prayer before we head out; and each day of the journey is covered in prayer as well.  Well, I can tell you that as we began down this road we were really following the verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 which says to “pray continually”, and also pray fervently!  We were almost stuck at one point.

We had stopped and looked at the road ahead trying to decide which path would be best through a particularly bad part; Jerry followed Debbie’s suggestion which was a mistake.  Jerry had to rock the vehicle back and forth to get us out, but by God’s mercy we made it out. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. If we had gotten stuck there it would have been at least a 10 mile walk out and honestly I don’t even want to think of what we could have done to get the car out, I can’t even imagine it. We certainly experience God’s grace, protection and provision on these trips.

Here are some friends who came up from Yei and met us in Maridi, Pastor Mullai and Charles.  There is a plan to plant a church here. Charles will finish his studies in August, move up and begin the effort. Maridi is actually his hometown and it is his desire to come back and bring the Gospel message to his own people.





There will be more to come as we continue this particular adventure so stay tuned.

Pray for Pastor Mullai as he works with E3 partners to train leaders and send them out with the gospel message.

Pray for Charles as he finishes his studies and begins a church planting effort in Maridi, South Sudan.

Pray for us as our journey continues.

Research Trip

While we have spent time in Rumbek reestablishing, to some extent, the Baptist Mission presence; our main reason for being in South Sudan is to do research.  The goal of this research is to evaluate the extent of the spread of the gospel message among the people of South Sudan – if you will – to see how many waffle holes have no syrup – and how we can fill those holes with syrup!  In order to do this, we have to move around to different areas of South Sudan. 
One recent trip we made ended up being somewhat of a false start.



We planned a two-three day trip south and west.  Our first day out saw us travelling down a wonderful road – if only every road in S. Sudan could be as good as this one! With the landscape green and lush and the road smooth, we were anticipating a wonderful trip.  We broke up our journey often stopping at villages along the way to ask questions about languages spoken and church availability, progressing straight south; there were no intersecting roads.  After driving some three hours south we were nearing our first trading center type town; here we would turn west and continue on to larger towns, but first we would have to cross a bridge.

Well, imagine our surprise when 500 ft. before the bridge we come upon a sign which says “Road Closed”.  We pull over to the side and walk up the road to the bridge where a man is hammering away at some old cement with a sledge hammer and another is replacing rebar.  We look at each other and sigh, both thinking the same thought, why didn’t they put a sign three hours back up the road to let people know. As this is the main bridge on this road and there are no intersecting roads to detour our western minds said – tell us earlier!!

We asked about going around, an alternate route, but there was no other way – unless of course we adopt the man’s plan in the picture to the right.  He slung his bicycle over his shoulder and forded the river – we weren’t willing to try it!

As we got back into the car the sky opened up to a deluge of rain – oh boy!  I have neglected to mention that during the last hour’s journey the road had deteriorated drastically with large potholes a foot or more deep spanning almost the entire width of the road. We looked at each other with a grimace – a few years ago we might have seen this as a fabulous 4-wheeling opportunity – ah well – there was nothing for it, we had to start back, if we stayed where we were we would be stuck there overnight, if not literally STUCK there!

What a wonderful way to spend our 30th anniversary – I truly mean it – in God’s will, doing His work.

Food

Food is defining in culture.  Even in melting pot of the U.S., many times we see food through the eyes of culture -- Clam chowder - North Eastern states,  fried chicken - Southern states,  BBQ - Western States -- while these are not hard line divisions, still we can associate certain foods with culture varience. 

There is a food in Africa that is far reaching, the boiled cornmeal that is eaten in many countries, while referred to by different names, according the culture, crosses cultural lines and is common in most of Sub-Saharan Africa.

A food that was new to us, our South Sudanese friends referred to as paper food, or paper bread.  We could not conceive what that could be.  We knew it had to be a descriptive name and tried to visualize it, but had great difficulty, until we saw it being prepared -- OF COURSE -- Paper Food!  Resembling a crepe, yet not -- a bit like the fermented bread-type food Ethiopians eat, except it isn't fermented. The batter is thin and runny. As you can see from the pictures they are cooked quickly over a hot fire on a large piece of flat metal. It is then picked up, set to cool and folded over, almost like a napkin.  As with many breads it is without much flavor but they use it to help eat rice and sauces with their hands as silverware is not used.  The boiled cornmeal is also eaten with the hands and into flavorful sauces, but paper food, I think it used especially when rice is served -- if you've ever tried to eat rice with your fingers you will appreciate why!

This young lady is cutting up goat stomach. The internal organs of animals, in this case goat, is seen as a delicacy. The liver, heart, and even the stomach and intestines are cleaned, cut up and cooked to be served to the very special guests. By the way, the bowls containing the intestinal meat and organs was the first to be emptied during the celebration meal - a very popular dish!

Of course cooking happens in the open over a fire. There are no stoves, gas or electric. The smokes adds an additonal something so that when I cook this food on a stove or cooker the flavor is not quite the same, it lacks that fire smokiness of traditional African food.

Food is essential to life.  However there is great food insecurity in South Sudan.  Even though the rain is falling, many people, displaced due to clan fighting and the ongoing security issues farther north, will not plant this year; and many, due to the lack of food, are eating their seed grain now instead planting.  Pray for the people of South Sudan and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa that they would find enough to eat.  Pray that we all would be grateful for the abundance that God has provided for us and be sensitive to the needs of the hungry around us.