Loriann in Sudan

Camping in the vacant market center in Wa

 Day 2: We woke up early and cooked Sudanese porridge, washed dishes in the creek, and waited as the entire village gathered under a tree to hear the message that we brought with us.  Eli, Yohan, and I shared with the group that gathered under the shade.  I got good practice on Ganza as I shared the message of God who made all, the one who sees and knows and loves them, who is above all and more powerful than any other god, who is different and greater than all things.  The chiefs and others shared their concerns for water and education and their desire for us to return and share more of these words. 

• On a personal note, I’m not sure I’ve ever felt more overwhelmed in my life on a cultural, physical, and spiritual level.  Culturally I felt the pressure of what it would say about me as a woman if our second round of cooking in the bush turned out like our half cooked beans the night before.  In this culture, the visitors are served first, then the men, then the women and the children.  We didn’t have enough plates for everyone, so Kristin and I served food and then waited for the men to finish, wash their plates and then serve the next people.  On a physical level, I was rather hungry and felt anxious about the long day of hiking ahead of us and looked at the pot of dwindling food, saw more visitors gathering, and wondered if I was going to get to curb my hunger with what was left.  For the first time in my life I had a hint of what it must be like to worry about if I would have food to eat.  Such a base need that I’ve never really felt stressed about.  It was good to catch a tiny bit of understanding for the stress that is a daily experience for many of the people here. 
• Above all, an ENTIRE VILLAGE was gathering to hear what we had to say, and I was responsible for sharing with them in Ganza.  Would they understand me?  Would the words we prepare enough?  With a whole village eagerly waiting, should I have prepared a longer message?  I was shaking a little and could have used a moment away to just cry, but instead I got up and shared what we came to share.  Thank the Lord for such a responsive audience.  They smiled and laughed when I shared about how we are all from the same father and mother that we have different skin but still bleed when we are cut and have pain when we give birth.  They were very responsive and seemed to understand our words.  They seemed genuinely eager for us to return and share more.    

Immediately following the discussion we packed up the donkey and headed off to our next stop.  We stopped along the way to pray together, have a lunch of biscuits and cakes, and give the donkey a rest before heading off again. 

When we arrived in Wa, we were thrilled to hear that there was a water source.  See my post on “water in wa” for more details.  Upon returning to camp after getting water, Eli directed our attention toward the chicken waiting for us to prepare.  One friendly man gave us a chicken as a welcoming gift and before Eli could explain that he’d like to check with Kristin and me to see if we were up for cooking a chicken, the chicken was killed and waiting for us to pluck it!  It was fantastic!  I was so thankful for the times I had cooked chicken with Victoria, our Nigerian colleague back in Yabus.  Yakub, one of our Sudanese travelers helped a lot, and it turned out to be a great dinner.

We “showered” in the moonlight and Kristin said, “It’s incredible how incredible that grass shower at Yabus seems.”