Hi everyone! Stacie here. Or, Yar as I am known here. I still can’t believe I am writing you from Sudan, Africa. I had one of those “I am in Africa right now” moments earlier in the day. I’ll get to that in a minute. For starters, I’ll let you know what we did. Because our first two days in Tonj were so hectic and because the next few days will be also, we did not do Kids Games today. Today we just worked in the compound. Breakfast was at 8:00. We had these yummy donut thingys. I can’t remember their name. Then, at 8:30, we had devotions with the compound staff. Sheena led devotions today. She gave her testimony and shared Proverbs 3:5,6. She did a great job.
After devotions, most of us went off to the pharmacy. We did an inventory of all the medications and supplies they have. It was a big project and it took a long time. We worked from 9:30 to 2:00 and still weren’t done. Matt and Todd taught the pastors. Today they discussed relationships with wives. Their culture is very different. How do you tell these men to love their wive(s) when they didn’t marry for love? Its strictly a business transaction. So Matt said, you need to love them like Christ loves the church. Someone asked, when I show love to one of my wives, the others get mad, what do I do? Matt couldn’t say, “you should only have one wife, divorce the others.” We can’t encourage them to abandon their wives and kids. So, he focused on teaching them to instruct the next generation to only having one wife. The cultural differences are huge, to say the least.
At 2:00, we had lunch, which was PB & J sandwiches. After lunch we went back to the pharmacy to keep working. A little later, the time came to begin dinner preparations. In this case, dinner was a goat. Sheena volunteered to kill it… and she did. While we don’t think it’s wrong, Amy and I did not want to hear it, see it or meet the goat before it died. We waited in the pharmacy while the deed was done. A little while later, a few of the pastors taught us to sing a Dinka song. It was really fun to learn it and sing it with them. I wrote it down phonetically so I could sing it, but I’m sure it looks nothing like the real words. Our goal is to sing it at RdR…. We’ll see….!
After that, the pastors began dancing. This is when I had one of my “I’m really in Africa” moments. It was exactly what I would expect tribal dancing to be: singing, stomping feet, kicking up dirt, sticks and jumping around. After a bit, some of the guys jumped in and then Sheena! I stuck to dancing with the kids on the sidelines. Everyone laughed when they danced. It seems everything we do is funny to them! The dancing went on for a while. Then once it was over, we stayed and talked with them for a bit. Here is how a lot of my conversations went: Are you married? No. Why? God hasn’t brought me my husband yet. If you were in Sudan, you would be married, God will bring you your husband in Sudan. At this point I laughed nervously. Then one guy said, do you agree to get married in Sudan? I said, no I have to get married at home. It was really funny. Some guys asked how many cows it would take to marry Sheena!
For dinner we had an African meal: goat, kale type stuff, beans and tortilla thingys. All my thingys have a name, but I just can’t recall them. For my friends and family, yes I tried everything! So, that’s a wrap up of today. This trip has been amazing, overwhelming, filled with joy, filled with tears. There is too much to write about here (plus I am out of room!). Words cannot express how much strength God has given me. I have been stretched in so many ways. It is awesome to be here, relying on Him to get me through the day. My favorite thing I have done so far was washing the hands of the kids at Kids Games. They put their handprints on a banner with paint and I got to clean them off. It was a special time to connect and serve the kids, praying for them while I did so. I can’t wait to get home and tell you all about the things we have done, all I have experienced, and how God is working in our lives and the lives of the people in Sudan.

 Okay so Matt is having us all take turns writing on the blog. We are supposed to share what happened today and anything God has been revealing to us. I don’t really know where to start but I guess the best way to start is by saying….WOW.
So far this trip has made a HUGE impact on me. I have been seeing and experiencing things I never thought were real. I just figured places where people lived like this was only on TV or in Ads when they want you to donate money to someone or something (you know “dramatically enhanced”)! My mornings have been spent in the Medical Clinic. And let me tell ya what….it is such a different experience than working medically in the states. Today A kid came in maybe about 8 years old. He was bashed in the head with a rock. The doctor (Jean Paul) and I had to suture the wound because the wound was so deep. Once we cleaned it all the way we could see the child’s skull. Now in the states this is not a fun experience but it can be over and done with within an hour with the child feeling little pain. Here, however, that is not the case. This child had to go through the cleaning and the suturing with very little pain relief (he basically felt it all). Then the real danger comes in with infection….the injury occurred the night before he came to us so the wound went untreated for many hours exposed to many different things. So now we are giving him daily injections of anti-biotics in hopes of him not getting an infection. This is just one of the stories I have about the differences in medical care. It is amazing to me the resilience these people show. God is doing so much in the clinic here….it is absolutely mind blowing. Each person that comes in, as we give them care we are praying for them.
Moving on to the afternoon. We put on Kids Games for the children in different villages. Today we ministered to about 237 Sudanese people and when we arrived we were welcomed in song which is always so special. They play hand-made instruments as they sing and harmonize praise to God in the most touching way. It was so amazing. I believe around 15 of them received God’s gift of salvation! There are four teams organized by color. Red, White, Green and Yellow. White Team won the nationally done Water Bucket Game with ¼ cup of water and the Green Team won the potato sac relay! It has been so amazing watching the kids and adults eyes light up when hearing the gospel!
We all have been working very hard on our Dinka language and the people here have been having fun teaching (mostly laughing) us. To share with you some of the things God has been showing me on this trip: that even when you can’t communicate with someone you can still show God’s love in such a mighty way and touch others, we take our “easy-access” to God’s word for granted, even when I am feeling most defeated (physically and emotionally) and can’t go on anymore – God always gives me the strength I need to keep going, that you can learn how to love God by watching others give their praise and worship in their way, and so many more things. It is hard to put into words all the things God has shown me and all that He is doing here. But know your continual prayers are working and we are so appreciative of them. Thanks you so much!
Goodnight from Sudan!