Mission Trips, Rancho Del Rey Church, Teams

Alicia’s Blog

“Yom” here (that’s “Alicia” to the rest of you back home!).  I was 
told that my Dinka name means “cow with brown spots,” especially 
“spots around the face.” OK, so my Irish heritage is CLEARLY coming 
through here, folks!! Can’t get past those freckles!! So… How do I 
even begin to describe what we’ve experienced here so far? It’s just 
downright amazing. I now understand why so many of our Rancho del Rey friends were unable to fully describe what it was like here in Tonj. 
So… I guess I will make my attempt!! LOL! In a nutshell, the trip 
has already gone beyond my expectations. I could go home tomorrow and feel satisfied (but I’m so glad we have 9 more days)!

First, the welcome at the airport. Unbelievable! I was fighting away 
tears as so many ministry workers and community residents were 
standing at the airfield with expressions of pure joy and glee on 
their face at our arrival. I immediately felt loved and wanted here. 
That was huge!

Evidently it is much greener now than in February, because Sheena, 
Stacie, Mike and Amy were just in awe of the flowers, grass and 
bushes everywhere! I have to admit that it was much more beautiful 
that I’d imagined. Picture gorgeous purple flowers just popping up 
around the buildings; delicate butterflies buzzing through the 
bushes… all against the wide African sky and soft green grasses. 
Just picturesque.

God’s timing has been so evident already in our time here. First, 
because we arrived on a Friday afternoon, we had today (and will have tomorrow) to get acclimated to life here in Tonj and our daily responsibilities. For example, today Sheena, Stacie, Tiffany and I spent the morning shadowing John Paul (the clinic officer) in the clinic. We got our first tutorials in wound care and in treating malaria patients. I got to do my first injection (into an IV bag that was exciting enough for me right now!) and Sheena was awesome in giving a huge shot in the rear to this poor little boy suffering from 
malaria. We’ve also been promised to be woken up if a mom comes in during labor. I and the rest of the girls are also excited to be working with John Paul in doing prenatal care on the moms that come in. What an amazing privilege! Monday is supposed to be one of the busiest days in the clinic (and of course our first “official” day on the job!) so please especially pray for us that day! Tim and Mike also start their teaching in the pastors’ discipleship center that day too… so pray for them as well! Which brings me to the men… they spent the day working on the electricity in the training center, and in trying to fix the solar panels. Lots of guy labor stuff. 🙂

This afternoon was amazing. After taking us on a tour of the town, Sabet and Suzy took us over the bridge, past the cattle camp and outside the city to the area where they are going to start building their house! It was just a crazy place–TALL, tall, tall grasses everywhere on a flat plain. It looked very African! So once we drove off the side of the main road (which is Tonj really isn’t a main road!) we literally drove through 5 foot tall grass for like 15 minutes on this barely discernable path to where they would be building. All I could think as we’re driving along is “oh my gosh… I can’t believe how many snakes must be out there in that grass!!!” And then… they stopped the car and were like, “oh, let’s get out and look around!!!” AAAHHH!!! (Cameron, I was really counting on your daily “please don’t let mommy see any snakes in Africa” prayer at 
that moment!!!) At first I hesitated and sat in the truck like an idiot. But then everyone was walking around and I was seeing some really sweet picture opportunities… so I decided to “get out of the boat” so to speak and go for it. Well, the moral of the story is that none of us saw any snakes, and we had some totally cool moments out there, just standing in this unspoiled, picturesque area of Sudan. We got some great pictures of our team… some funny pics of Tim and Mike (you have to wait till we get home for those!) and just had this amazing time.

My motto for life lately has been, “When else am I going to be able to… (fill in the blank)”. And boy, I’ve been able to put that into practice here! So far I’ve used that line to justify getting kissed on the lips by a giraffe, sleeping with frogs, lizards and spiders in our room, and now walking out into tall African grass. I know that there is more (and there will be more!) coming this week… and that’s exciting to me! Life is meant to be lived!

Well, I better sign off for now (it’s my turn for the shower)! Oh one more thing. We got to experience our first African thunderstorm tonight! Probably 1 hour after returning from our trip around Tonj, it started raining! So while we were enjoying a fabulous dinner of lentil burritos, we watched the lighting flash in the distance and heard the rain on the tin roofs. Then, as dinner was dying down, so did the storm!! That was a cool God thing! Anyway… we so appreciate your prayers and your love. We can’t wait to get back home and share 
with you all that God is doing here in Sudan!

Medical Clinic, Uncategorized

A Day in the Clinic!

Every day starts with unpredictable number of patients more worrying the overwhelming emergencies. In a country where gender equality is still a concealed vocabulary under search and research, women bear the plight the faults of the war. At In deed and truth ministries we try to provide not just treatment but care. May be one might ask, what are the issues that face the women (and obviously children) that make southern Sudan unique? Here is an example.

 

On this Tuesday morning, as a routine we pray to God to bless our works of the day especially in the clinic for the unpredictable emergencies. At around 2 pm, after attending to over 80 patients, majority being children hardly accompanied by their fathers or male relatives, I stand from my seat with a breath of sigh ready to check what the table has for lunch. Immediately I hit the door, my attention is engulfed by a multitude of people carrying a sick  patient. As we support the patient to the bed, the history we are given is about drug poisoning due to a domestic quarrel with a co-wife and since women are seen inferior and obviously denied their freedom of expression, the sick woman aged about 20, decides to sought attention by taking her own prescription-the devils prescription-hair dye, which she drunk generously. What a pity for the lady as she groan and roll in agony. Thank God that her medical condition is manageable but what about her social problem? That’s the care I mentioned earlier- counseling and follow-up.

 

This being one of the many daily issues affecting women and obviously children in this region, it even speaks for itself clearly when the husband, a ‘big’ man in the army visits her at hospital about 2 hours later. Astonishment is what I try to hide from my face when am told he has over 30 wives most of which were the many caretakers who brought the lady to hospital. One of the translators appears in haste and reports to me that there’s a child at the waiting bay with bizarre behavior. Am immediately interrupted and order for the child to be brought in.

 

Another emergency! A 3 years old boy who went from home to unknown place to play and came back with drooling of saliva, anxiety behaviors and excessive sweating. The accompanying mother does not know where and whom the child was playing with. Neither does she have an idea of what the child might have swallowed. On examination I realize it is organophosphate poisoning (characterized by increased body secretions, progressive dehydration and shock). The child is in shock. Thank God who made our resuscitation and treatment successful for both the coincidental poisoning cases .

 

In Southern Sudan, women face a daunting task to provide for their children and husbands independently. Their frustrations to put a hot plate on the table everyday keeps them away from their children posing a danger to the young ones. Despite their hard work, they meet frosty treatment us limited freedom of expression. They therefore seek other options to get attention such as hysteria and worse of all suicidal attempts. It will take many years of indefatigable support for the lives of the two parties (children and women)  to improve.

Pastor Training

Pastor’s Training

We are so happy to report that we have had a fantastic first 2 weeks of the second 8 week term of the IDAT Discipleship Training Center.  The pastors who returned came back with a zeal in their hearts to learn the Word of God.  We started teaching Old Testament Survey this term and being they do not have the Old Testament in their Dinka language we thought that it might be a real challenge.  However, we are realizing that God is giving them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.   As we finished the study of Genesis on Friday, we looked into the Book of Galatians and related those scriptures to the Genesis ones we just studied so they would understand the “symbolic two covenants” (Galatians 3) and who the SEED was referring to in the Abrahamic Covenant  where God promised him that through his SEED all nations would be blessed (Galatians 4).   We literally saw the eyes of their understanding being enlightened.   By Joe and Nancy Losee
Mission Trips

Arrival!

Departure has been one of the most heart breaking endeavors I’ve had to endure so far. Many have whimpered and even came to the point of tears at the thought of leaving the ground; abandoning the safety and security of their own automobiles; call it the fear of flying if you will. Many loathe the absence of their American culture; the hard-pressed inner turmoil of leaving the familiarities of what many have established as their home. This, however, was not my trial; nor did the burden of the abandonment of what I called my hometown belong to me. The date was July 16th 2009 and this was my dilemma: the leaving behind of the people whom I loved. 

Nevertheless, the call was imperative and my hope was enduring, in light of the promised scripture fulfillment of Christ found at the end of the Great Commission: “..and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”(Matthew 28:20) Fast forward one and a half days; passed the numerous extended flights, single serving meals, shuttle rides, the chilling gusts emitting from the pressurized air-conditioned cabins, take off after take off, airport after airport and I find myself thousands of miles in the air. Thousands of miles away from anyone I could call out to by even a first name. Thousands of miles away from home, ripping through the clouds as the thousands of miles up slowly decreased to hundreds as we made our descent. The plane tilts to the left as we make a turn. I am blessed with the opportunity to gaze down upon God’s creation; the wonder of Earth.

Upon landing, I soon stepped foot on what would be my abode for the next six months; Tonj, Sudan – the mission field that God had called me to.

The ministry has been bittersweet within these past couple of months. Sweet in the sense that it is a joy to serve alongside like-minded brothers and sisters in the Lord, saints who have a common desire of seeing our God and King glorified through the work He does in and through us, and blessing others who’s souls may have been severely scarred by the macabre and violent byproducts of a fallen world or to even bring a message of hope in the love of Christ Jesus to the poor, distressed and down trotted. 

Bitter in the sense of the given nature of a world marred by sin. Death is rampant. The tears of a grown man, mourning for the loss of a child, are telltale signs of the impact of death. His affliction is no oddity amongst the people of Tonj.

Death, however, is emergent in realms past the physical – the spiritual. I would not go so far as to say that Tonj is spiritually ignorant, but the lack of basic Biblical foundation doctrine has reaped what it sowed. There are those who have yet to hear the Gospel and it is my joy and pleasure to partner alongside In Deed and Truth Ministries to bring the message of reconciliation, as the Apostle Paul called it, to the people of Tonj. By God’s abundant grace may he equip those here to bless those whom God has given us the ability to bless and to share with them the loving message of grace, mercy, hope and love found in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

My prayer is that God would continue to work mightily within all faculties of this mission organization. This is the heart of the ministry; loving others in deed and in truth.

 

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