Hey everyone! What a busy last couple of weeks! Last week I worked hard building a ramp to be able to unload the truck when it and a foundation to put the shipping container on. I only had 3 days total to complete both these projects so I worked with the construction crew from morning to late in the evening using the lights of David's Landcruiser to work. Thankfully we finished on time. The rig arrived Thursday afternoon and with the help of some of the Bible school students, we unloaded the container and pulled it off the back of the truck onto the cement foundation. While this was a good day, it was also one of the most frustrating days I've had in Sudan. Unfortunately, the loaded the container onto a truck in such a way that it was impossible to pull it off the back. We had to take the truck to a place where they cut off a corner of the truck! There were many other problems that I won't get into, all I have to say is that I lost my voice for two days after that from yelling at the truck driver. Besides these frustrations, I'm very relieved and excited to have my equipment on Sudanese ground.
Besides being excited about the rig, I'm also excited about the progress of my compound. The house has a foundation and the walls have been raised to about waist level. We also had 200 wood poles and 80 bundles of bamboo poles delivered today which will be used to build a bamboo fence around the compound. I'm fairly confident that by the end of October I'll be living in my own house!
while building the house we hired some local women to carry jerrycans of water up from the stream to use for mixing cement. One thing I found amazing is that it only costs 150 Ugandan shillings per jerrycan of water. That's $0.09 per jerrycan! Talk about Cheap!
Well everyone, the generator is about to go off so I need to get going. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. I'll update you all soon!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
What a week!
I have to start by saying this week was action packed. First off, the e3 team arrived from Dallas on Friday. I've adjusted so much to this way of life that I have to admit that when the team first arrived, I was more comfortable around the Africans than the Americans. It was my first glimpse of why it is going to be difficult to re-adjust to the U.S. when I come back for a couple of months next year. After a few days and some good old southern hospitality, I began to feel really comfortable around them. One thing that amused me while the team was here was seeing the team from a different perspective than I did when I was apart of a similar team when I came to Sudan in February with e3. I thought it was funny how scared some of the people were about everything in Africa. They were worried about every bug, every scratch, and everything they ate. One guy even brought his own MRE's (meals ready to eat)! The most amazing thing about it was that I realized that I was the same way when I cam in February. The other thing that amused me was how everyone talked about what they wanted to eat when they got home after spending a whole week in Sudan. :)
Well, I'm having fun ragging on the team but the truth is they were a blessing to me. I went out with them four of the days they were here and we together shared Christ with the people. I grew to admire each person for their gifts and saw how God maximized their gifts.
Three of those days I went back to the village of Kiri with David and Mark. Kiri was the village I spent most of my time in when I was here in February. One day, David, Mark, and I were talking to people in the market with or translators Mulai and Moi Moses when a woman came up to use and said she wanted to accept Christ because she wanted to rid herself of the demon that was possessing her. She told us the demon was first in her sister but her sister became a Christian so the demon went into her. We all gathered around and laid hands on this woman as Mulai let her in the sinners prayer. After she accepted, David was praying out loud for her when she started convulsing like a person that is on the verge of death. David kept praying for her asking Jesus to cast the demon out when she fell out of her chair onto the ground. David continued to pray as she lay on the ground convulsing. Eventually, she stopped convulsing and grew very peaceful. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and I could just tell she was different. She seems every calm and at peace and I'm not really sure she knew what had just happened. That is definitely an experience I'll never forget.
I also got to go the orphanage in town here this week. The experience was so powerful that I actually went there three times this week. The children there are amazing and my heart breaks every time I go. The children are so starved for attention and affection that they literally come running just for a chance to hold my hand. The little kids will hold up there arms for a chance to be held and when I pick them up, they will bury their heads in my should and go to sleep. I've already made a decision that I'm going to visit the orphanage at least once a week. The orphange is run by a 24 year old Christian man named Jose. Jose is from Miami and has been here for almost a year. He is doing an excellent job with the kids and the orphanage and I'm looking forward to getting to know him better in the coming months.
Other than those things, construction began on my house. My drilling rig is on a truck from Mombassa and should be here within the next few days. My truck is still not here yet but should be in soon.
I also started reading a book today called The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway (ISBN 0-8254-6207-X). I HIGHLY recommend it! The book is about one of China's house church leaders and his story. I have read about more miracles this man has experienced in the first 70 pages than even the Apostle Paul experienced his whole life! It definitely exposes how much we limit God in our comfortable western culture.
Thank you all again for your prayers! I'm looking forward to sharing more with you soon.
I've also uploaded tons of new pictures. Check out the link below.
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012054&l=11b95&id=159100018
Well, I'm having fun ragging on the team but the truth is they were a blessing to me. I went out with them four of the days they were here and we together shared Christ with the people. I grew to admire each person for their gifts and saw how God maximized their gifts.
Three of those days I went back to the village of Kiri with David and Mark. Kiri was the village I spent most of my time in when I was here in February. One day, David, Mark, and I were talking to people in the market with or translators Mulai and Moi Moses when a woman came up to use and said she wanted to accept Christ because she wanted to rid herself of the demon that was possessing her. She told us the demon was first in her sister but her sister became a Christian so the demon went into her. We all gathered around and laid hands on this woman as Mulai let her in the sinners prayer. After she accepted, David was praying out loud for her when she started convulsing like a person that is on the verge of death. David kept praying for her asking Jesus to cast the demon out when she fell out of her chair onto the ground. David continued to pray as she lay on the ground convulsing. Eventually, she stopped convulsing and grew very peaceful. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and I could just tell she was different. She seems every calm and at peace and I'm not really sure she knew what had just happened. That is definitely an experience I'll never forget.
I also got to go the orphanage in town here this week. The experience was so powerful that I actually went there three times this week. The children there are amazing and my heart breaks every time I go. The children are so starved for attention and affection that they literally come running just for a chance to hold my hand. The little kids will hold up there arms for a chance to be held and when I pick them up, they will bury their heads in my should and go to sleep. I've already made a decision that I'm going to visit the orphanage at least once a week. The orphange is run by a 24 year old Christian man named Jose. Jose is from Miami and has been here for almost a year. He is doing an excellent job with the kids and the orphanage and I'm looking forward to getting to know him better in the coming months.
Other than those things, construction began on my house. My drilling rig is on a truck from Mombassa and should be here within the next few days. My truck is still not here yet but should be in soon.
I also started reading a book today called The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway (ISBN 0-8254-6207-X). I HIGHLY recommend it! The book is about one of China's house church leaders and his story. I have read about more miracles this man has experienced in the first 70 pages than even the Apostle Paul experienced his whole life! It definitely exposes how much we limit God in our comfortable western culture.
Thank you all again for your prayers! I'm looking forward to sharing more with you soon.
I've also uploaded tons of new pictures. Check out the link below.
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012054&l=11b95&id=159100018
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
A Testimony
Hey everyone! First off, since I last wrote I have gotten and recovered(almost) from Giardia... Running for the latrine every 30 minutes all night long is not as fun as it sounds. I'm taking a few drugs, including Cipro, so I'm feeling much better. I should be as right as rain by the end of the week.
The second story I have for you was something I was debating whether or not to tell you about, but I decided to go ahead and tell you all since I'm sure it was in part to all your prayers... As you could probably tell from my last post, I was struggling with what I saw in Pader with the woman that was brutally beaten in front of me. I was mainly struggling with how I responded to the situation. No offense to the people who've I talked to about this, but for the most part people really didn't understand. Mostly, the people I've talked to about it here simply brushed it aside as just something that happens in Africa and not really a big deal. It may be one of those things that people can't really understand until they personally experience it. Well, I've been praying a lot about it and seeking God's guidence on the matter when I had a dream that gave me peace. The night I wrote the last blog post, I had a dream of a man's face (I don't recall what he looked like) who said to me, "Stephen, you have been known and loved by God since the beginning of time." Immediately after he said this I woke up wide awake. What I took away from this was that God was reassuring me that he had everything in control, and even though I make mistakes, there is nothing I can do that will ever separate me from the love of Jesus. Jesus is always waiting with open arms to comfort us in times of need if we are willing to accept his embrace.
I debated to tell you all this not only because of how personal this is, but also because I didn't want to sound too "fanatical" or that I was making too much from a simple dream. I didn't want people to think, "He needs to get out of that African sun!" :) Those of you that know me know that I'm anything but fanatical.
Looking forward to updating you all again soon. Keep praying!
P.S: I have uploaded a lot of pictures on Facebook. I really don't have the time to upload to this blog. Hopefully the link works correctly this time:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012054&l=11b95&id=159100018
The second story I have for you was something I was debating whether or not to tell you about, but I decided to go ahead and tell you all since I'm sure it was in part to all your prayers... As you could probably tell from my last post, I was struggling with what I saw in Pader with the woman that was brutally beaten in front of me. I was mainly struggling with how I responded to the situation. No offense to the people who've I talked to about this, but for the most part people really didn't understand. Mostly, the people I've talked to about it here simply brushed it aside as just something that happens in Africa and not really a big deal. It may be one of those things that people can't really understand until they personally experience it. Well, I've been praying a lot about it and seeking God's guidence on the matter when I had a dream that gave me peace. The night I wrote the last blog post, I had a dream of a man's face (I don't recall what he looked like) who said to me, "Stephen, you have been known and loved by God since the beginning of time." Immediately after he said this I woke up wide awake. What I took away from this was that God was reassuring me that he had everything in control, and even though I make mistakes, there is nothing I can do that will ever separate me from the love of Jesus. Jesus is always waiting with open arms to comfort us in times of need if we are willing to accept his embrace.
I debated to tell you all this not only because of how personal this is, but also because I didn't want to sound too "fanatical" or that I was making too much from a simple dream. I didn't want people to think, "He needs to get out of that African sun!" :) Those of you that know me know that I'm anything but fanatical.
Looking forward to updating you all again soon. Keep praying!
P.S: I have uploaded a lot of pictures on Facebook. I really don't have the time to upload to this blog. Hopefully the link works correctly this time:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012054&l=11b95&id=159100018
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Training Update (Overdue)
Hello everyone! Sorry for the long delay in updates, I've been traveling and training out in the bush and haven't had internet or even electricity for the past few weeks. The few weeks of training have been packed with experiences... Some experiences have been both beautiful and disturbing. I've seen the excitement from suffering villages as the watched water gush from a freshly drilled borehole, the beauty and simplicity of family unity, a beautiful sunset over the Nile river, the disgusting brutality of a mob, and God's protection.
Before I start, I just want to warn all of you that some things I describe in the post are graphic, so if you're reading this to your children (as I heard some of you are), I suggest you read it first before reading it to them and skip over those parts if you think it necessary.
My first two employees (George and Asiki) and I first traveled to the city of Yei in South West Sudan (8 hours of traveling by a minivan with 23 people in it) and stayed there a few days. The director of the organization we are training with asked us to come there for training and then said the schedule had changed and we were headed back to the county of Pader in North East Uganda. That meant another three days of traveling.
The county of Pader is known in Uganda for one of the areas most affected by the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army). The LRA is a evil group of people who's leader is literally Satan incarnate. He convinced many people that he was a spiritual leader when he performed miracles and healings. Remember that even Satan has power... Right down the road from where we were drilling is a memorial to 23 villagers that were massacred by the LRA a few years ago. According to the people I spoke to in the area, those 23 people were killed and boiled, and the other villagers in the area were forced at gun point to eat the bodies. I apologize if this is not something you didn't want me to tell you but it is simplify part of life in the area.
The night after we started drilling the second well, I saw a family (parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles) sitting around a fire just having a wonderful time together. They were talking, laughing, and singing together. It was picturesque and a beautiful display of family unity and fellowship.
Coming back from Pader proved to be quite an adventure in itself. While sitting in the "taxi" waiting for it to leave, I made small talk with a twenty-something year old woman sitting next to me. After we finished talking, she went into a store about 20 feet from the taxi. Well after about 10 minutes, I heard a bunch of screaming and saw the woman on the ground getting caned and kicked by the shop owner. Apparently the woman had been caught stealing something. If that wasn't bad enough, a bunch of men gathered around and started kicking, punching, and pouring hot tea on the woman too. These men seemed to actually be enjoying themselves and were just happy to have an excuse to beat up a woman and not get in trouble for it. I tried to get close enough to the woman but the mob was too thick... To be completely honest, I didn't try as hard as I could have. I'll admit that I was really scared and because of my fear, I failed to help someone weaker than myself. I definitely regret my weakness when my courage was tested. And if you are thinking that is was good I did not interfere, ask yourself if you would think the same thing if this same thing happened somewhere in America?
Thankfully, a police officer came and got the woman out of there before the mob could kill her, a definite possibility. She'll definitely think twice before she steals again. David tells me that if you get caught stealing in Kampala, you can count on being killed.
The next day, I traveled from Gulu to Moyo. This 5 hour trip turned into a 11.5 hour day by bus because of the poor roads. When I first got on the bus in Gulu, a man on the bus directed to an open seat near him. It turned out that this man was a very good friend of David Kaya and he was coming back to visit Kajo Keji after five years of school/work in Australia. This man turned out to be a Godsend since I relied on him heavily to help through the terrible day as there were many difficulties. At one point, we had to transfer buses because the road was blocked and if it weren't for this man (Alex), I wouldn't have known to do that. We walked with all our bags about 2.5 miles until we got to the bus. After we got on the next bus, we got to the Nile and crossed it by ferry at sunset. Seeing the sunset over the Nile was absolutely beautiful.
Well, I finally made it back to Kajo Keji today after spending the night in Moyo. My boss Mr. Radler is in town for a visit and wants to go over some business with me. I'll be here for about a week and then make the trip back to Pader for more training... I'm not looking forward to that trip.
I'll upload some pictures soon!
Before I start, I just want to warn all of you that some things I describe in the post are graphic, so if you're reading this to your children (as I heard some of you are), I suggest you read it first before reading it to them and skip over those parts if you think it necessary.
My first two employees (George and Asiki) and I first traveled to the city of Yei in South West Sudan (8 hours of traveling by a minivan with 23 people in it) and stayed there a few days. The director of the organization we are training with asked us to come there for training and then said the schedule had changed and we were headed back to the county of Pader in North East Uganda. That meant another three days of traveling.
The county of Pader is known in Uganda for one of the areas most affected by the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army). The LRA is a evil group of people who's leader is literally Satan incarnate. He convinced many people that he was a spiritual leader when he performed miracles and healings. Remember that even Satan has power... Right down the road from where we were drilling is a memorial to 23 villagers that were massacred by the LRA a few years ago. According to the people I spoke to in the area, those 23 people were killed and boiled, and the other villagers in the area were forced at gun point to eat the bodies. I apologize if this is not something you didn't want me to tell you but it is simplify part of life in the area.
The night after we started drilling the second well, I saw a family (parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles) sitting around a fire just having a wonderful time together. They were talking, laughing, and singing together. It was picturesque and a beautiful display of family unity and fellowship.
Coming back from Pader proved to be quite an adventure in itself. While sitting in the "taxi" waiting for it to leave, I made small talk with a twenty-something year old woman sitting next to me. After we finished talking, she went into a store about 20 feet from the taxi. Well after about 10 minutes, I heard a bunch of screaming and saw the woman on the ground getting caned and kicked by the shop owner. Apparently the woman had been caught stealing something. If that wasn't bad enough, a bunch of men gathered around and started kicking, punching, and pouring hot tea on the woman too. These men seemed to actually be enjoying themselves and were just happy to have an excuse to beat up a woman and not get in trouble for it. I tried to get close enough to the woman but the mob was too thick... To be completely honest, I didn't try as hard as I could have. I'll admit that I was really scared and because of my fear, I failed to help someone weaker than myself. I definitely regret my weakness when my courage was tested. And if you are thinking that is was good I did not interfere, ask yourself if you would think the same thing if this same thing happened somewhere in America?
Thankfully, a police officer came and got the woman out of there before the mob could kill her, a definite possibility. She'll definitely think twice before she steals again. David tells me that if you get caught stealing in Kampala, you can count on being killed.
The next day, I traveled from Gulu to Moyo. This 5 hour trip turned into a 11.5 hour day by bus because of the poor roads. When I first got on the bus in Gulu, a man on the bus directed to an open seat near him. It turned out that this man was a very good friend of David Kaya and he was coming back to visit Kajo Keji after five years of school/work in Australia. This man turned out to be a Godsend since I relied on him heavily to help through the terrible day as there were many difficulties. At one point, we had to transfer buses because the road was blocked and if it weren't for this man (Alex), I wouldn't have known to do that. We walked with all our bags about 2.5 miles until we got to the bus. After we got on the next bus, we got to the Nile and crossed it by ferry at sunset. Seeing the sunset over the Nile was absolutely beautiful.
Well, I finally made it back to Kajo Keji today after spending the night in Moyo. My boss Mr. Radler is in town for a visit and wants to go over some business with me. I'll be here for about a week and then make the trip back to Pader for more training... I'm not looking forward to that trip.
I'll upload some pictures soon!
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