Just a typical day yesterday here with the Bylers in Sudan. You know, getting up, having a good long quite time reading and praying, preparing to go to the market with Linda and three hours later actually going (keep reading to here why), coming back for lunch, then going visiting to see friends (it's rude to have visitors come and not bring them by to say hello), then coming back to the house, having dinner while Ryan hunted the pesky monkeys with a sling shot. You know, just the usual... :)
Ah, life is so different here. Relationships and people are so much more of a priority than appointments or agendas. For instance, as mentioned above, Linda and I prepared to go to the market yesterday morning, desiring to go while it was still relatively cool. As we got ready to go, 2 ladies from their church stopped by and Linda enthusiastically greeted them and welcomed them in. They chatted for a few minutes and then asked if they could exchange some Sudanese pounds for American dollars so they could travel back to their home in Kenya (the banks here apparently don't have any money currently). So Linda said yes, but the ladies didn't actually have the money with them, so they went to get it and would be "right back". 45 minutes later, they still weren't back so we decided to head off to the market. However, just at that point, Pastor Johnson from their church stopped by and of course was just as enthusiastically greeted and invited him. He is a fascinating man, passionate about Jesus, and was one of the few local people I could actually understand and have a conversation with. His english was quite good. So he stayed for a while and then after he left, we finally headed out to the market- at 11:15- not quite the "cool of the morning" we'd planned on! But such is life here- time is much more irrelavent, calling ahead of time before visiting is unheard of, and welcoming someone in for however long they intend to stay (minutes, hours or even days) is just the norm. It's definitely been convicting for me as I see how much more people are valued over projects (a perspective that I'd been trying to adopt even before coming to Africa..."people before projects" has been my mantra).
Today we leave for the weekend to travel anywhere betweeen 3-5 hrs on very bumpy pot-holed roads to a small village about 40 miles from here (yes, do the math with the time of travel and the mileage- it's gonna be an adventurous drive for sure!). We'll be visiting 2 missionaries who are living with the local tribe in their village. The purpose is for encouragement of them and also of course interaction with the people in that village. Both Linda and I have sensed a bit of spiritual warfare concerning this trip, so when you read this post, please pray for us and our travels. We'll be back home Monday evening and if I have computer access, I'll update ya'll on our journeys. No worries if I don't actually update, though, as internet access is not convenient and handy.
Currently, as a bit of the novelty of actually being in Africa has worn off, I find that I am a bit more tired than I realized. Pray for strength and focus- the enemy is not invited to have any part of this day. May the joy of the Lord be our strength!
Thanks again for the encouraging words and continued prayer!
Sounds like we would all be well to take a lesson from these people. It must feel good to be back with people you know. I'm curious as to what kind of village the Bylers are in.
ReplyDeleteWe continue to think about you and pray for you. I hope your journey goes well.
Love, Mom