We are here

We arrived safely in Lui about 11 this morning. Stephen and Manyigugu met us at the airstrip. We rode home in the ambulance of Lui diocese, which thanks to the generosity of the people of the Diocese of Lund, in Sweden, is now repaired and working. A few of our team rode in the car of CUAM, the Italian group helping with hospital administration. Among the nice surprises today was Scopas, who's in the area doing a survey of adult literacy, and Mama Jenifa, who is living in Mundri with her son but came to greet us. And Karen Masso was on the plane back with us, one of the team leaders for World Harvest Mission in Mundri.

We spent the afternoon hanging up our collapsible cabinets, stringing clotheslines, getting unpacked, setting up water filters and solar chargers, and sleeping, and we're planning an early night: supper, then compline, period full stop. Tomorrow Wayne, Dan, Anne P, and Warren start their work with the pastors and Mothers' Union, and the rest of the team take the art project on the road.

Waiting at Kajjansi

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Kajjansi field

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In Kampala

All 11 of the mission team have arrived safely in Uganda, strangely enough on the same flght from Nairobi. After the Missouri group's near miss with the first leg of the trip, Anne P and Warren were 2 hours late out of Heathrow and missed their connection from Dubai to Kampala. They were lucky and persistent enough to be rerouted through Nairobi and ended up on our last leg with the other 9 of us. The only casualty was Susan's checked bag, which is cruelly ironic considering she saved the rest of us from missing our rebooked, earlier, first flight and was the first of us to have checked her bag.
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Off to a start, anyhow

The November mission is off to an amazingly teamworky start. The first team members to arrive at the airport discovered that since last night Delta had cancelled our very first flight. Susan called me, I talked to Delta via her cell phone, and Deb, Wayne, and I called the team. Miraculously we all made it to STL in time to leave an hour and a half early. The nine of us are in the Minneapolis airport waiting for leg two of what is now a six-leg journey to Lui.

The wonderful thing about leaving the day after diocesan convention is the strong sense that we are being wafted to Africa on a great current of prayer. And to know that the current is a convergence of small streams from around the country - Tammy, thanks for the voicemail sendoff from Omaha! - makes the sense of support all the stronger. Thanks everybody!
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Transatlantic Mission Prep

Two weeks from today, the November mission team will arrive in Kampala, God willing. This past Saturday, all 11 missioners gathered, thanks to the technological wizardry of the people at Skype. Nine of us sat around a table at Advent, Crestwood, and the other two gathered in a home in Dorset, near the south coast of England. We were also lucky that it was a great day of sharing and planning, and I am excited about the trip and the cohesiveness of the team. At the end of the day, we practiced the reflection process we use at the end of every day in Lui -- a discussion of the way the life God desires for us has been revealed by the events of the day (the lesson or sermon), how we intercede to make that life a reality for ourselves and others (prayers of the people), what we are doing to impede that life and how we need God in the situation (confession), what we have to offer (offering), and how we give thanks (thanksgiving) -- as you can see, a Eucharistic model of reflection, which Dan first brought to last December's team. And on Saturday, our reflection led us into the Eucharist itself, which was especially powerful reflected back to us as we watched Shirley on the screen in England making the same motions as Dan at our own table, giving new meaning to being "in communion."

Here you see Sam, Anne K, Marc, Susan, Deb, Anne P, Warren, Ev, and Dan. Sam and Ev will meet with primary school teachers as they are teachers themselves; Marc is the official team photographer/videographer and will explore Sudanese agriculture and brainstorm with farmers; Susan and Deb are parish nurses who will talk with pastors and others about bringing parish nursing to Sudan; Anne K will lead the art project; Anne P and Warren will lead the management conference, and Dan and Wayne (not pictured) will lead the pastors' conference. I'll meet with adult ed teachers and try to keep all those other balls in the air.

The November Mission

Here is the November mission team, minus me and our two English members. From left, Marc, Anne K, Dan, Ev, Deb, Susan, Sam, and Wayne. I have been shockingly derelict in my duty to keep the news coming, so here's a little summary of what we think we're going to do.

We are going to Lui, Buagyi, Mideh, Lanyi, and Kediba. In each of those places, Anne K will lead us in carrying out her art project at the local church primary school. At the same time, Wayne and Dan will be leading pastors' conferences, and Anne P and Warren will be leading administrative workshops. Ev and Sam will confer with primary school teachers and administrators, while Deb and Susan talk parish nursing with the Mothers' Union and pastors, and Marc surveys and discusses local farming practices. I plan to count heads and shoot photos.

We had thought of sending Marc and Deb to Juba to discuss agriculture and parish nursing with ECS staff. Turns out they'll be in Rumbek most of the time we're in Lui, and there's currently no health person on the ECS staff in Sudan anyhow. So the plan is that Robin, the TEC missionary to ECS, who is an agriculturalist, will stop and see Marc in Lui on her way back to Juba from Rumbek. We are keeping a trip to Juba on the table, but I'm hoping nobody will have to go there.

The Rumbek meeting is provincial synod, or something like that, and apparently Bishop Bullen will also have to attend, meaning that he'll be in Lui only the last couple of days we're there.

My biggest worry about the trip? Eleven people sharing two bathrooms and two "shower" stalls.

In other Lui Connection news, I'm happy to report that we are now in touch with the Diocese of Lund in the Church of Sweden, which has had a connection to the Moru people -- as much in Khartoum as in the Diocese of Lui -- since the 90s. That rounds out our wonderfully international Lui Link! Stephen Dokolo, by the way, is in Kampala waiting to leave for a visit to Lund. We wish him a safe journey and look forward to hearing about it.

The American part of the mission team is meeting November 7th to plan and prepare. We hope to connect with Anne P and Warren via Skype so it's a whole team meeting for a little while. Please keep the team in your prayers as we prepare to go to Lui and while we are there, and of course as always please keep our Moru friends -- and all of Sudan -- in your prayers.