Trip to Imatong Village

The road out to the village was a typical remote country road, with endless potholes, and mild flooding from place to place.  Jordan told us it was one of the nicer roads in South Sudan. Considering there is only 60 miles of paved roads in all of South Sudan, I guess we should not be surprised. The trip took about 2 hours.

When we arrived out in the village, we immediately met Benjamin, a young evangelist trying to reach people for Jesus in his home village.  We visited his compound and then went over to the schools. Benjamin is the headmaster of the school.  He oversees several teachers who teach there in the K thru 8 grades. To attend high school, the children must go into Torit. 

Sitting with Benjamin inside his tukel, or house.

The kids were all sitting in their classrooms when we arrived. We went and greeted each of the classrooms, and then sat under the mango trees with all the young children eating mangoes.  We also walked through the village area and greeted some families.

We

Grinding the Cassava root by hand is hard work!

We saw many young children who were malnourished, indicated by the enlarged abdomen, and some had the characteristic orange hair. When asking about food supply, one of the people told us that they stored up some food, but perhaps some people had “oversold” their ample supply and therefore were likely to experience food shortage.  The rains were due while we were there, and since the community is just now beginning to plant, they would not be able to harvest until June/July. Considering the current famine situation in much of South Sudan, this is concerning.

On the way back from the village, we had the chance to be the good Samaritan! This vehicle did not have the best tires on it, and we pulled it out twice on the way. And the rains were just beginning-- by this time the roads are likely to be very slippery.

I did not have the opportunity to see how the cattle in the village looked, as the people had taken them up into the mountains for better grazing. We did see some goats in the area that actually looked to be in good condition, and with the rains on the way, there should be enough fresh browsing to help them stay in good condition. We enjoyed our visit to Imatong, and hope we were an encouragement to Benjamin as he disciples the believers in the village.

First days in South Sudan!

Thanks for coming to learn more about our trip to Torit.  We are so grateful for the prayers, financial support and encouragement we have received as we have taken this survey mission trip.  Whatever role the Lord has called you to in helping us on our way, we are grateful as we know we could not have done this alone. I have broken our time in Torit into several posts due to length, so be sure to look beyond this first one!

We traveled into South Sudan on Monday April 27^th via AIM AIR. Pete Young was our pilot, and his family recently relocated to Lokichoggio, Kenya from Waverly, MN (within 20 miles of our residence) of all places!  That was a fun connection.  Pete took us in on a Cessna 206, which did not settle well with a few of our family members.  It was a hot and bumpy flight in.

We had family introductions with the Scotland family, and stayed in the guesthouse that is on the same compound as the Scotlands’ home. They built the guesthouse to give their teams that live out in the more remote areas a relatively close place for rest and a few creature comforts.  We had comfortable beds, a small kitchenette, and a nice shower that supplies us with water warmed up during the day by the sun.  Amazingly, the water temperature always seemed about perfect! The evenings were warm, but we were blessed with fans, which make it easier to sleep.

Andrea, Jordan, Aislynn (6), Aiden (8), Calum (10)

During our time, we met many people in Torit.  We started the day off on Tuesday by going to greet the Governor of Imatong State, Toby. The governor has a huge job- and the blessing is that that Jordan has been friends with Toby for a long time (an active Christian)- even back to the time when the Scotlands lived in a more remote area.  We feel that a good relationship for the AIM team with the governor is a tremendous plus.

After meeting with the governor, I attended a prayer meeting for National Women’s Prayer Day.  The Prayer meeting went on all day, but Andrea and I went over for a couple of hours. Many
churches of the area were represented, and came together to pray for peace in South Sudan. Most of the ladies spoke in Juba Arabic, but a couple translated into English as well.

Tuesday afternoon we spent time with the Scotland family, asking many questions and learning more about the people of Torit.  The kids had a great time of playing kickball, whiffle ball, cards, and night time hide and seek!