Six Month Update

Here is the email I just sent out with my six month update.

Hello from Tonj!

I have now been in Africa for six months.... half a year. It seems long but fast at the same time if that makes sense.

April has been the most challenging month for me since I left for a few reasons. One, this month has been filled with uncertainty. After months of speculation and concern, the election came and went. For the most part, the election process was peaceful. The week before the election, there was some violence due to the army's attempt to disarm everyone. A former In Deed and Truth employee was killed after he shot a soldier trying to take his guns. The soldier was brought to our clinic, but did not make it. The elections were supposed to be held over three days, but were extended to five days after much confusion. Many people could not find their names when they went to the polling station where they registered. Some had to go to five different polling stations located all over Tonj before finding their name. One of the polling stations we went to seemed to be corrupt, but the others were professional. Although it was chaotic, it was neat to be here for Sudan's first election. People were excited to vote. The results were supposed to be announced a week after the election, but it has been almost two weeks and still nothing has been said. We pray things remain peaceful when the results are known.

The second reason this month has been tough was the continued cattle raiding. Since the raids occur outside the town in the villages, I personally never felt unsafe or was scared. It was just hard to hear about so much violence over cows. Many people died after their cattle camps were attacked by raiders from another village. Then that sets in motion revenge attacks that make you wonder when will this madness stop. While I was writing this, we received two more victims of a cattle raid in a village about two hours from us. One man was shot in the leg and face and had his hand chopped off because the attackers wanted his ivory bracelet. It was horribly brutal. My heart broke as I saw the doctors and nurses working on him and his faced cringed in pain. In an instant his life changed. It's so sad. The importance of cattle is so deeply rooted in this culture you start to wonder if things will ever get better.

Third, I was sick with what we think was a bacterial infection and have not quite gotten back to 100%. I was in bed for five days and got really discouraged. Fortunately, we have a great doctor so I was under good care. While I am feeling a lot better, my digestive system is still struggling. I just want to feel normal again!

Fourth, as I approached my six month mark, I knew I needed to make a decision. Am I leaving after one year is up or am I staying longer? Because my return trip plane ticket could only be booked six months out, it needed to be changed or the balance refunded before May 1st. I really prayed a lot about what to do. As much as I miss home, I couldn't imagine leaving in November. It seemed way too soon to say good bye. Because going home and returning to Sudan costs $3500, coming home for a short visit is not an option. After much thought and prayer, I decided to extend my trip beyond November. So, the balance on my ticket was refunded and we'll book another one once I know for sure when I am coming home. I don't know when that will be. At this point, I am thinking early to mid 2011. I'm praying that God will make it clear to me when I am supposed to leave.

Fifth, I started to get a little homesick in March, but it really intensified in April. I had a few moments where I just sobbed for about twenty minutes and other days where I was on the brink of tears all day. I really felt lonely and desperately missed being at home. One Saturday morning, I just laid in bed thinking about what I would be doing if I was home and I was heartbroken that I wasn't there. I felt isolated and confused. I am usually independent and strong and don't often dwell on sadness. While I missed everyone a lot, I was doing pretty well up until now. The intense homesickness and physical sickness came after I sent the email to some friends and family saying that I was thinking about staying. I felt like I was being attacked. I know the enemy wants me to doubt what I am doing and distract me from what God wants me to do here. Even though I thought that is what was happening, I still had a hard time pulling out of those discouraging times. I was really struggling for about two weeks.

Fortunately, we serve a faithful, loving God. When I was weak, He was strong. He provided emails from friends to encourage me and confirm I made the right decision. He provided times of laughter through a game night, trip to the local radio station and other funny interactions that helped lift my spirits. He provided people to support me financially after I had increased expenses in March when going to Nairobi with Matoch. He sent people like Mabior and Dennis to encourage me and pray for me when I was sick. He got rid of my extreme fatigue that plagued me for about a week. I could go on and on about the goodness of our Lord. While I may have been down, I'm not out and I am excited about my future here.

Matoch (the eight year old boy shot in the face in February) continues to do well. His night terrors have become less frequent and severe. He comes to the compound everyday from 7:00am until we have to send him home around 5:00pm. While we are happy he likes it here, we are trying to get him enrolled in school so he'll have something to do all day.

Nyangeu (the three year old that was shot in the face in March) came back to Tonj with Hargins on April 15th. She is recovering well from her surgery and should have no long term complications. She spent one night with us in the compound when we couldn't locate her dad. It was really special seeing her laugh and smile. The following day they were reunited and she has returned with him to their village.

We are putting on a couple community events in May and June with the help of the local Catholic mission, Don Bosco. In May we'll be doing a sports tournament featuring basketball, volleyball and football (soccer). Then in June, we'll be showing the World Cup (the big soccer event of the year) in the town every night during the month long event. In addition to showing the matches, we'll be showing PSAs (public service announcements) on various topics such has health issues (HIV/AIDS, immunizations, dangers of seeing a witch doctor, good personal hygiene, malaria, etc), cultural issues (violence against women and kids, education of girls, etc) and also presenting the gospel. We are filming the PSAs ourselves and have had a lot of fun using our staff as the actors.

The pastors school starts up again in May. The students will be completing their last term in their first year of school. This place is always more lively when the pastors are here.

The clinic is as busy as ever. They are often seeing over 120 patients per day... and that is with one doctor! I am continually impressed with the work that is done over there. We have began offering several immunizations and soon will be able to test for HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately, we have had several children die recently. Sometimes, the parents wait too long to get treatment and there is nothing we can do to save the child.

This summer we have quite a few visitors coming. Some for 1 month, two months, 2 years and indefinitely. At times, we'll have 24 people here (including the regulars). Yikes!!! It will be a lot of work, but also a lot of fun to have new people here. I am looking forward to their arrivals.

I have not been able to work in the clinic a lot in April because I have been busy with administration work, filming World Cup spots and doing other miscellaneous projects. Once Suzy and the kids return in May, I hope to return to my regular routine of working in the clinic for a bit in the morning and then helping Suzy with whatever she and Sabet need.

We are approaching the rainy season and that means out come the creepy crawlies! I have noticed, much to my dismay, an increase in the amount of bugs flying around and harassing me. Also, the frogs have returned. YUCK! I always peer into the shower to see if one is hanging out in there. Sometimes there is and I have to yell for someone to remove the nasty creature before I can go in. A few have even hopped into my room. More people have come to the clinic with scorpion bites lately and a few snakes have been spotted. Praise the Lord I have not seen either. Fortunately, the weather has been cooler the last three days. Hallelujah. It was unbearably hot for a while.

Again I have to say, how good God is. Even as harsh as it can be here sometimes and as difficult as the culture can be to overcome, I feel Him moving here. It's encouraging to see people like Matoch's dad become saved and get serious about his faith. Also, Sabet assisted a man who was shot in the neck with treatment in Juba and the man's brother accepted Jesus. As someone who lived in the cattle camps, he had no idea there was any purpose in living and thought once you die, that's it. I see God in the big things (like keeping peace in the elections) and the small things (like giving us cooler weather when we thought we couldn't handle the heat any longer.). I serve a powerful God and put my life in His hands.

Thank you for indulging me has I have shared the hardships and victories of being a missionary. Part of me wants to gloss over the bad and just report the good. But, I know in being vulnerable about my weaknesses and tough times, you will be able to know better how to pray for me. Here are a few areas in which I can use your prayers:

1.That I will trust in the Lord about His plans for me here and feel confident about staying longer. Also, that I would not be as homesick and in times of loneliness that I would remember I am never truly alone.
2.That I would completely heal from my sickness.
3.That we will be able to get all the preparations done for the sports tournament and the World Cup. There is so much to do and we are already very busy!
4.That the cattle raiding would stop and South Sudan would remain peaceful as the election results are announced.

This email update is just a brief (as brief as I could make it!) summary of what happened this month. For more stories and pictures, visit my blog at www.thisisstaciesblog.blogspot.com I try to update it a few times a week with what is happening here. It's the best way to know what I am doing and what is going on in Tonj. For those of you who read my blog, sorry this is redundant.

As always, here is the donation information in case anyone needs it:

1. Go to www.indeedandtruth.org. Click on donate and you'll see a my name listed and can designate a donation to me.
2. Mail a check to: In Deed and Truth Ministries, PO Box 51253, Colorado Springs, CO 80949 Please don’t forget to write my name on the memo line. Donations are tax deductible.

For those of you who committed to supporting me monthly.... thank you! I just wanted to let you know that since I am staying longer, you have the opportunity to keep partnering with me as long as I am here. However, if you are not able to continue past the one year commitment, I completely understand. If you are set up for automatic deduction, just email Jeamette, the stateside coordinator, at jeamette@indeedandtruth.org with the date you would like the deductions to stop.

Thank you to everyone for their prayers, emails, comments on my blog, encouragements, photos, financial support and everything else you do that allows me to be here.

Stacie