Gary Johnson's "Postcard from Sudan" -- Tuesday, December 4, 2012

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Here's the latest posting from CCC's Gary Johnson, on pilgrimage with a team from the DIocese of Missouri to Lui, Sudan. Please keep Gary and the rest of the mission team in your prayers and check back here and at http://luinetwork.diocesemo.org/

Had a great breeze last night so I slept well.

The solar power that supplies electric to the Diocesan Office went down on Monday morning. Which caused us to have no internet. They called in an Engineer who works at the hospital just up the road. The engineer came out around 10:00am and diagnosed the problems this morning. Our batteries had gotten to low and we had three trees blocking the panels as the sun moved across the sky. We cleared the three trees and should have electric back on by 2:00pm today. But this is South Sudan discovered that the batteries were so low that they wouldn't hold a charge. We may have electric for the internet in two days or two weeks. The machete used on a 12" diameter tree brought it down in about 15 mins. If you haven't heard from any of us this would be the cause.

The guys in the Carpentry class are doing great they are finishing up their second projects today. We will then be moving onto building simple trusses and other forms of roof supports. I'm impressed with their ability to be shown something once and pick it up. I've stood back on this project to watch them use their own problem solving skills. They might choose a different path on solving a problem but end up with the correct answer. We are both learning a lot.

Couple of the things I forgot to add about Sunday and going to church was that out in front of the Cathedral there were two men with drums and a small fire. The drumheads were covered in animal skin, they would place the head of the drum near the fire bring it back up and play it. This went on several times until I figured out that they were tuning the drums for the hymns selected for that Sunday by heating the skin. I also noticed several men who have one hand cut off from the war. They'll cut off the right hand of a right handed person or the left hand of a left handed person it's part of Sharia Law. To make someone eat with the same hand as they wipe with is considered the ultimate insult on many levels not only in South Sudan but across Africa.

The food continues to be good, but it should be considering all the meat we eat is Organic, hormone free and without a doubt free range.