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| Exploring the beauty of Jinja, Uganda |
It has been a restless week back in Mundri. After leaving behind the cool air,
mountainous terrain, and rushing rapids of Uganda, I have returned to a dry and
dusty S. Sudan, with only a couple teammates around. I have been worried about teammate Larissa, who is still
recovering from malaria in Kenya, with Bethany and Heidi. The guys are not around, still spending
time in Uganda. Melissa is still
back in the states. With the absence of people on the compound, comes an
increased presence of the much-despised goats. These
beasts must have all reproduced in the week while I was gone, because there are
now well over twenty grazing on our land.
I hear them at the crack of dawn, clopping around in the leaves behind
my tukul, bleating and spitting and making other disturbing noises that I never
thought goats could make. They
linger in the bathroom, on the porch of the team house, over by the
clothesline. They are everywhere,
and I hate them.
Besides the goats, I’ve been having difficult interactions
with people in town. My Moru and
Arabic learning has stalled and I find myself wanting to cut corners and simply
speak in English with people. It
feels like I’ve been gone for over a month, and the faces that once felt so
warm and familiar are now feel strange and difficult to relate to— the downfall
of spending time off in a busy, westernized city. I’m letting the small things get to me and lower my
morale. The other day, I was
carrying a heavy load of groceries on the back of my bike and it spilled out
onto the road, in front of a crowd watching a football match. It was pretty entertaining… for
them. Today, on my way to church,
I went through the round-about the wrong way and got stopped by a soldier. He commanded that I give him twenty
pounds on the spot, and when I told him I didn’t have the money, he tried to
take my bike away from me.
Luckily, a man from my church helped me get by since it was my “first
offense.”
And on top of it all, there is the heat. Oh, this heat. It is more debilitating than I thought
it would be. Around midday, I
cease to do anything—I cannot read, cannot plan lessons, cannot walk up to the
office to use the internet. I
cannot even take a nap, because I’m too uncomfortable having hot air blowing on
my face through the windows in my tukul.
I’m hoping my body’s in
shock, having just come from the mild temperatures of Uganda. If not, I have a long season ahead of
me.
During this time, I’ve been reminded of all the outlets God
gives me for when work is getting the better of me. I’ve recently had more time to write, delving into stories
and characters that I haven’t looked at for months. It has been a welcomed escape, and allows me to focus my
mind in a positive direction. I’ve
also been embracing the importance of running in my life. Always a good idea, running is the most
cathartic thing for me to do. A
small running trail cuts along the outskirts of the compound, shaded by
clusters of overhanging trees. At
times, these woods look more like those of North America than South Sudan, and here
I can run as fast as a can, pretending to escape into the Blue Ridge Mountains
on an (unreasonably) warm fall day.
I’ll sprint over the crunchy leaves, trying to not think about all the
neighboring snakes and will run and run until I can’t run any more. Then I’ll stand on top of the rocky
mound at the edge of the woods and watch the glowing sun melt into the horizon.
Of course, the Lord always has His word available for me,
whether I am ready for it or not. There are so many days when I’ve opened the
Bible half-heartedly, expecting nothing to bring me relief from my emotional
fatigue. It is then that I am
confronted with the wonderful truths of God’s constant power and love and my
own insignificant, waning emotions.
After a few minutes of gained perspective and gained Christ-strength, I
start to see through the haze my own frustrations. I gratefully realize that I am living out my dream job—it’s
only that I’ve just returned from a great vacation and have a bad case of the
Mondays.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete,
not lacking anything.
-James 1:2-4
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