Finally Home

Wau Aiport.

Finally, the WFP (World Food Programme) plane lowered us down onto the dusty airstrip in Wau. We had hopped around South Sudan on the way, dropping other passengers off at different strips of dust along the way. So, after a long journey, I am safely tucked away back in the village.

And, in all the muddle, I love how God always gives me something to keep me smiling. Often when I walk the streets of Wau, I come across street boys. They have a mix of stories of their own. They have fled homes that cannot afford to feed them or that abuse them, or have disregarded them. They trek hundreds of miles to the apparent glory of the city. Yet, once they are there, amidst the bustle and the litter, there is no welcome and they scavenge from the streets for survival. Deng was a Dinka boy originally from Gogrial West. He was little higher than my waist and was dressed in torn, sagging clothes. They were now a patchy grey although I am sure they started as something else. With an hour to spare while I waited for my lift to the village, Deng gave me a Dinka language lesson as we sat on the side of the road and then walked through the markets. His pay for his teaching was his first pair of flip-flops. They cost only £1, but it is rare to see street boys with anything but bare feet even in the harsh streets of the city.

Things To Thank God For:
1. Safe Journey to the Village. It is lovely to be back and I am glad that I am safely here.
2. Reunions. Last night, I wandered to the market and was met with a sea of familiar faces. Having greeted people there, I wandered on to the house of Akwol (the only girl I have found who is about my age with good English). We sat and talked about her husband-to-be, her house and her work. It is a blessing to have friends here who are now feel so familiar.
3. Health of A Sick Friend. Last year, I asked you to pray for a mother who had fallen sick due to a bullet that is lodged in her stomach. Yesterday, when she saw me at a distance, she ran up to me shouting words of praise to God. When I left Luonyaker, I really was not sure I would return to see her alive. Yesterday, she was bouncing with life. However, the bullet is still lodged in her stomach meaning that there is potential for this sickness to keep coming and going. Every episode only seems to make it worse. There is a medical team coming from a UK hospital to Wau for two weeks in in May, so I am praying that they may be able advise her. Please keep praying.

Things To Pray For:
1. The Street Boys of Wau. I still find it hard to know how to respond to them and what God would have me do. Boys like Deng I just want to pick up and take to Marol so they can live and learn there. But their family is now the other boys of Wau, and their home the dusty streets. They feel secure there. Do pray for an opportunity to help them or to know how to serve them best.
2. Marol Academy. In just over a week's time, Marol Academy will open for 2011, including with its first secondary school class. Many of the students are currently away with the cattle, despite the heavy, deadly raiding in some parts near the cattle camps. The secondary school teachers are also still preparing to travel to us, from the UK and from Uganda. Please pray for God's protection over the journeys of the pupils and teachers. Pray too for God's hand on all that Marol is this year.