Update from Sudan: Cal Mast

Greetings,
I (Cal) have the opportunity to try to put into words the experience we’ve just had in southern Sudan. When Jon wrote last we were anticipating leaving for Sudan the next morning. We did in fact leave Wed. morning but missed our first flight. God was still in control and allowed us to take a later flight, which still enabled us to make a connection with an AIM flight into Sudan before dark.

Having made this same trip three and a half years ago I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. My biggest surprise was how the community had shrunk in size – 20,000 down to 6,500. The 22 year civil war ended in 2005, allowing the refugees from the camps in Uganda to return to Sudan. The first problem they faced upon return was that their homelands were occupied by IDP (internally displaced people). This forced them to build new camps/compounds around the edges. As the IDP moved back to their homelands, many spaces were freed up near the community center for the outsiders to move into. Now that the community is consolidated the people of Labone have better access to clean water. They can use the bore holes (wells) instead of the creeks and streams which are shared by bathers and animals.

We began CHE training Thurs. morning only to be interrupted by the campaigns of some traveling politicians. The south Sudanese will have opportunity to vote next month, which for many will be a new experience. After folks returned from the campaign rally we continued training, finishing the day with theological training for the pastors provided by the Minot ND guys.

The next day we were told that we would need to take a break to attend a funeral for the chief who had died a year and a half ago. We did a few more CHE lessons in the morning then went to the funeral at noon. This was the chiefs third funeral just to make sure every person had an opportunity to attend. This chief was a man who I met three years ago during my first visit. During that time he gave the church (Evangelical Free Church of Southern Sudan) a piece of land on which to build a church and establish a compound. The new chief, a grandson of the former one is a man I also knew. It was a great honor for me to be asked to pray and assist Pastor Luke (the EFCA pastor) lay a wreath on the chiefs grave.

After the funeral we taught a couple more lessons and concluded much the same way we had the day before. Daylight is basically from 6:00 am until 6:00 pm. Dinner was eaten by flashlight as there is no electricity in the community. The good news is basically every meal was the same – the bad news is basically every meal was the same so light really didn’t matter.

On Saturday our only interruption was rain because we held our meetings outside. Even though we weren’t able to cover all the material we intended, we offered some of the leadership of Labone a glimpse of what a CHE program would look like.

Sunday we all attended church. Unfortunately the prime piece of ground we were given to build a church on is now located about a half a mile outside of town. This is not a big problem unless everyone has to walk in order to get there. The church is made up of mainly women and children – few men. We enjoyed the service with them and are excited about what God can do in this community. The CHE presentation we made leaves the ball in their court - we left them the end of the rope which they now have to pick up and pull. God is working in Labone and we are glad to have been able to witness it.

Yours in Him,
Cal