Tukul under construction

The Ramadan actually brings people together despite the colour, race or religion. They are peopl just like us!

Sudan is preparing for the upcoming Referndum in January 2011, please pray for peace and reconciliation to prevail.
Many are the plans in a man's heart but only the Lord's plan will prevail.
God is mighty to save this nation
Is there anything too difficult for God?

Asule Ramadan Chan

People here love to name their babies after the foreigners. This little girl in the picture is named after me. She is a smily baby and really cute. Actaully there are four babies that are named after me but i could get only this 'asule's' picture.

Chapatti in Yabus

Praise God there is rain after two weeks without rain.

Beautiful flowers by my house

The power of God

The last two weeks was tough. I had some problem, an irritation on my arm which hindered me from all my works. The only thing i could do was lie down on bed and sit for a while. It was a great time of test and trial. Where there is no hospitals and Doctors my faith increased to hold on to my only God and Saviour who has power to heal me. With much prayer God healed my wounds completely. This incident drew me closer to God. He displayed his power in my weakness so that He is glorified. Praise God, I am healed and back to normal work. It's so nice to go back to school and catch up with friends. I have missed them. They have missed me too. When I met one of the ladies she hugged me and kissed my cheek and said words of comfort. Oh! I am humbled to have friends who cares. I am more encouraged through these friends who are not a believer. God even speaks through unbelievers. Amazing!

These are some of the students in Arabic school. Some months back i was praying for something like this - i wanted to learn Arabic so much but didn't know where to begin then this school opened at the right time. I have joined this school, it's been almost six weeks and i can see the changes in my learning and understanding of language and culture just because of the amount of time i spent with these women. My language is still very basic but i understand more than i could speak. Arabic is such a tough complicated langauge but i am pursuing so hard inorder to be able to communicate effectively oneday - God's love.

A pool inside the house

The sky was darkening and rumbling as the thunder rolled and the storm came. I hated to stay in my house when it rains because it’s very airy inside since the house was designed for dry season. The walls are half-mudded. And when it rains heavily I feel I am standing in an open sea with the waves tossing and turning my things upside down. So, I decided to be at my neighbours house. They make fire inside and it’s warm and more fun with all the smoke around the house, tearful eyes, and sniffing which reminds me of home. As we were sitting and chatting behind closed doors from storm and rain, suddenly from behind the house came water, gushing in like a river. Since the house is small, within a minute it quickly flooded and became a small pool. Our feet were deep in the water. As I was new to this kind of situation I didn’t know what to do but the woman (owner of the house) ran outside and started re-mudding the hole where the water came from, but there was no way to stop it because the rain was heavy. So I started throwing water outside scooping them from a big bowl but the water never got finished. The woman then came to the front door and started to dig a hole towards the direction where water was flowing, then within a second the water passed through that tiny hole and the house began to slowly dry. After things settle down a bit we held our stomach as we laughed and laughed over the whole situation. I am impressed by their quick wit and action over any situation that occurs. It’s amazing how they can fix things within few seconds. It was an eye opening for me to see how people survive in a small wretched house during rainy season. And they live happily in that condition. Nobody complains! Oh Lord, teach me to be happy and content with what I have. My house is fifty times better than theirs but I still wanted to escape to a concrete house, to be safe and secure. But God was giving me some serious lessons by taking me to my neighbour’s house to see what was going to happen and I saw ‘it’ happened.

Kharif

It's just so strange that Sudan was looking so dry, hot and sweaty a month back and now with few rains it's looking fresh and green but hot. Kharif is a word rainy season in Arabic. During this season people are usually busy ploughing and cultivating. People who are wise could actually grow enough food which sustains them for a year and even sells them at the market. They grow sorghum (staple food), maize, okra, beans, pumpkins, groundnuts. People are literally dependent on rain for their crops. The rains have been very scanty. Please pray for more rains during this season.

daily visitors

One morning Praise and Halleluyah came to my house dressed up in their jerseys. I surprised them with my own jersey and we pose for some pictures. They are Nigerian kids, missionaries of SIM working together in Yabus. They come to my house every morning after their breakfast and have fun together and mess up my house. They are really cute and beautiful. No one would believe what amazing things they could do at their age. They are tough than ordinary kids since they grew up in a bush. I go for home visit with them. Evangelism can happen through children.

Umi (my mother)

Umi is one of the first M*** women I have met. She is old but strong. She is generous and always cheerful. She loves people like me who is foreign to her, but accepts me without asking any question why I want to be friend with her. I have a love in my heart and I want to share that love to her. I want her to know what that love means and what this love would do to her once she accepts it - it would change her life forever. She visited us several times. It's a long walk for an old lady to be visiting, but she came today, with a packed lunch and gasping for breath when she entered my house. What a joy to see her smile and be with her and talk to her. She brings such a blessing. Everytime I think about her I have this intense urge deep in my heart that cannot be expressed in words but LOVE is welling up from within. Until she embrace this love my soul is not at rest. Please pray for her and for divine intervention.

Yabus Bridge

" Hey, I have finished my food. Could I have some more? Or I could play with this pot"

We went for visiting to our friends house. It's always fun to be at neighbours place and find some interesting things. This boy after clearing up the food in the pot, started playing with it. So the next time the mother had to clean the pot thoroughly for another dish as these things are used for several reasons.

A view of where i live in Yabus. The Zinc roofs are the school building. I live in the grass house "tukul". This is during dry season.

Language learning

For a very long time I have wanted to learn Arabic so much as to me it sounds like the most beautiful language in the world. Indeed it is. Finally, I have found myself doing an intense learning which might take me for six months to build my level of speaking at least. I have joined in an Arabic school which is mainly for Women Literacy. I feel that this opportunity came at the right time when I need it. It’s fun to be in school learning Arabic, however I find it very challenging since I am the only non-Arabic speaking Khawadja in the class. (Khawadja is a term used for foreigner in Arabic). One day the teacher gave an assignment to draw a picture of different things. I was assigned to draw ‘the market area’. So the next day we all came prepared with our drawings. The teacher asked each student to explain the drawing in front of the class. It was such a difficult thing for me since I have limited Arabic. However I formed some few words in my mind and tried to explain my picture only to hear a laughing audience. Anyway I am glad that was a good platform to perform myself well. Everyday has been thrilling and exciting and exhausting sometimes.

Love is sharing

Sudanese are very relational and they share everything with everybody. There is no individual thing, but community. They form in groups (children, women, men) and eat food together. Their food is mainly of sorghum made into Kisra (sudanese flat bread) or Asida - shown in picture) with okra soup usually. It taste good. This picture is taken on Christmas day. I love to see the children eats food... only the smartest gets the best portion.

Health is a blessing

These last few weeks have been a testing time for me. I have to cross mountains over mountains, i thought it's finally over but i see there are more coming and it's such a giant thing to expereince. Sometimes i am too tired that i don't know what i am doing or i need to do, but deep down in my heart i know that i need to persist and keep going.

This time i feel that i have come to the end of myself. God is beginning to do something but i am impatient and weary of circumstances around me. But i still trust in His sovereignty and great purpose for whatever reason i am put through in this situation.

Health is one of the main issue in a field. I wonder how godly men and women served God with poor health. I pray to God everyday to give me strength and health so that i can go and speak the Word, walk and live the Word. I can do that only with good health.

A day for a Sudanese Woman

What is a day like for a Sudanese woman? Do they go to school or work in the office? What is her job or role? What keeps her busy?

The women have such hard life. She is up at dawn even though she is the last to sleep putting her kids to bed, clearing the dishes and finishing other things. To make a simple meal takes a lot of her energy and time. She goes to the bush to collect firewood. She pounds the sorghum or maize in a wood pounder and later grinds them on a smooth stone until the grain becomes soft and powdered (which usually takes hours). She makes tea for her family and visitors. In order to have a cup of coffee it takes a lot of her energy. She roasts the coffee on fire in a thin layer of pan. After the coffee seeds become fully black she pounds them in a pounder. She cooks the coffee on the fire in a coffee pot and it’s ready to serve. She goes to the river to wash clothes and bathe. She fetches water from the river or borehole. She carries unbelievable weight of things on her head. She is strong. Her strength never fails her even in sickness and in weakness. I have never seen such strong women in my entire life.

She is everything to everyone. She is the mother to her children, a wife to her husband, a maid to her visitors, a provider for her family, a helper in her community. She possessed incredible qualities and surpassed all other women in the whole world. She is the woman that Proverbs 31 describes. A perfect noble woman.

My favourite boy

He is so little with a big head and huge eyes. Everytime he sees me he calls my name Ashuye.... Since he is only 2 years old we can barely communicate however there is no need of a spoken language. When he sees me he would run to me and jumps on my lap. He would touch my hair and give me a long look and a slight smile. Oh, what a sweet boy. Everytime he would tell his mom that he needs to visit me (i know why...he gets some sweets), when i travel to Nairobi he would cry and cry and wave at the airplane up the sky to bring me back soon. He is so cute and he brings so much joy to me. In the evening when i am tired from the days work i would go visit their home and drink coffee. I feel refreshed by holding him eventhough, sometimes he smells funny with his wet pant. He is one of my favorite boys i have met. I love him.

God's promise to me everyday

I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help comes from? My help comes from the Lord the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber; Indeed he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you - the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm - He will watch over your life; the Lord will waatch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.