Week One

Yesterday marked one week in Mundri, South Sudan for Will and I! And wow, what a week it has been! Here are some things that we have learned this week.

Life here is not easy. Everything takes a lot more time than you expect it to, and is more difficult than you anticipate it to be. For example: cooking. Cooking is very involved here because of the very limited amount of ingredients that you can get in town. It took me about 4 hours to make homemade pizza for the team on Friday (with ingredients that we purchased in Uganda). It was delicious, but so much more involved than anticipated.

Driving is also not easy. There is one way to get into town from our compound and the road is TERRIBLE. It is a dirt road with a ton of potholes. I’m talking crater-sized holes. Since it is still rainy season, the whole are filled with water, so you have to maneuver around the holes that are too deep to drive through.  We have learned that biking to town is definitely the way to go if possible.

A sweet family who allowed us to visit with them for a while

The people here are wonderful. Seriously, they are extremely welcoming, loving and kind. When you go into the market, people do not just want you to buy veggies from them, they want to know you. This is a VERY relational society. Everything comes down to relationships. People genuinely want to get to know you and have a relationship with you. We have learned to go to the market when you have time to greet people and even sit and chat for a while. This will become much easier when we know the language better, but for now, everyone is eager to help us learn.

Larissa visiting with some children on a compound visit

Our staff is great. We are really enjoying getting to know our team here. Currently our team consists of Larissa, Scott, Justin, and Shawn and Heather Wallace and their 4 children. Larissa and Scott have lived in Mundri for several years and the rest of us are all new to Mundri. Justin has been here for a few months and the Wallaces arrived 3 weeks before we did. It has been a huge blessing to learn from the “seasoned” staff members and glean from their wisdom. I had the privilege of spending the day with Larissa yesterday and it was incredible. She introduced me to several families that she is close to and we spend the day chatting and being fed by them. Larissa knows the local language (Moru) very well, so it was extremely helpful to listen to her converse with her friends in Moru and hear them respond. We are so grateful to be a part of such a great team!

Here’s to many more weeks in Mundri! Please pray for us as we attempt to learn the languages here. Will is going to be learning Juba Arabic and I will be learning Moru. We needs lots of prayers that God will give us the ability to hear the languages well and connect with good people to teach us well. Thank you!

Look at that sweet smile! This child goes by a nickname, but
his given name is "Barack Obama"... hehe :).