Back from Sudan

I just got back to the FRM guesthouse in Kampala.

I am glad to be here.

Everything ended up working out really well in Nimule, but the time there was a real challenge. The hardest part, and this seems strange in hindsight, was simply all the time I had there. I was only teaching for about 3 hours a day, and doing some studying as well, but that left a lot of hours to kill. There really isn't anything to do there besides read and study, and unlike the other places I have gone on this trip, I couldn't leave the campus. There was no electricy, no town to explore, nothing to kill the time. Even when something did happen, it wouldn't last the whole day. Saturday and Sunday's were the hardest. It was stifling.

I don't do well with down time. My mind tends to fill with unpleasent memories, or I stew over this or that problem. So all that is to say, I want to thank everyone who has been praying for me this Summer. I am sure that it is making a big difference.

I did a lot of praying myself, which was a big jump for me. The last time I spent significant daily time in prayer was when I was still in California. I realized that I really haven't been reading the Bible like I used to either. I did a lot of that as well. Those two things are still really hard for me: Whenever I try to pray, or just read the Bible (especially Psalms), I end up hearing the voices of, and thinking about, people who caused a lot of spiritual chaos for me. I have realized that I associate anything remotely "spiritual" (prayer, reading the Bible devotionally, fellowship, worship, etc.) with a lot of filth from the past. The way certain people in Redlands treated me, or things they said, really wrecked a lot of my spiritual life.

Or, I should be more honest and say: I let them wreck a lot of my spiritual life.

I really feel like God is rebuilding a lot of that on this trip. I haven't been able to trust Christians the way I have on this trip in a really long time. Its hard getting used to, but its really nice at the same time.

During those long hours I had to figure out how I was going to cope with everything. I think I made a lot of progress.

It has all made me realize how important it is to get things right. We can't mess around with Truth or God or church or Christianity. I got hurt pretty bad back then, but I know people who were hurt even worse. And I know people who are still perpetuating the same suicidal spirituality.

This is important.

_____

All that and: The class ended really well. I think a good amount of the students missed a lot of the material, but even so a lot got it as well. The language issue continued to be a problem. Also, it was pretty clear by the end who was really on board, and who was there to get a good military job. But, they will either get changed or quit.

The pictures are going to tell this part of the story better than a blog. I will be home in about a week, and I should have pictures with captions up in two.

I now have a week in Kampala. I don't really know what I am going to be doing, so keep checking in to find out!