Today makes one week that we have been back in Juba. So,
where to begin with what has happened the last few weeks?
Our Regional Liaison came to Juba in September to talk to
the local church about many things including when we could return. We were given the go ahead to return about
the middle of September, so, along with packing we began to say good-bye.
Our flight connections were going to be really good except
in Ethiopia where we only had a 45 minute layover but we were assured it was
plenty of time. Our flight actually got in about 30 minutes early so we were
feeling good about things. We got our flight and went on to Nairobi Kenya but
our luggage did not! We were assured it would come on the next flight – nope! We actually ended up being at the Nairobi
airport for 3 ½ hours after our flight arrived because our taxi driver who
normally is dependable was having a problem with a policeman who wanted a
bribe. It took about an hour after we had first seen our taxi driver until he
came back with his car and told us what was going on. He then left to continue
his bargaining efforts with the policeman. We thought maybe this poor taxi
driver was being delayed by God so we could get our luggage which we thought
might be on the next plane from Ethiopia. The 2nd plane did arrive
from Ethiopia before we left the airport but still no luggage ! We finally had to give up and go to our
guesthouse in Nairobi which is something like 20 miles from the airport. The
following day and 3 flights later still no luggage. We were flying out Friday for
Juba and wondering if we were going to have our clothes etc. . Friday morning
we called the airport and they had at least located our luggage at the Addis
Ababa airport. They didn’t know if it would arrive that morning before our
departure for Juba, but possibly. I (Lynn) told Sharon that maybe God simply
didn’t want us to needlessly take our luggage to the guesthouse and we could
take it from the arrivals gate directly over to our departure check-in. I (Lynn)
was dropped off at the arrival gate and Sharon with our carry-ons was dropped
off at the departure area. After getting the proper clearance documents I went to the arrivals gate and sure enough our
luggage was there. I put the 3 bags on a cart and proceeded to make my way back
to the office where I had gotten the clearance permit to go into the arrivals
area. I then made my way the ¼ mile or so to the departure gate pushing our
luggage on the cart. It makes me tired just typing about it ! We were so relieved to see our luggage that it
made up for Sharon having to buy a skirt to wear and washing clothes out by
hand for a day!! J
We had a good flight to Juba and noticed that one of our
church leaders from Juba was on the same plane! He offered us a ride to our
apartment, which was really nice. A good welcome back. We can’t say our return trip was uneventful.
We did feel God’s hand guiding us with our lost luggage and then someone being
on the plane to provide us a ride to our apartment. It also made us realize how
unimportant our “things” are that we travel with, and that we certainly could
survive without them.
So, how are things in Juba? Well, in some ways it feels just
as we left it 5 months ago and in other ways you can feel the change. Food is expensive and I really do not know
how people afford to buy basics. Because we are paid in dollars it does not
affect us as much, but still, when butter is $5.50 for a half pound you can
believe we think twice about buying it. We feel safe enough walking around some
during the day but I don’t think we will be walking around as freely as we used
to. Also, anytime near dark we take a taxi and the taxi’s don’t like to be out
after 9pm so we are pretty much home by 7 or 8 with a taxi. We know you all are worried about us but, we
are where we are supposed to be and for now things are ok here.
Many of our church people are out of the country right now
for meetings but we expect to see some of them next week. Many people have left
the country so it does make doing anything a little hard but we will do what we
can.
People are just so very tired of the fighting and
uncertainty! Please pray the leaders will put the well being of the people
first before their own needs.
