Have you ever had so many different things on your mind that you don't know where to start? That was us today. Trying to get a visa for Lynn to go to Khartoum. If he does not get it then the person traveling with him will not get hers. This means she will go to Ethiopia early which means I need to go early. This means getting my ticket changed which is not so bad except to get the really good deal on that we have to pay on line and that has never worked for us on the airlines website. Plus we need to spend a half a day getting our 1 year visa renewed. Oh, and there is a financial report to get sent, emails that need to be worded carefully, check about a place to stay in Ethiopia and flights to different places and make sure the people will be around that we want to see. Then, this morning we get a call from Rev. Yor saying that Michael Weller has been trying to reach us by phone but is not getting an answer from either of us. I call back and he was very relieved since there was a recording on my phone in Arabic and he was worried something had happened to me. Got that cleared up and then got a message from Rachel Weller in another city in Ethiopia saying "please call right away"! This was because she also was worried that something had happened to me.
By now it is noon and neither one of has cooked lunch and we need to get going to the immigration office. Well, we decided to go to a restaurant near the immigration office and walked in to see the dinning room blocked off!! NO way was this happening! When we asked they said, oh, yes, you can go in - WHEW. WE had some GREAT Ethiopian food and then walked over to the immigration office and walked out 45 minutes later with our visas renewed, no problems and feeling like things were looking up. We start walking up to the main road to get a bus when Lynn's phone starts ringing like crazy and when he is finally able to answer it is a co-worker saying our boss (in the States) has been trying to get through to us and someone strange is answering our phone! HUH??? We get through to her and take care of things.
We get home only to have more phone calls and emails that all need us to do something right now and some we cannot do at all. We get it all taken care of (sort of) and I go to sound off to our co-worker then return to our apartment only to realize there is NO CHOCOLATE in the house!!!! This cannot be and I will not make it through the evening without my chocolate. I decide to sit and look at facebook and there is a message from a friend living across town who has made a chocolate pudding dessert and I should come and get some! It is now 6:30 and will be dark soon and it is a 15 min walk there and then back again and it will be dark by then. Someone tried to steal by bag off of me last week so I am a little nervous of walking around dark by myself. Lynn was starting to make supper so he could not go. Well, nothing was going to keep me from getting some chocolate so off I go. I was able to get a rickshaw part way there which gave me a little time to visit before starting back. As I was walking towards the big traffic circle I was praying for a rickshaw to come along and just as I got to the circle there came a rickshaw. I got home just at full dark.
Whew! Supper is over, my belly has chocolate in it and I feel like I will be to relax.
As I look back on the day I see how so many things worked out so well for us, from getting the rides we needed, having lunch where we wanted, getting our visas in 45 Min ( truly a miracle) and ending with chocolate. Plus, having wonderful people around us to listen as we gripe about things.
Monday, January 29, 2018
Monday, January 22, 2018
Hello!
Well, I did not get the new year off to a very good start - I was going to write more often this year -HA!
We stayed in Juba for all of December and it was very quiet. There are 2 things about it being very quiet. The church office closes for a month so everyone can go be with their families and this is good because many of them do not see their families except for once or twice a year. It makes it boring for us because there is not much to do (well , there is plenty that needs doing but no one is here!) Quiet is good during December because that means there was no fighting. This year we really noticed how people seemed to feel a little more hope and there was more social activities among the South Sudanese. New Years eve at midnight I heard all this noise outside and at first I thought it was a bad sign but then I went and looked out the window and saw that it was people celebrating and there was so much traffic that they had the traffic police out! It was fun to watch people dancing and singing in the streets. Other years people have tended to stay inside or if they were out they were not singing and dancing in the streets.
This is not to say that peace has arrived in South Sudan. I really look forward to the day that I can say that it has. There is still fighting in the country and every group blaming another for the fighting.
Lynn is hoping to leave on the 29th to go to Khartoum again. He ha not received his visa yet but we still have this week so who is worried??? I will leave on the 4th for a 2 week trip to Ethiopia and Lynn will join me their on the 12th.
Then guess what?? We will be going to the States mid March and be there for 2 1/2 months!! This is part of our Interpretation Assignment (IA) so that means we will be traveling around talking at different churches. We will be doing this again mid July to mid Sept. so you all get truly blessed with our company this year. Ha. :)
I know this is short but I seem to be having trouble thinking of things that would be interesting to you all. I do want you to know that we are praying for you. I am looking forward to coffee dates(Brandon L) play time with grandchildren, teaching a niece (Emersyn) some bad things for her parents and long talks with everyone. Oh, and eating Mexican food. :)
We stayed in Juba for all of December and it was very quiet. There are 2 things about it being very quiet. The church office closes for a month so everyone can go be with their families and this is good because many of them do not see their families except for once or twice a year. It makes it boring for us because there is not much to do (well , there is plenty that needs doing but no one is here!) Quiet is good during December because that means there was no fighting. This year we really noticed how people seemed to feel a little more hope and there was more social activities among the South Sudanese. New Years eve at midnight I heard all this noise outside and at first I thought it was a bad sign but then I went and looked out the window and saw that it was people celebrating and there was so much traffic that they had the traffic police out! It was fun to watch people dancing and singing in the streets. Other years people have tended to stay inside or if they were out they were not singing and dancing in the streets.
This is not to say that peace has arrived in South Sudan. I really look forward to the day that I can say that it has. There is still fighting in the country and every group blaming another for the fighting.
Lynn is hoping to leave on the 29th to go to Khartoum again. He ha not received his visa yet but we still have this week so who is worried??? I will leave on the 4th for a 2 week trip to Ethiopia and Lynn will join me their on the 12th.
Then guess what?? We will be going to the States mid March and be there for 2 1/2 months!! This is part of our Interpretation Assignment (IA) so that means we will be traveling around talking at different churches. We will be doing this again mid July to mid Sept. so you all get truly blessed with our company this year. Ha. :)
I know this is short but I seem to be having trouble thinking of things that would be interesting to you all. I do want you to know that we are praying for you. I am looking forward to coffee dates(Brandon L) play time with grandchildren, teaching a niece (Emersyn) some bad things for her parents and long talks with everyone. Oh, and eating Mexican food. :)
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