A letter from Debbie Blane in Sudan
November 20, 2010
Dear Friends,
Greetings to you from Khartoum! It is winter here and still the daytime temperatures are reaching 100 F and the nighttime temperatures linger in the 90s. I can tell that it is winter by two markers. The first is that the shadows are more pronounced. In summer there are no shadows, but here in Khartoum in the winter when I walk out onto my veranda there are shadows. The second is that during winter it gets dark here about 6:30 p.m.; in the summer it gets dark around 7:15 p.m. Thus is life in Africa.
This is finals week for many of the classes at the Nile Theological College (NTC), where I teach. I finished teaching a week ago, my students have had their finals, and their grades are handed in. For many there is still some work to do.
Please pray for this coming period of uncertainty for both NTC and for Sudan. In 2005 a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed that ended a long-term civil war. A condition of the CPA was that on January 9, 2011, Southern Sudan would vote to decide whether to continue to relate to Northern Sudan as part of one country or if Southern Sudan would become an independent nation. This referendum is fast approaching. There is tremendous uncertainty in the College as to what lies ahead in the coming months. In the words of Julian of Norwich, we hold fast to the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus that “all will be well and all will be well and all manner of things will be well.”
I am occasionally overwhelmed by the faith of my students. They know personally from their lives that all WILL be well. Many of them have spent time in refugee camps in other countries. Many of them come from extreme poverty. Many of them are separated from wives and husbands and children as they pursue theological education at NTC. God has guided their lives and they know that in life and in death, all will be well.
I continue to be overjoyed in my work here at the college. This week Khartoum shut down, so to speak, as the northern part of the country observed Eid, a Muslim time of observance. The national government in Khartoum accredits NTC, so we also took a time of rest and held no classes. Because my work for the semester was done, I was able to spend much of the week in preparations for my classes in the coming semester. Class preparation is similar to preparing a sermon. Each class is different and has a different shape and format. It is a deeply spiritual experience to find the forms and content that will best teach the students and also help in their formation on their walk in this theological education and in their lives of faith. How to best assist them in growing into the leadership of the church in Sudan for today and tomorrow? This is one of the questions I ask myself as I prepare the curriculum.
I am providing a link in this letter so that if you feel God is calling you to share from your resources in God’s ministry through me here at NTC you will be able to do so: Theology Lecturer, Nile Theological College. [You can always give online. See the Give section in the left column of every page. &mdashEd.]
Your prayers are valued.
In Christ’s Service,
The Rev. Debbie Blane
The 2010 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 47