A letter from Debbie Blane on furlough from Sudan
April 28, 2011
Dear Friends,
Greetings. The end of this month is drawing near and I want to get a letter out to you before May is here. I have spent the last several weeks (almost two months) now at the Furlough Home on the Louisville Presbyterian Seminary campus. In two days, on Saturday the 30th of April, I will be leaving for Sacramento, California.
On May 1, I will preach twice in my first official itineration duty. I am planning to preach a sermon that was preached in the chapel of Nile Theological College in Khartoum, Sudan, last year. I hope to bring the message to the congregation in California in a way that helps bring to life for them what it is like to be in a weekly chapel service at a college on another continent, in another culture.
Several of my students have made contact with me through the Facebook medium. They seem to prefer this to email. Thankfully we have also been able to use Skype with a degree of success to speak voice to voice.
As the date for independence, July 9, 2011, approaches for South Sudan there is fighting among the different tribes and people groups. People are posturing and jostling for top spots on the power pyramids. Instead of working toward all people having a say in the government the concern seems to be what tribe will be in control. Please pray for the common good and the common people. If the leaders have turned their backs on the good of the people, we, the church and the rest of the world, cannot.
There is much work to do on the new English Track college campus in the town of Malakal in what will be South Sudan. Please pray that the college will be ready to open in September. Our students have missed one semester already due to all of the changes happening in the country. Please pray that South Sudan and the Nile Theological College English Track in Malakal will be able to move forward in fruitful and peaceful ways in the very near future.
I will do at least three separate times of itineration in the coming months. I will also have some time in Seattle, Washington, with family and friends. At the same time I am making preparations for returning to a new home in a new town in a new country. I am also in the beginning stages of working toward a dissertation proposal for a Doctor of Theology in Missiology degree with the University of South Africa (UNISA). This degree will be done through Open Distance Learning and can be accomplished entirely online through the Internet. Please pray for me in all of these endeavors.
Finally, please pray for my students. Many of them are having financial challenges. Many of them are separated from their families in this time of uncertainty. Please pray that they will know God’s presence in their lives both spiritually and also in seeing how the next few months unfold. My personal prayer for them includes their being able to return to the college and complete their educations.
Financial gifts are always valued. You can contribute to my sending and support costs online or by sending a gift to:
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700
Write “E200453 — Debbie Blane” on the memo line. [You can always give online. See the Give box in the left column of every page. —Ed.]
Churches and presbyteries can also allocate part of their Basic Mission Support by designating an amount to “D507517 — Debbie Blane.” Donations may be sent through your normal receiving site or through the address above.
In Christ,
Debbie
The 2011 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 54
