A letter from Debbie Blane, mission worker in Sudan
January 12, 2012
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Malakal! It is DUSTY here! We have gone from rainy season with MUD to winter with DUST. The temperatures are very reasonable if on the coolish side. The sky is overcast with dust. The solar system in my house is having trouble powering up enough because the sun is not bright, and the solar cooking in the yard is taking many hours to cook the food. However, it is a relief from rainy season!
I have not written for a couple of months. Last semester went well with my teaching at Nile Theological College here in Malakal. My students tell me that they are enjoying my style of teaching as it is good for them to be exposed to different ways that teachers present material.
For Christmas I traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and was in the company of Christians from around the world. I stayed with a friend and fellow mission co-worker and enjoyed the perks of being in a large and developed city. On my return to Malakal my suitcase was stuffed with things like peanut butter and basil pesto, items that are not available in Malakal.
I have spent much of the time since returning from Addis, about a week now, in preparing the syllabus for the Concentrated Course that I will be teaching at the college. There is one Concentrated Course for each semester. This is a class that is taught for two periods daily (three hours total) for two weeks and two days. The Concentrated Courses are taught so that the entire Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Theology degrees might be earned in the course of four years.
I will be teaching Theology II, Sin and Salvation, beginning January 25. It is an intense time for the teacher and for the students. During the regular semester I will facilitate the seniors in a “small group.” It won’t actually be small as I will have the entire senior class; however, the principle is that issues are dealt with in this group that are not covered in regular classes. These are practical issues, things that come up in ministry. The group gives the students a chance to think ahead of time about possible responses to different situations in their ministries.
The lion’s share of the remainder of my time this coming semester will be spent on the continuing work toward a Dissertation Proposal for my Doctor of Theology in Missiology degree at the University of South Africa (UNISA). I appreciate the college giving me a lighter teaching and facilitating load in recognition of the degree program in which I am enrolled.
I have a houseguest at the moment. We are learning how to cook solar and she is teaching me how to cook with charcoal. This is good because I have realized that if electricity is not available I have to have other forms of fuel to cook my food if I am not going to live out of cans. Some days the solar may not work. In the rainy season charcoal won’t work unless I have stocked up on it, and apparently it is unavailable during that time of the year. Yesterday’s big surprise for me was finding out that when using charcoal there does not have to be a flame, the charcoal will stay hot once it has been lit and the kettle does eventually become hot as well.
This photo was taken on the street of my hoped for new home.
I have exciting news as well. When I came to South Sudan I had a six-month lease on the house the PC(USA) is renting for me. The lease runs out the end of this month, January. I would be able to stay in the house through April and would have had to find either a one-month rental and then a place to store my things when I leave in June for vacation and itineration in the United States, or a long-term rental where I could leave my things in my new home. Instead it appears that God has gone ahead of me in finding a new home for me NOW. I hope to be signing a lease in the next few days and moving at the end of January to a one-house compound that is very near to the college. It has electricity, and while there is no source of water in the house itself the owner has agreed to install an actual shower in the shower room and put a Western toilet seat on the toilet in the toilet room. The shower and toilet are located in two rooms outside of the house. The house has two bedrooms and a large and long veranda with mosquito netting that I will use as a living room and office. One end of the veranda wraps around one of the bedrooms and will be suitable for an indoor kitchen. The original kitchen is an outdoor one that is meant for traditional Sudanese cooking on charcoal. Since I have a two-burner stovetop I intend to use the electric outlet in the inside kitchen area for the stovetop as my primary cooking method.
Two of my students located this home for me and investigated the possibilities. The one who contacted me about it had discerned that the neighborhood is safe. There is a nearby pharmacy. One of my students lives very close by so there will be help if I need it. There are two small stores where I can get bread and tomato paste. Not too far away is a large suq (market area) where I can buy vegetables. The church where I am going to be worshipping is also located near my hoped-for new home. The center of Malakal will be farther away and will become a once-a-week, or bi-weekly trek for paying bills and shopping where there is a larger variety of merchandise. The house is on an electric meter like I had in Khartoum, so I will be purchasing units in the center of Malakal.
Thank you for continuing to join me in ministry and mission with your prayers. If you feel so moved by the Holy Spirit to support God’s ministry through me at Nile Theological College financially, or the ministry of the College itself, please use the links provided below to do so.
Many Blessings in Christ,
Debbie
Rev. Debbie Blane
The 2012 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 94
Visit Debbie’s blog: Debbie's Journey Continues
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