A letter from Debbie Blane, mission worker in Sudan
February 2012
Dear Friends,
Greetings from hot and dusty Malakal! I found out today that the compound on which I currently reside is directly in the path of all of the dust coming down from the Sahara. I’m pretty certain it is all of the dust in the whole world that the wind sweeps across the compound and that lands on my books, computer, cement floor and table! This morning someone told me that even just across the street from us green grass is evident. I thought that was pretty funny—the grass really is greener on the other side!
I have now completed my teaching for Theology II here at Nile Theological College. We met, my 23 students and I, for 12 days. We had approximately three hours of class each day and learned a great deal from one another. One of the many things that I love about teaching is that I learn as much from my students as they learn from me.
I had taught Theology I with this group of students last semester here in Malakal. I am hoping to teach them Theology III and Theology IV and then watch them graduate. It is good to have the same students for a number of years. What I find is that as my teaching style becomes more familiar to them and as I get to know each of them better and understand their writing and learning styles better our work can go to deeper levels because we don’t spend so much time in the introductory phases.
Because we have discussions that involve the whole class and not just a student addressing only me and I them, we do reach clarity more often than not on the questions that are being asked. Just prior to teaching this class I had read a book called In The Shadow of the Sun that was written by a Polish journalist about his time in Africa. The book talked about the idea that Africans don’t have a concept of sin in the same way that we in the West do. I asked my students to help clarify this for me because it is good for me to know if we are coming toward a subject from two very different worldviews.
I have learned that in Africa the concepts of time are very different. Africans do not plan because tomorrow is not their concern, only today. In the same way sin or personal or corporate wrongdoing is not understood as something that creates roadblocks in relationships with God, self and others. Sin has more to do with the ancestors being displeased with the current activity of an individual or family group, clan or tribe.
It is helpful to understand when the knowledge that I have is not going to be understood in the ways that it was taught to me and how I understand it. Our class sessions were fulfilling and exhausting. You might imagine! Putting out a thought and circling, circling until there was something of a resolution and then revising how I had planned to present material. I am thankful to have work that allows me to be creative and intentional.
Blessings,
Debbie
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 94
Visit Debbie’s blog: Debbie's Journey Continues
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